Sarah Gaul: Comedienne at Polit Bar combines music and comedy

Musical comedian Sarah Gaul says her first show as a headliner in Canberra, Sarah Gaul: Comedienne, has as its loose theme the female identity.

"The throughline is that it's all based on my own experiences. It's intrinsically feminist."

But, says the 26-year-old, the show - a combination of stand-up, improv and songs, all written, composed and performed by her - is intended to be inclusive, for audiences of all kinds to enjoy.

"One of my first songs, The Vegan Song, is about four years old and is often a crowd favourite. It's the story of a friend who came over for dinner after a long time and I slowly realise he's turned vegan and hasn't told me."

In part, she says, the song is a critique of the kind of vegan who uses it as "a stick to pound other people with"; as with some strands of feminism and other extremes of ideology, both online and elsewhere, she finds the absolutism and aggression off-putting.

Another song, When I Have a Girl, deals with the comedic aspects of raising a daughter and how she would do it. But, she stresses, that's purely a hypothetical child: she hasn't any intention of marrying or having children, seeing neither as necessary to a fulfilling life, and in still another number, Happy Ending, she dissects the fairytale narrative of stories like Cinderella and the expectations it provides for a happily-ever-after scenario in real life.

"That song pertains to the exact subject of a musical I'm writing, Killjoy."

Gaul grew up in the mining town of Muswellbrook in the Hunter Valley and began singing and dancing lessons as a child, At 15 she was awarded a scholarship to Ravenswood School for Girls in Sydney where she spent the last three years of high school. She spent a gap year in Newcastle, where her parents had moved to, performing in shows for Tantrum Theatre before coming to Canberra to study Arts/Law for a year in 2010.

"I was drawn to be an actor," she says, so she auditioned for and accepted into the Victorian College of the Arts, dropping out halfway through because she wanted to focus on comedy. She did want some sort of qualification, though, and completed an arts degree at Sydney University where she the extracurricular activities, winning the 2015 Sydney University Theatresports Cup. She was also the winner of the 2013 Short and Sweet Cabaret Festival. Over the past four years she's written and performed about half a dozen shows. She says that while her comedy career is a "slow burn", she's performed at the Melbourne and Adelaide Fringe Festivals, the Melbourne and Sydney Comedy Festivals and the Melbourne Cabaret Festival before coming to Canberra.

Gaul is donating 30 per cent of proceeds from the show to Beryl's Place, which provides housing and assistance to Canberra women and children experiencing domestic violence or homelessness.