Jordan Raskopoulos: The woman, the myth, the viral comedy legend

Jordan Raskpoulos was doing what she does best long before her comedy and witty quips started reeling in a prolific internet presence. You might know her as the lead singer of internationally successful musical comedy act The Axis of Awesome, as the world-record holder for the longest performance of ‘The Song That Doesn’t End’ (five hours, 47 minutes), or for her performances on film (including I Am Woman), her gaming streams on Twitch, or her TEDxSydney Talk all about Living With High Functioning Anxiety.

For me, it’s that time I saw her do a gloriously horrifying reading of erotic dinosaur fan-fiction that lives rent-free in my mind – featuring Clive Palmer, a spaceship, and Dorothy the Dinosaur (so many roses…). Or that time she performed a powerful, tear-jerking rendition of ‘The Origin of Love’ from Hedwig and the Angry Inch at a special Queerstories event. Or that parody of ‘Pony’ by Ginuwine involving lyrics about donkeys, a crochet Shrek-ear beanie, and a brown leotard. (Yes, it was brilliant.) Or perhaps, the first tour that she did with Axis of Awesome after coming out publicly as a transgender woman in 2016 – when she stepped onto the stage of the dearly departed Giant Dwarf Theatre, she was funnier than ever, and holding herself with a newfound confidence.

People are allowed to be offended. I get to decide whether I respect their opinion or not.

After taking a hiatus from touring, Raskopoulos is back in the swing of doing comedy IRL. We caught up with her ahead of bringing her new show The Fool to Sydney Comedy Festival (April 26-30) off the back of a run at Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Adelaide Fringe Festival. 

So Jordan: who are you, and where do people know you from?

I guess I'm a big time comedy legend. The identity crisis I have is that I think different generations of people know me from different things. I really found that at Melbourne International Comedy Festival. You know, Gen Zs would come up and they would quote my TikToks to me. And then, Millennials would come up and talk about Axis of Awesome and the ‘Four Chord Song’, and then Elder Millennials and Gen Xs would come up and talk about The Ronnie Johns Half Hour and pasta and potatoes. And Boomers had no clue.

How has the comedy festival season been for you? 

I haven't been touring for a while, about seven years. When we finished up with Axis of Awesome I did a little bit of solo stuff here and there, but never really focused on touring. I focused very much on digital content and creating online… I did some quite serious stuff, video essays and TEDx and things like that. [During the] pandemic I was focused exclusively online, like many of us with our entire lives. So TikTok and Twitch have become the big focus for the last three years… But I sort of realised at, you know, halfway through last year, I wasn't leaving my house… I've remained indoors for another year beyond the lockdowns just because all the work I was doing was taking place online. 

It’s kind of like back to normal. But also, I haven't been around for ages. So all the people are different – everyone's older or moved on, and so it's really quite strange. 

Wow, so this time is like a coming back out of sorts for you?

Almost, yeah. And that's the purpose – to entertain – but the purpose is to also make sure that I see people, and I don't become a hermit… A big part of this year is to reconnect, start collaborating with other people again, and making good art that I'm proud of. 

What can audiences expect from your new show?

It looks like ADHD made manifest. There is no cohesive plot or theme. It is an hour of funny bits. There are songs, there are sketches, there’s PowerPoint presentations, there’s ruminations about the existence of the soul, and then there's a leotard at the end… There’s a lot of parody songs, taking well established songs and undermining them with silly lyrics. One of them is about the amount of human poo there is on the moon. I've done the calculations. 

We seem to be in quite a fraught time to do comedy, or be someone with a platform who criticises religion or advocates for the LGBTQIA+ community. Do you have concerns about “cancel culture”?

I am proud of the work that I make, and people are welcome to criticise it. People are allowed to be offended, people are entitled to their feelings, I don't get to tell someone how they feel about my work. All I get to do is decide whether I respect their opinion or not. 

So if I get feedback that a piece of work I've done has hurt someone or is offensive, I will consider what they have said and consider whether I have respect for that idea. And if I do, I'll probably change what I'm doing, because I don't want my jokes to hurt people I care about. But if I don't respect them, I will probably go harder. And in the case of groups or people who want to deny my existence, I don't care if I offend them. It doesn't bother me. They're perfectly entitled to be angry with what I've said, I just don't care.

Do you think that you can ever go “too far”?

We live in a complex society, there are lots of different types of people who have different sensibilities and have different histories all around us. We are not cognizant of everything in the world, it's always a dialogue… We have recognised some of these things historically, and some people have had the dialogue, and some people have done the investigation, and that often gets distilled down to a set of rules.

If I'm critical of anyone within the progressive realm, it's that people sometimes just look at the rules without understanding the history, and decide that they need to be the police of those rules. I try really hard to turn off the cop in my head, it's not my job to be the police of anyone. I can tell you my experience, I can tell you what I've learned, but I ultimately leave people to make their own judgments and make their own decisions. I don't tell anyone what to do or what to be offended by. And that's the way I feel about myself – if someone has feedback on what I'm doing, I consider it and then I'll make my own choice.

You’ve been living publicly as a trans woman for some years now. Is there a difference that’s really stuck out to you in your experience of doing comedy now?

I feel like I'm pretty similar in what I do, all my jokes and things like that. Like, I don't think I've changed all that much. But I believe that there are certain people in the world who would really struggle to find a woman funny or find a trans person funny, and rather than examine that and see it as a personal failing, they just become very resistant to engaging with things. 

I would say my audience now is much more queer than it was previously. And I know that there are people who would have happily come to see me before transition, who would not now. And I think it sucks for them… I am happy with the life I'm leading. I'm happy with the people who are coming into my show. 

I wish that there was less prejudice in the world and that more people could bring themselves to enjoy the works of people that are different to them. Because I think people who are different are fascinating. I think we live in a very diverse culture, we have so much to learn from different people. And why are you not curious to know how other people live? And why are you not open to learning new things about them and about yourself? It's sad to see closed minded people, I feel bad for them… It's funny that the people who insisted I “wasn't a man” quickly changed their tale once I transitioned.

Can you tell me about one of the wildest things ever done on stage?

We did a song called ‘Look at Jordan She's Drinking Some Milk’ where it was just the lyrics “Look at Jordan she's drinking some milk” over and over again while I drank two two-litre bottles of milk and then vomited them. That was the performance.

What is something that you have never had the chance to do in your career that you would really like to do?

I think doing a proper musical would be lovely. I did musical theatre at uni and in high school. Hedwig [and the Angry Inch] would be a big one, because the songs are just bangers, great songs. You know what I've also toyed with the idea of but never done? I want to just do an Elvis show. No bells and whistles, just dress up like Elvis, sing a bunch of Elvis songs, pretend to be Elvis.

Where are some of your favourite places to go out in Sydney?

You know what I'm a big fan of right now? Fortress. I was at Fortress Trivia last night and I won. I'm genuinely excited about that venue. [I was thinking to myself] “What is this place?” It's not a nightclub, and it's not a pub. What is it? And I realised: it's an RSL for nerds.

I also just love a museum. Whatever museum, the Australian Museum, or I go to the Aquarium, I’ve also got an annual pass to the zoo. I also love Raging Waters, I’ve got an annual pass to ride the waterslide. 

What’s your recommendation for the Sydney Comedy Festival?

My recommendation is that people go and see someone that they haven't heard of. Go and buy a ticket to your big show that you're going to see, the big name, but go and buy an equal number of tickets to comedians you’ve never heard of before. You may be delighted and you may get to see someone before they become a household name. No one gets anywhere in this career without people taking a risk.

Is there anything you’d like to add?

Yeah look, I think Sydney still has a little bit more waking up to do post lockout laws and post pandemic lockdowns. But there are very eager performers and artists and venues making things happen. I've been travelling to different cities, and Sydney is still a little bit sleepy. So wake yourselves up, get out there and get a bloody culture up ya!

Jordan Raskopoulos is performing The Fool at Sydney Comedy Festival from April 26-30. You can grab a ticket for $35-$38 over here.