Possibly Australia’s only juvenile delinquent-teaching, rap-battling, twitter-ific gourmand to ever don a vintage frock on the comedy stage, to say that Mel Buttle is a hilarious bundle of contradictions – is an understatement. Perhaps it’s her background teaching in some of the toughest schools in Queensland, and a passionate obsession with gangsta rap aren’t so inconsistent.
Since her debut in March 2010, Mel has had the kind of year that only young comedians and frequent fliers can dream about. After selling out the Brisbane Comedy Festival, she raided the Melbourne Comedy Festival walking away with a nomination for Best Newcomer.
Mel’s fans follow her embarrassed misadventures through modern life on her cult-hit Twitter feed, which often return in souped-up, larger than embellished form standup stories onstage.
In between her prolific blogging, supporting Josh Thomas in his Perth shows, and two weeks cohosting Nova FM Breakfast in Brisbane, Mel continues to appear regularly on ABC Local 612 and The Circle (Network Ten). But perhaps her proudest achievement has been to score three tweets on ABC TV’s Q&A in three straight weeks.
Nominated Best Newcomer, Melbourne Comedy Festival 2010
“Buttle has the right mix of confidence and vulnerability to get the audience on side and the material to keep them there ... there is something about Buttle that brings a young Judith Lucy to mind. It would come as no surprise if she was just as successful.” - Brisbane Courier Mail, March 2010
“With the confidence, presence and sarcasm of a young Kitty Flanagan, Buttle had the audience eating out of her hand with some hilariously wrong stories...” - The West Australian, August 2010
