The Candidate

Ever wonder what it’s like to run for politics, come breathtakingly close.. and lose? MICF 2023 Moosehead Recipient Mandy Nolan does. The Candidate is about hope. It’s about what it means to be a woman in the male dominated world of politics. It’s about bringing an authentic voice to the political table. Inspired by the courage of young women like Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins, Mandy Nolan stepped forward into a world that she found both exhilarating and terrifying. How do you maintain your authenticity AND be taken seriously? Should a middle aged woman wear short shorts and thongs on her corflute? Why can nothing be done without a jacket? What is candidate syndrome? How do you answer questions confidently, when you don’t know the answer? And what do you do when you find out your friends drew dick and balls on your election signage?And she wants to tell her story.

Date of show: Thursday, June 1
Show starts at:
6:00pm
Show finishes at: 7:00pm
Venue: Surf Club

$35.00

2 in stock

More about the show

Mandy Nolan has been a comedian for over three decades.

As a loud mouth lefty feminist she’s long used the platform not just to make jokes, but also to champion the big issues. She’s not only a domestic violence survivor, she’s brave enough to do a joke about it. Hailed by Wil Anderson as Australia’s ‘funniest non famous comedian’ people have always asked why someone as accomplished and commanding as Nolan has never got the national cut through she deserves. Nolan blames herself ‘I dropped out and moved to Byron Bay when I was 23. Before it was cool. Then I had 5 kids. Three husbands. Then I got old. As a woman that’s not great for business.’

Nolan has delivered a TEDx talk, she’s headlined MICF Roadshow, Sydney Comedy Festival Roadshow and she’s struck comedy gold at Upfront at Melbourne’s Town Hall. Mandy Nolan has done things differently. She has taught over 2000 people stand up comedy, including Emmy winning Hannah Gadsby, her Women Like Us touring buddy and former RAW finalist Ellen Briggs and this year’s RAW winner Alexandra Hudson. ‘I love mentoring other comics, particularly women. It’s a passion of mine.’

In the Northern Rivers where she lives Mandy jokes are as much part of the vernacular as ay surfspeak. She’s authored The Soapbox, the most popular opinion piece in the region’s iconic Echo newspaper for 21 years. It’s seen her invited to pen pieces for the Sydney Morning Herald, Quarterly magazine Lunchlady and work as one of the most in demand writers and podcast host for Mamamia. Sydney Morning Herald’s Bruce Elder called Nolan ‘the country’s sharpest and wittiest comedic columnist’. Mandy is also the author of 5 books.