Helen Child, aka Helchild, recently performed her show Dolly and the Dicks of Doom in the Melbourne Comedy Festival. It was funny, politically subversive, unique, entertaining and well executed with 2 characters and some sketch comedy on video – it was brilliant! We talk about her parents, artists and socialists, and how this has continued with Helen. We also discuss how she started in visual arts, already politically edgy, and how this, together with her activism and emerging skill of taking on a character at friends’ parties, led to her performing these characters on stage.

We also talk about how she has trained in boxing and martial arts from a young age, at her request. She tells us that women are stronger than we think, she has always trained, and still trains now to stay strong. Helen talks about how, where and when she has had to use her fighting skills, particularly when she would first arrive at a new school. Helen started performing stand up comedy, in character, in WA and then moved here to Melbourne after she grew out of the Perth comedy scene. Helen is a fascinating character, quite unlike anyone else I have met. During our podcast I wasn’t quite sure what she would say next, which is what made the podcast so interesting!!

Helen Child

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Pradeepa Timmermans 

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