Spending a birthday in the ICU is no easy thing for anybody, but Jessi Ryan used this traumatic situation as inspiration for a new comedy show, aptly titled Functional Bottom. We recently sat down with Jessi to chat all about how this came to be, which you can read down below.

When did you decide you wanted to be a performer? I think I've always wanted to be a performer; I was always one of those kids who was always putting on shows to perform in front of family. It was always a passion of mine. I pretended to be a law student for a few years and I very quickly quit. I've been creating contemporary dance works for about 20 years now, I had my first show in Brisbane when I was 15 and now I’m 35. It was about 14 months ago now when I decided to take up comedy, because why not?

Who, or what, are your biggest creative inspirations? As a queer performer, I’m always inspired by other queer artists and their work. We lost so many artists during the AIDS epidemic, and I’ve been HIV+ since I was 19, so it’s important to me to honour their work in what I do.

What inspired you to dip your toes into comedy? Living in Australia, it’s hard to break into the mainstream comedy industry, but it’s also such a part of our identity. I also think that comedy is something that everybody can relate to and it’s very accessible, you can get messages across so much easier through comedy.

Why do you think comedy is a good vehicle for expressing ideas? Australia has a self-deprecating sense of humour; we’re used to making fun of ourselves. So, if you talk about something and not taking yourself too seriously, people can relate to that and come on board with whatever it is you’re saying.

Talk to us about your upcoming show at Melbourne Comedy Fest, “Functional Bottom.” In November 2022, I woke up with really, really bad abdominal pain. It became a medical emergency and as soon as I arrived at the hospital, they had to do surgery right then and there. I was in the ICU and I started unpacking this really scary situation in my mind through comedy as a way to cope, and as a non-binary person, medical settings aren’t exactly known for being super-welcoming. I spent my 34th birthday in the ICU and I was terrified I’d never be able to perform again, I got to this sense of fear where I began to think, “What can I do?”.

Functional Bottom was born out of this fear, and now after 13 months and six other surgeries, I teamed up with acclaimed trans comic Anna Piper Scott to get in the studio and write. It’s my first-ever comedy show, and I love being able to take people on a journey and I feel the most myself when I’m up on stage. I love performing, all the highs and the lows.

Tickets to Functional Bottom are on sale here and will be showing from April 10th to April 14th.