I’m a microbiologist but also a rock-climber, a snowboarder and recently, I accidentally became a stand-up comedian.
Earlier this year, I found myself on stage at the Enmore Theatre delivering my first-ever stand-up routine to a live audience at the Sydney Comedy Festival (this was not something I ever expected to put on my CV). Of course, with my work involving a variety of fungus, I started with a few jokes about thrush. My parents flew down from Queensland to watch, which wasn’t awkward at all!
It all started when my friend and colleague was asked to do a Science Comedy program and he sensibly said no immediately – then said, you should ask Paige; and it kind of snowballed from there. I was one of nine scientists on this program called Future Science Talks, Comedy Edition, and we had some training from an actual comedian before they sent us all out on stage.
It was a sold-out show, and though I’m usually quite confident about public speaking, I was pretty nervous going on and had a mild asthma attack about half an hour beforehand. When I was on stage I spoke a bit faster than I had planned to. But once I got a few laughs from the audience, I relaxed and the rest was fine.
I thought it would be a one-off, but I’ve been asked to do a repeat performance next month at the Sydney Fringe Festival, and I’m also a panellist on the National Science Quiz, being live-streamed from Melbourne’s Capitol Theatre on 27 August, so watch this space!
I am normally ok with facing my fears. The fear in comedy is a social fear, it’s about possible humiliation – as opposed to rock climbing, where the fear is a physical one. One is about protecting your reputation, the other about protecting your life.
I had a very active childhood where I did a lot of physically challenging things. I have skied since I could walk. When my brother and I were younger, our parents packed us up and moved us to Austria for two years, and when most kids went home for a nap at lunchtime, Dad would be at the gate with our skis because we loved it so much.
At 18 I got into rock-climbing, partly to prove an ex-boyfriend wrong, and soon got addicted to it. I came first at a national competition once, but now I just climb for fun. I grew up and went to university in Queensland and have been the President of Sport Climbing Queensland for the past six years, running state and national competitions and selecting representative teams.
Rock climbing has opened up lots of opportunities for me. I met my now-partner Brendan through rock-climbing. We were friends for a while until one fateful night beside a jacuzzi, and we’ve been together ever since. He’s the reason I moved to NSW. During COVID, his company offered him a role in Sydney and when I finished my PhD, I moved down here - and went straight into lockdowns. A few months later, I started work at Macquarie and have now been here nearly two years.
A lot of scientists are into rock climbing; my theory is that it’s because rock climbing is about solving problems. Bouldering involves a single problem with no ropes and a crash pad – you often climb in a group and you have to figure out particular positions and moves to unlock the sequence to make it to the top. The harder the grade, the tricker the moves become.
Rock climbing is like any tricky challenge – it takes persistence and practice, working on a problem until you get it right. Like science. And like comedy – before my next performance, I need to practice pausing and letting the audience laugh. I’m facing that fear head on!
Paige Erpf will be a panellist on the National Science Quiz at 3:30pm on August 27 – live streamed from The Capitol Theatre.
Catch Paige live onstage at the Future Science Talks: Comedy Edition | Sydney Fringe at 6:30 PM on September 14 at The Bank, Newtown.
