Latest news with #JantyBlair
ABC News
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Encore: Janty Blair is the BMW of standup comics
Janty Blair's father, Bob, was a staff sergeant in the Australian Army, and so she grew up moving around the country. Home for Janty, a Butchulla, Mununjhali and Woppaburra woman, was really Hervey Bay in Queensland, where she would go on trips every year to visit her aunties, uncles, cousins and grandparents, all of whom were stomach-achingly funny. While Janty loved performing in the school musicals, she was quite a serious child and didn't find her funny bone until later in life. Instead of following her childhood dream of becoming an actress, Janty became a nurse and then a midwife. But in her 50s, Janty went on a serendipitous date. Two days later, she was performing in her first stand-up open mic night, and just a few months later she was crowned the winner of the biggest First Nations comedy competition in the country. Further information Originally broadcast July 2024. You can keep up to date with Janty's tour schedule by visiting her website. Conversations' Executive Producer is Nicola Harrison. This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. Find out more about the Conversations Live National Tour on the ABC website.
The Age
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
There's a story in that: Brisbane Comedy Festival puts life at the centre of laughs
If the adage that 'you're never too old to try something new' applies to anyone on this year's Brisbane Comedy Festival line-up, it's definitely Janty Blair. Blair, a proud Butchulla, Mununjali and Woppaburra woman, spent more than three decades working as a nurse and midwife. Supporting birthing mothers was her area of expertise. But a series of events in her mid-50s changed her course towards comedy. Or as she puts it: 'comedy found me'. 'I had just gotten back into [nursing and midwifery] and I had moved up to Hervey Bay,' she explains. 'Then my sister cousin who I was very close to passed away. 'And I said to myself, 'what would I do if I couldn't fail?'' Loading A few months after COVID ended, Blair helped her sister produce a comedy show in Townsville. It was a huge success. By the time she found herself on a Bumble date in Byron Bay at a comedy afternoon, her destiny was all but writing itself. 'There were all these non-Indigenous women performing, and I thought, no one looks like me,' Blair says.
Sydney Morning Herald
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
There's a story in that: Brisbane Comedy Festival puts life at the centre of laughs
If the adage that 'you're never too old to try something new' applies to anyone on this year's Brisbane Comedy Festival line-up, it's definitely Janty Blair. Blair, a proud Butchulla, Mununjali and Woppaburra woman, spent more than three decades working as a nurse and midwife. Supporting birthing mothers was her area of expertise. But a series of events in her mid-50s changed her course towards comedy. Or as she puts it: 'comedy found me'. 'I had just gotten back into [nursing and midwifery] and I had moved up to Hervey Bay,' she explains. 'Then my sister cousin who I was very close to passed away. 'And I said to myself, 'what would I do if I couldn't fail?'' Loading A few months after COVID ended, Blair helped her sister produce a comedy show in Townsville. It was a huge success. By the time she found herself on a Bumble date in Byron Bay at a comedy afternoon, her destiny was all but writing itself. 'There were all these non-Indigenous women performing, and I thought, no one looks like me,' Blair says.
