Gabbi Bolt set out to be a "serious" singer and songwriter but her sense of humour kept getting in the way.
Two years ago she decided to embrace it and embarked on a career in musical comedy. Almost overnight she found herself on the national comedy circuit.
"If you'd asked me two years ago, I never thought I would do comedy but I'm really glad I gave it a crack. It's changed my life," she says.
"Now I truly feel I can do it, if that makes sense. I feel it is achievable for me."
Bolt is joining leading satirists - The Chaser's Charles Firth, The Shovel's James Schloeffel and Mark Humphries - for The War on 2022. The tour runs from November 23 to December 10 and stops off at the Central Coast, Newcastle, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Canberra, Wollongong, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart, Sydney and Perth.
The live show is a fast-paced end-of-year wrap that has become a major fixture on the Australian comedy scene. It features a round-up of the top headlines from The Chaser and The Shovel, musical performances, political sketches and awkward audience interactions.
"This year, we'll touch on hilarious topics such as the war in Ukraine, the impending climate apocalypse, destruction of women's bodily autonomy in America and how to be as charismatic as Peter Dutton," says Firth.
"Gabbi has taken the Australian comedy scene by storm this year. We're incredibly lucky to have her on board.
"She won Best Newcomer at the Sydney Comedy Festival 2022, Best of the Week at the Adelaide Fringe 2022, and last year won the prestigious Moosehead Award at the Melbourne Comedy Festival."
Bolt, who describes her rapid rise to fame as "a weird career pivot", is excited to start the tour.
"Anything and everything is on the cards. These days the satire in politics is a lot less obvious but we still find angles and that's half the joy of it now."
Bolt grew up in Bathurst. Her mother encouraged her to have an opinion and to voice it.
"Mum was a social worker and I remember she went to a rally when I was younger and came back with a badge. So for show and tell that week I was, like, 'I went to this rally with my mum about why teachers need to be paid more money'. Mum got called in to the school and they said 'Gabbi's been expressing political ideologies' and mum was, like, 'She's eight!'.
"I've always been allowed to explore what I believe in and make a case for it, and I'm glad that I was because I feel like I have a better grasp on the political climate."
Bolt still can't quite believe how rapidly her life has changed. Two years ago she was uploading songs to her TikTok account.
"I put my serious music on the backburner when I decided to become a comedian," she says.
"I figured out that I fit the box of a comedian a lot better than I fit the box as a musician. I mean, even when I was a muso I used to tell jokes in between my songs.
"I have one more solo comedy show this year - and it's in my home town of Bathurst - and then I kick off my new show next year.
"It's a dream come true. It's the perfect job for me, I'm loving it."
I ask Bolt about a comment comedian Wil Anderson made earlier this year, comparing her to Tim Minchin. She remembers it well.
"The story behind that is quite sweet. It was my first time at the Adelaide Fringe and I was looking at my ticket sales for the week and for some reason my opening night had only sold six tickets.
"And it was that night.
"So I went online and said 'If 10 people buy tickets within the next half an hour I'll do a shoey on stage'. And for some reason, that worked.
"What also helped is that Wil Anderson was also at Adelaide Fringe and he did an ABC interview and they asked him who he recommended people go and see, and he said 'There's a young comedian I've worked with, Gabbi Bolt, and seeing her now would be like saying I saw Tim Minchin before he was big. Gabbi is that sort of act'.
"It was really helpful. He's so lovely. I ended up selling 30 tickets to that opening night."
And the shoey? You know, that Aussie "tradition" of drinking a beer out of a shoe?
"Back in February and March COVID was still a concern in Adelaide and people took it seriously," Bolt says.
"The organisers had to do a risk assessment about my planned shoey. It said, basically, the shoey will be performed outside of the venue so there's no mess on the stage, she will have to provide her own shoe ... it was just so funny.
"I went to Kmart because I was not going to drink out of the only shoes I bought with me, because I had to do the rest of the week in those shoes, so I bought the cheapest pair of imitation Crocs and took them on stage with me.
"I did a shoey, well, it was more of a beer shower. But I thought that for comedic purposes, it was quite a funny shoe to use.
"OK, it was the most un-Australian shoey in the world, but I was fine with it. I might do it again. And I still wear them."
The War on 2022 stops off at Civic Theatre Newcastle on Thursday, November 24. Tickets are on sale now.
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