Kitty Flanagan

She may be seen as a woman who gets easily frustrated at things, but Kitty Flanagan has just as many loves as she does hates and Geelong just happens to be one of the former. “My favourite thing about touring is getting out and going outside the bigger cities,” she says.
“I know Geelong is a major city, but it’s still got its own vibe and its own city – you just can’t beat it. People are enthusiastic and they just love it, and I’m so appreciative of that. I feel like you put on a good show for them and it’s great to see people get off their arse and support their theatre.”
In fact, Kitty has another secret love and she got to see a glimpse of it at her last visit down to Geelong. “Last time we were there we saw a little knitting circle in one of the haberdashery shops. Which is a find in itself because no one has haberdashery shops any more,” Kitty says.
“I went to Kmart the other day and asked the girl where is the haberdashery section and she looked at me like I’d said ‘Skibberderbupbup’. Like I’d spoken gibberish. She made me repeat the word three times and she still had no idea.”
After telling Kitty she most likely witnessed a yarn-bombing session in action, something that Geelong locals may be accustomed to seeing over the past few years, she was ecstatic. “Oh you’re one of those towns! I love that. I must have seen them in action. I was very envious and I definitely wanted to join,” she says.
Growing up in a creative family, with a father working as a freelance writer since she was 10 years old, her pursuit of comedy was strongly encouraged, as was her sister Penny’s career in music. Previously working in advertising, Kitty made the career jump after a sudden termination and recent discovery of stand up comedy.
“I wasn’t really that aware of stand up comedy as a thing, I’d never really been to one, or an opening mic night. The only people I’d really seen were famous people, like Billy Connolly or Ben Elton, I’d never actually been aware of a comedy thing as such,” she says.
After a quick performance in front of her sister in her lounge room, with some changes as a result, Kitty went to the stand up comedy gig and realised it was something she wanted to continue doing.
From talking with Kitty it’s easy to see the bond she shares with her sister, as it seems Penny has played a huge role in her career. Currently Penny is taking to the stage with her sister for a few songs in Kitty’s new show Seriously?.
“I can belt away with my sister next to me – she gives me all the confidence in the world because she’s a really good singer – but I have no musical aptitude, no rhythm and I constantly come in at the wrong time,” she says.
While Penny will unfortunately miss the Geelong stint of Kitty’s show, there’ll be a special replacement from one of the members of Things of Stone and Wood.
“I’m really looking forward to it: there’s going to be a bit of mucking around without my sister there to keep me on track, so God knows where the music will go in this one,” she says as she laughs at the idea. “The guy from Things of Stone and Wood isn’t as well trained in how to keep me in hand, so this should be fun. I think my sister’s going to have a word to him before she releases me onto him.”
When&Where: The Playhouse Theatre, GPAC – November 29
By Amanda Sherring