Cousin Tara (Best Cabaret Nominee 2020 & Spirit of the Fringe Winner 2019 – Fringe at the Edge of the World) delivers an online hour of eclectic musical comedy cabaret that captures the heart of suburban Australian anxiety in Wukkas on the Web on Wednesday 24 June 2020.
Melbourne cabaret sensation Cousin Tara (Taranoia, The Spoon Monkeys, Pink Flappy Bits) is a worry-wart of the worst variety – and a pandemic hasn’t helped. With the Melbourne International Comedy Festival cancelled, there seemed to be more wukkas than ever, with no stage on which to air them.
Now she’s ready to emerge from her cabaret cocoon. With her original songs and charismatic wit, Cousin Tara mucks into the uncertainty of our current predicament, asking her audience: “Can I ever be anxiety-free, while the world is eating itself and me?” Maybe she was right to worry?
“I’m so grateful to the City of Melbourne for the opportunity to give this important show a life on screen,” says performer Tara Leigh Dowler. “Wukkas is a heartening and hilarious communion for all those anxious bugs still itching to make a difference.”
Dowler’s work as a songwriter and performer have earned her multiple accolades, including a Lyrebird Award and an Empire Records Songwriting Award. Her charismatic performance style has even been praised in Federal Parliament. Dowler has performed alongside Sammy J, PO PO MO CO, Mama Alto, Victoria Falconer (Midnight Marauders, Fringe Wives Club) and Liz Skitch (Moulin Beige).
In 2018, she toured with clowning improv legends Two Little Dickheads (2018 MICF & Edinburgh Fringe ). Tara’s independent credits include Dirty Words (Melbourne Fringe 2017), Taranoia (Fringe at the Edge of the World; MICF 2019) and Cousin Tara’s Intervention Variety Hour (Melbourne Fringe 2019).
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tara has been commissioned by the City of Casey and the City of Wyndham to create online content for the public. Cousin Tara: Wukkas premiered at Fringe at the Edge of the World in January 2020.
Filled with hysterical original songs and mad witch energy, Wukkas is the third full-length show from this emerging cabaret rock star, and her first full-length digital event.
“Dowler is a very talented musician and composer, and a delightful storyteller; there is a manic energy to her performance style.” – Pop Culture-y
Cousin Tara presents Wukkas on the Web on Wednesday 24 June 2020 – 7.00pm. For more information, visit: www.comedyfestival.com.au or YouTube for details.
Image: Cousin Tara – photo by Alexis-Desaulniers Lea / graphic design by Julia Kaddatz