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Maeve Higgins
 Maeve Higgins is described in her press releases as Ireland's 'newest and loveliest' comedy star, which gives her something to live up to, however briefly, since that fine country is rather well endowed with comedians - lovely or otherwise.
In fact, Higgins is known to Adelaide audiences since she was here last year at the Fringe as one of 'The Best Of The Irish' performers. As she's quick to point out, though,, that was a 20 minute spot and this time around she's out on her lonesome with an hour to fill in. For the "mildly spectacular standup comedian" it's her first solo show.
Somewhat more perturbing for Higgins, who had just flown into Adelaide when we spoke, was the news that the airline had misplaced an item of luggage
"They've lost one of my bags, lost my main bag," she recites almost in a mantra. "It's lost in London somewhere, and usually I'm pretty lucky."
The issue for Higgins is not so much that she currently has almost no clothes (apart from those she stands in) and that the missing luggage contains one of her joke books, is the temporary loss of some paintings, done by she and her sister Lily.
"Lilly is my sister, she's the reason I got into comedy in the first place," she confirms. Higgins, a girl from country Ireland, speaks with that instantly identifiable lilt the Irish have. Couple the unfamiliar tongue with a patchy mobile phone signal and you've got a recipe for misunderstanding. I'm almost certain she told me her sister had a hole in her head... "we paint together and she can change colours much faster than I can... we have these characters in our paintings and I had some of the paintings in my case which I show off during the performance... they have little creatures in them, like a responsibility dodo, an ethical fairy, and - Oh! I forgot. You see. I didn't know you didn't have badgers!"
Indeed we do not. A short time later she's been adequately advised on Australian fauna, including the fact that the wombat is not dissimilar to the badger - except of course in terms of colour, that one is a marsupial and one not, one lives in Australia and the other not you get the idea.
We also discuss the trams of the world, and Higgins tells me a story which sounds chillingly familiar. Apparently in Dublin they had a whole system of trams, which were pensioned off and the lines dug up sometime in the 1950s. Lately they've been introducing a new transport notion to Dubliners - trams. 'Uncanny' I think to myself, and tell her the story of the Glenelg tram line. She hoots with mirth.
"I'm not drinking because it's Lent," Higgins announces when we talk about surviving the Fringe. She lower her voice a dash: "I don't think it's going to last, to be honest.
"I loved it last year so much when I was doing the best of the Irish and now I'm looking forward so much to doing my own show."
Alex Wheaton
Maeve Higgins performs 'The Slightly Amazing...' at Higher Ground from Thurs 8 March
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