Kirsty Webeck entered the Australian comedy circuit in 2013 in an unconventional way.

After doing a five-minute set at the end of a comedy workshop, she launched straight into writing and performing a full-length show.

Employing her public relations background, Kirsty sold more than 100 tickets to her first major performance in her hometown, Canberra.

Kirsty spent about half of her life in the ACT, which included studying at Mount Stromlo High School, Narrabundah College, and the University of Canberra.

She returns to her hometown on 5 September for her show, Everything I Need To say About Sea Creatures, at The Street. Tickets can be purchased at thestreet.org.au/shows/kirsty-webeck

The comedian can often be found sharing photos on her social media of being at sea, where she takes pictures with her underwater camera.

How much of the show is about the sea creatures?

It’s funny you ask that. Allegedly, it’s 65-75 per cent sea creatures, I know that because someone sent me a DM (direct message) and said, ‘I’m thinking about getting tickets to your Melbourne show’ and asked what percentage it was. I did a show in Perth that night, so I got the Perth audience to gauge, and they said 65-75 per cent.

But the beginning has some anecdotes to ease in the newcomers who haven’t seen the hour-long show before.

What’s your favourite sea creature and why?
The Octopus would be my favourite sea creature. It’s because they’re very clever, they’re probably going to take over the world and they’re also really funny.

I swam with whale sharks and manta rays in Ningaloo (Reef in Western Australia). People love seeing the underwater photos, which is awesome, so I‘m still getting through all of those pictures and gradually getting those up on social media.

How does it feel when you sell out shows in your hometown?
The second time I’d ever been on stage I sold out. I didn’t know how to get into comedy and get into rooms and open mics. I wrote a show about 12 years ago and performed it at Smith’s Alternative. I sold the show out because Canberrans are legends. It would have been a rough show because I didn’t know what I was doing; it was an hour of stories with not enough pay out at the end, the people (audience members) were lovely and some of them kept coming to shows. Canberra audiences have been coming for years. I don’t know many people in Canberra outside of my friends and family.

Sue, my sister, is the CEO of Canberra’s Domestic Violence Crisis Service and my other sister, Cassandra, is also still there too — she works in government. They come to the shows; they’re both the best. Both of them, over the years, have come down to Melbourne to see the show during the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, even though they know it’s coming to Canberra — then they also come and see it in Canberra. They’re both immensely supportive. They’ve been very good at spreading the word, which ties in with my hard work. And now my sister’s fiancé (Cassandra’s fiancé) is on board and has been spreading the word while on his travels around the country.

Tell us a bit about growing up in Canberra.
I had a really fun time in school in Canberra, and I’ve still got friends from school. I met all sorts of wild and wonderful characters at Mt Stromlo and Narrabundah; a lot of my fondest memories are probably from doing drama and theatre at Mt Stromlo. In year 10, we did a performance of The Crucible, and I was Goody Putnam which was quite a funny character to be cast as. We rehearsed after school for weeks, people bought the tickets and came to see the show, it felt exciting and grown up. I went on to do lots of drama and performances at Narrabundah which were really fun times, making films and theatre productions. It was a lot of good times and a lot of creativity and that’s obviously helped me a lot in this career now.

How do you feel about coming back to Canberra through your work as a comedian?

Firstly, it’s a great opportunity to see my family, which is very handy while I travel so much. Canberra audiences are genuinely a real treat. We all talk about this a lot, and I know I’m probably biased because I’m from there, but most of my friends in the stand-up community rate Canberra really highly on their touring schedules as the audiences are really supportive, listen and aren’t afraid to have a big laugh. They’re always highlights for the tour schedule for a bunch of us.

I’m really lucky to come back for an encore show as well.

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