A Year Since 30Before30

This time, one year ago, I was in the midst of one of the craziest projects I've ever dreamt up - the 30Before30 mission.

In the six weeks leading up to my 30th birthday on October 13 2010, I attempted 30 things I'd never done before. This included little things like drinking a cup of tea and drinking alcohol to the point of intoxication, physical things like pole-dancing, Morris dancing and climbing the Story Bridge, and controversial things like watching a porno and doing stand-up comedy (where I briefly managed to elicit a comedy version of a fatwah from Brisbane's open-mic community).'

Brisbane Times very kindly published my pieces, and some very kind people made donations. I raised about $100, split evenly between the Red Cross and the Brisbane Arts Theatre.

Of course, I failed in my endeavour. I only managed 27 things in that time frame. Keep in mind I was still working full time and running impro shows throughout. Projects had to be squeezed into any spare time I had. I was still pretty happy with what I achieved, but I do wish I'd made the 30.

But I sit here a year later, and ponder the whole experiment, and wonder whether it was anything more than a glitch in my life matrix. The only activity from the 30 list that I've subsequently done is stand-up comedy, but even that has stopped in recent months given regularly scheduled busy-ness.

I flirted briefly with the idea of doing the project, or something like it, before my *gulp* 31st birthday, now rolling upon me like a hourglass-shaped donut.

But I'm already focusing my creative energies on a few projects, and it's actually only proper that's where my attention is. The good news is - they do provide opportunities to try new things.

The first project is the Off the Cuff Festival, which is coming up between 29 September - 1 October at the Brisbane Powerhouse. This is a massive festival of improvised comedy, featuring shows from around Australia, ImproMafia's brilliant Prognosis: Death! and Agatha Holmes, as well as finishing with the 2011 Theatresports Nationals, a huge competition featuring teams from SIX states.

This is a really incredible achievement for ImproMafia, as we're entirely self-funding the festival. Normally these things don't go on without some kind of government funding or corporate sponsorship. But we've put in the hard yards over the years and built up enough money that we can do this ourselves. I'm so proud of the company.

This festival will in fact provide me with an opportunity to do something I've never done before - perform at the Brisbane Powerhouse.

Photo kindly taken by Kris Anderson

I'll be performing in shows on both Thursday 29 and Friday 30 September, then I have the great honour of co-hosting the Theatresports Nationals on Saturday 1 October.

I'd love to see friendly faces there, so do consider grabbing some tickets and coming along!

And if you have any suggestions about other activities I should do to ensure I'm always trying new things, feel free to let me know.