julia rorke

I am a writer/performer of the stage and screen! In the deep past I self produced web series projects online and toured one woman theatre shows to fringe festivals throughout Australia and the UK. My short play ‘Victoria’s Secret Angel Virgin/Bakerz Delight’ was published through the Griffin Theatre/ATYP Fresh Ink National Studio and Currency Press.

Currently working on:

Jeneane’s Kinky House of Astrology

a comedic adult animation tv project with Princess Pictures (Summer Heights High, Lunatics), Bento Box Entertainment (Bob’s Burgers) and Debbie Liebling (Pen15/South Park)

A TV project about women, men and porn with Macgowan Films (The Great)

PAST WORK:

Don’t Be A C*nt This Is How

Adelaide Fringe 2017

Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2017

★★★★ Adelaide Advertiser

“What show are you seeing?” asked my mother.

“Don’t be a C***,” I said.

“I was just asking a question,” she replied, miffed.

If you’re prone to accidental (or maybe on purpose) bouts of being a c-word, then this show is ready to sort you out.

A kind of self-help manual delivered by a manic woman, it was absolutely hilarious.

Between delivering pearls of wisdom telling you how to be less s***, she goes back through her past to show us that she used to be a bit crap at life too but isn’t anymore, so you can totally trust her.

This was the funniest show I’ve seen at this year’s Fringe so far — it might be an absurdist masterpiece.

★★★★ YEWTH Adelaide

Sydneysider, comedian, and kombucha enthusiast, Julia Rorke, took to the stage of Tuxedo Cat to fulfil her destiny of telling people how to be less shit. Don’t be a C***: This is How is a bold, brash, 100% organic, sometimes vegan, always hilarious and infinitely crass self-help guide to unleashing your best person; or rather, not being a shit person.

Rorke, explodes from behind the velvet curtain and the audience strap themselves in for 55 minutes of unrelenting, in-your-face satire. Clad in fluorescent active-wear and a sparkly silver cape, Rorke opens her performance, thrashing her limbs and slut-dropping to an energetic SAFM dance banger. Rorke assumes the character of Dr Julia Greenberg, an inspirational speaker, promising the audience, whom she simultaneously “used to be” and “is just like”, they can get through “da pain, da sorrow and da sadness”, with the help of, Lil Wayne and Christina Milian and of course, “gratiflude”.

Don't Be A C***: This is How is a clever and chaotic commentary of the sheer ridiculousness and ultimate meaninglessness of inspirational, fitspirational, detox tea-pedalling, Instagram brunch-babes. Interspersed within the “self-help” narrative, are self-depreciating, chaotic monologues of drunken misadventures and regret.

Rorke drags her audience through her five step guide to becoming their best selves; whether that be through the consumption of 13L of water per day, or showing “gratiflude” for everything from Milo, chairs and curtains to the contraceptive pill. Multitasking is cleverly preached as the supreme rule - a rule which allows for squatting and Bible reading, waxing and phone calls and reciprocated oral sex. Inspirational quotes along the lines of “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain” and “If your friend’s a c***t, then so are you” sarcastically delivered throughout the performance, with a truly comical cynicism. Along the way, Rorke connects to her audience through insults and Atomic Kitten sing-a-longs on a painful journey to the realisation that nothing can save her from herself.

Explosive, unrelenting and painfully relatable, Rorke brings out the best and worst (but mostly the worst) in all of us; leaving her audience doubled over with laughter and questioning whether they hate them themselves or their noisy, sweary self-help guru more. Like hate-watching Freelee The Banana Girl’s self-absorbed, unrealistic spiritual vegan propaganda, but deliberately funny. Rorke exudes confidence and hilarity in all aspects of her show; from her nonsensical shouting to her over exaggerated dance moves - a genuinely hilarious, “take no prisoners” satirical stand-up show, riddled with nihilism and crippling cynicism.

She concludes her performance in a shocking, dramatic display of glitter, coconut oil and lentils.

Catch Don't Be A C***: This is How at Tuxedo Cat for a second round of shows from March 16 to 18. Tickets via FringeTix.

Not Another F cked B*tch In India

Adelaide Fringe 2018

Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2018 - The Malthouse Theatre

Adelaide Fringe 2018 - Best Emerging Comedian (nominee)

Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2018 - The Golden Gibbo Award (nominee)

‘Viciously hilarious… it’s so fast and relentless, it’s near overwhelming at times. If you want something more theatrical and less stand up comedic, then this is a fantastic show.’’ ★★★★ - Daily Review Melbourne

“This is a really fast-paced, incredibly funny show that is well and truly worth enlightening yourself with.” ★★★★ - Beat Magazine Melbourne

Jeneane’s Kinky Room of Astrology & Ciggiez

Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2019

Edinburgh Fringe 2019 - Underbelly

Julia Rorke ‘Jeneane’s Kinky Room of Astrology & Ciggiez’ @ Underbelly Cowgate

The Skinny Edinburgh - Even amongst the expected level of Fringe absurdity, Julia Rorke is alarmingly odd - ★★★ - Review by Charlie Ralph

If one were to describe the Fringe in one indelible image, it may well be the sight of Julia Rorke high-kicking and thrusting her way towards a total mental breakdown inside a cave at 11pm on a Sunday. Clad in sunglasses and lycra, yelling baffling astrology lingo at her audience and inexplicably offering them muffins before confronting them with sexual advances, one can safely say that Rorke is both the spirit of the Fringe personified and like nothing you've ever seen before.

It is important to note that Rorke is undoubtedly a talented performer, pulling an initially reluctant audience along with her through the strength of her aggressive charisma alone. Rorke's show is entitled Jeneane's Kinky Room of Astrology and Ciggies, but little credence is given to the idea that she is playing a character. This creates a difficult situation in which if this is a character, it’s poorly-done as jokes give way for obtuse rants and psychosis with very few punchlines. 

On the other hand, if 'Jeneane' is a thinly-veiled portrayal of herself, the show is thrillingly confessional and truly funny in its oddness. While hundreds of shows a year proclaim to allow a comedian to ‘reveal their true self’, Rorke's show is perhaps unintentionally revolutionary in its frankly honest portrayal of a woman rejoicing in behaviour outside of societal norms.

It is undoubtedly recommended viewing and a memorable experience amongst a sea of stand-ups striving towards the creative heights of TV panel shows. As a comedy show, the laughs are thin on the ground, but as a baffling character study performed by a gripping on-stage presence, it is a sensation.

Julia Rorke: Jeneane's Kinky Room of Astrology and Ciggies, Underbelly Cowgate (Iron Belly), until 24 Aug, 11pm, £9-11

Fest Mag Edinburgh - Julia Rorke: Jeneane’s Kinky Room of Astrology & Ciggiez

Halfway through the Fringe, and Julia Rorke seems fairly acclimatised to people wandering off halfway through her show. 

One particular section is clearly a tipping point—a quasi-karaoke session—and it’s interesting watching one front-row couple finally decide "it’s 11.30pm, let’s catch that last bus, because we have absolutely no idea what is going on here". Or thoughts to that effect. Rorke waves them off cheerily. 

Not that anyone else is entirely sure what’s happening either, but the problem with leaving early is that you will never find out what Rorke does next, and what she does is often fascinating. Resplendent in sports-bra, bright green strides and matching cape, the Aussie absurdist really is having a red-hot go at capturing that elusive Fringe spirit. 

Ostensibly, this show is about a character called Jeneane Morris doing people’s horoscopes, which is quite a promising premise. But she only gets an hour to express herself each day, so after an intriguing recorded intro about Julia/Jeneane’s childhood, she lets rip. For a while, it’s pretty darn entertaining, a jade flash of energetic emoting. But then Rorke drifts. 

While her sheer chutzpah had previously held the attention, the second half is a hot mess. There’s an awful lot of frenetic astrological gabbling. Perhaps punchlines are more apparent on better days, but tonight it feels like a Russell Grant cheese-before-bedtime fever dream that we are somehow trapped in.

Other press

‘Kyle Walmsley's Food Baby transports us to a cheap restaurant for a break-up scene driven by the comically gifted Julia Rorke.’ Jason Blake, Sydney Morning Herald

‘Very funny and very frank…..’ Jason Blake, Audrey Arts Journal (Sydney)

‘FOOD BABY by Kyle Walmsley, performed with startling elan and insight to the judgement of the humour, by Julia Rorke’ Kevin Jackon, KJ Theatre Diary, Sydney

‘Julia Rorke gives a performance as Mathilde, the flower shop girl, that is either wonderfully crafted naivety or horribly inexperienced performing – I couldn’t divine which it was.. Whichever it is, it is a fascinating stroke of genius from Mr Cotton in the casting of this young woman, for it works in the most tender way.’ Kevin Jackson, KJ Theatre Diary, Sydney https://kjtheatrediary.com/tributes/

‘This play asks a lot of the performers and most of them don't have the comic chops to quite deliver. Exceptions are Emma Harris playing Vernon's hysterical and useless mother and Julia Rorke playing the vicious young Ella.’ Concrete Playground, Sydney

Fake Nation Web Series 2018