After a successful season at the 2024 Adelaide Fringe, Mary Coustas, AKA Effie, returns to the Garden of Unearthly Delights with her smash-hit show Effie in UpYourselfness.
In Upyourselfness, Effie addresses the benefits and downfalls of cancel culture, the new and complex tapestry of gender politics and the fundamental necessity of knowing and celebrating who we are…flaws and all.
Mary Coustas, the creative brain behind Effie, is a true icon of Australian comedy. She has performed on stage, in film, in public speaking engagements, and written books and scripts for stage shows. For over 30 years, Effie, and Mary, have been performing stand-up across Australia. Rising to fame in 1987 in the successful stage show Wogs Out Of Work with Nick Giannopoulos, Effie and Mary have forged their own unique brand of comedy.
Mary spoke to Glam Adelaide ahead of her Adelaide Fringe season about her work in stand-up and public speaking and how she has found that people look to Effie to be a voice of reason for them.
“I feel like what I’ve noticed doing this show is that people are relieved that I can articulate what they can’t. When I say ‘I’, obviously I mean Effie. They couldn’t find the words to express the contradiction and the complexity of what’s out there. A lot of people can be very self-conscious and don’t want to say what they are thinking out loud, yet with Effie, there is no filter or barrier. So I know where I stand on everything. I think everyone has the right to be who they are, and I’m cool with that.”
Anyone who has ever seen Mary perform, either as herself or as Effie, quickly discovers how personal the relationship between the audience and herself becomes. Mary has a wonderful way of connecting to her audiences.
“Although I’ve trained so much as an actor, I think I’m a communicator more than anything. I feel like I’m in the communication business. I always am very empathetic with my audiences; I treat them as equals. I feel like I’m having a conversation with myself. I always put myself out there because I feel that if they don’t know me, then they can’t grasp what I’m saying. I don’t think Effie knows she does comedy. I think she goes out there and talks about whatever is challenging her, which happens to challenge the masses. And if they laugh, great. The point I wanted to make is I’m not a slave to the laugh. In my ‘This Is Personal’ show, I want people to feel more than just laughter. I want them to feel uncomfortable. I want them to feel seen. I want them to feel sad. I want them to feel confused. I want lots of feelings before we get to the end.”
Mary and Effie are returning to the Adelaide Fringe for two performances of Effie in UpYourselfness — Friday 14th and Saturday 15th of March in the Garden of Unearthly Delights.
“I love the Fringe. My family loves it when I do shows in Adelaide – they want to know when I’m next performing here. I’ve got a couple of best friends here. We have our favourite places to eat, and my husband and daughter love scooting around on the electric scooters and go tree climbing. So much of my career is spent working alone in venues, so when I do a festival like the Fringe, it reminds me that there’s this bigger community out there. I love it.”
Join Effie as she walks us through the political and social landmines of isms – feminism, racism, sexism, wokeism, pronounism and goodlookingism – as we try to make sense of the latest version of human evolution without losing a sense of who we are.
Effie in UpYourselfness
The Vagabond – The Garden of Unearthly Delights
Friday 14 March and Saturday 15 March at 7pm
https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/effie-in-upyourselfness-af2025
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