Look out Adelaide! Australia’s very own Greek Goddess is back for this year’s Adelaide Fringe. Effie will be hitting the Garden Of Unearthly Delights for one big night only. So, grab that hairspray and tease your hair as high as you can! You don’t want to miss seeing the legend that is Effie.
Mary Coustas, the creative brain behind Effie, is a true icon of Australian comedy. She has performed on stage, in film, and public speaking engagements, and written books and scripts for stage shows. When I recently caught up with Mary, I was keen to find out what sparks her inspiration when creating a new show.
“It’s a bit of an obsession. I have an idea, and for whatever reason, it sparks all this energy to turn it into something real. The initial idea comes usually, for me, out of necessity. For example, the show ‘Better Out Than In’, which was about lock down, was a situation where I was feeling so much around that whole time. Where could I put that so I could release it from myself and detoxify it a bit? And the answer to that is comedy. I become obsessed with certain notions. Obviously, the lockdown show was universal, and usually everything I write about has a universal theme, because I don’t see myself any different from my audience. I think that’s why a huge part of my show is improvised. I like that conversation with my audience because I feel like I am one with them, and I always have been. As much as Effie is up herself and a super star, she does see the audience as her people. They are her village. The show is part necessity, part therapeutic.”
I was also very curious to have Mary’s insight into why Australians, young and old, love Effie.
“I think people believe that she is very accepting. Effie spends the whole time, whether it’s in the show or in her career, dismantling herself in a way that takes pride in being human. She is honest. She just looks for good in people and doesn’t care really who anyone is sleeping with. As long as it’s consensual, who cares? She doesn’t care about age, but she does care about attitude. So, age, sexuality and all those sorts of things, Effie just looks for the spirited people. The people that are still very lively. That’s something we all have to fight for. It’s very easy to get cynical and upset with society and life, but that’s just part of it. So, Effie really just looks for the common elements that bring us together. Regardless of what your issue is or why you are in a minority, she just looks for that common ground, the things that bind us together. She also stays spirited, which is one of the most rebellious acts you can do.”
I also had the privilege and honour to speak with Effie herself, and was very concerned about how she has coped over the last two years during the pandemic.
“Well, I means, I hate to use the word pivoting, because it would have to be the most overused word, but I just have to dance with the circumstance. No matter what’s going on, I just has to make it work. If I think there is no chance that I can resume my former life, that was full of physical contact, maskless in every capacity – psychologically as well as physically, you knows – the freedoms that I’ve loved and the success, and being a legend, I would just crack up completely. So, for me it’s about, you knows, there’s a bit of a reprieve, a time to spring clean the house, spring clean my thinking, you knows, get on a new track, do that stuff and be like, “Oh, I’m back on!” And I can come out loud and proud. You’ve just got to dance with the circumstance because it’s not personal.”
Effie married the love of her life a few years ago, Shane Bradley Cooper. Has the honeymoon period ended for this virgin bride? Or are things still as new and fresh as their first night as a married couple?
“Looks, I’m lucky. I chose someone that I loves and trust. Now, can I say the same of myself? And you knows, I’m not a finger pointer. I’m not, “You did this, you did that”. I always check on my own situation, and I love my husband. My problem was I waited too long to, you knows, do the deed. I did the right thing and did what tradition asks of us, which very few have done. And that was wait till you find the right person. And boys, did I wait. I waited for ever and ever, and then I met the right person. He was the person I had loved since I was a child, from primary school, my first ever kiss, Mr Shane Bradley Cooper. I waited a lifetime without knowings it. I fell in love with him and did the deed – brilliantly, I might add. I was such a natural at it. I felt I was going to be a top lover, and I am. There is an animal in me that I never really saw before. With the animal comes a great curiosity that, you knows, is problematic when it comes to maintaining a healthy relationship. So, I’ve had to really show a lot of discipline around that. I look but don’t touch.”
Effie’s new show, Better Out Than In, will be here for one night only at this year’s Adelaide Fringe.
“Just one big, fat, gorgeous, hilarious show at Babylon in the Garden. I cannot tells yous, and I don’t want to sound like I don’t have a life, but it could have been the highlight of my year coming to the Adelaide’s Fringe in 2021. I was slow coming to the fringes in the past, what the hells was with that? What page was I on? I only jumped on the Fringe a year or two ago.”
With limited tickets on sale, Effie’s only Adelaide appearance this year is sure to sell out. And what will Effie be talking about?
“Everything, and anything. No holes will be barred, whatevers that means.”
Effie – Better Out Than In will be performed at The Babylon in the Garden Of Unearthly Delights, Saturday 19 February at 7.45pm. One show only, so yous better get in quick! Tickets available through FringeTix or at https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/effie-better-out-than-in-af2022
Interview by Ben Stefanoff
More News
