Laura Johnston’s comedy show has hit the stage in regional NSW and Edinburgh – and now it’s coming to her hometown. Photo: c_for_clicked.
If you’ve seen Laura’s social media posts asking to meet new people, she really means it.
The comedian is looking to meet hundreds of her fellow Canberrans before Christmas so she can invite them to her comedy show.
“I ended up helping a lady move house. … I helped another group of people with a wedding party where we went outside and weeded their backyard to convince them to buy tickets.
“It’s about getting my name out there, but it’s more about getting them to know me as a person.”
Preparing for the show is a full-circle moment for Laura, who last stood on stage at the Playhouse Theatre in 2022 as the co-director of ANU Law Revue (a student-run sketch show).
Just a few years later, she’s preparing to film her first comedy special, called That’s… Brave, all about her decision to quit her day job for comedy.
“I remember standing on the stage, right before I was about to do the show, and thinking, ‘I wish it was just me up here and the people in the audience had paid to see me’.
“That’s where the dream started.”
Laura’s the first to say her path towards stand-up wasn’t necessarily an expected career change.
(She’d never performed before she quit her job and did her first show two weeks later.)
“One of the things that I’ve enjoyed is when old high school friends found out that I was doing comedy,” she says.
“A lot of them were really surprised. They were like, ‘Oh, it makes sense now that I think about it, but I never would have predicted it … My parents were freaking out a little.”
Since the switch, she’s made audiences laugh at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, the Adelaide Fringe Festival, and in Scotland.
Laura is hoping to tick two things off her bucket list in January 2026. Photo: Patrick Guthridge.
While That’s … Brave is the same show Laura performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and on a tour through regional NSW earlier this year, the content won’t be the same.
“It’s the same story progression – it’s how I became a stand-up comedian,” she says.
“My rule, when I was taking it on tour, is that I was trying to improve it. Every time that I did it, I would do parts of it differently.”
Canberra company Missing Bits Productions will also film the Playhouse show, which Laura says is another milestone for her first filmed special.
According to her “behind-the-scenes math”, she’ll need to sell about 320 tickets to fill out at least the bottom section of the Playhouse, while 1099 tickets would fill two shows.
Laura says that while one show (on 30 January) has been locked in, the hope is that strong demand will lead to a second show being added to the line-up.
She describes the show and venue as a “bucket list” dream she’s held for years.
“The fact that I get to be chasing my dream this hard is incredibly exciting.
“I feel completely electric and like I’m doing what I should be doing.”
That’s … Brave contains smoke and haze effects, and is not suitable for people under 15.
Keep up with Laura and her upcoming shows via her Facebook and Instagram.
Tickets can be purchased through the Canberra Theatre Centre’s website for between $35 and $45. The show will be held on 30 January from 8 pm … unless she meets 1099 people.
