A Howlin' Good Time

Laura Dunemann and Eleanor Webster chat about their comedy festival personas Dingo and Wolf (respectively) as if they're all old mates. Visions of a warped, less posh Sex And The City foursome come to mind. “We are also not afraid to look ugly,” Webster says. “[Or] get into the dirty stuff,” Dunemann adds.

The two met at uni, creating the characters through the Monash Law Revue. “The year the Dingo and Wolf characters came out of the revue, we were the only girls,” says Dunemann. “It was almost like they were trying to fill the female quota.”

Performing Arts graduates, the duo chose to focus on comedy.

“I think something we have both found with comedy, [is] that it's allowed us to be proactive as opposed to sitting around waiting for an agent to call,” says Webster. “We can make our own work. I think that's the best advice that's ever been given; if there's a role you want you have to go out and create it yourself.”

“I like to take the advice of Stephen Fry,” Dunemann adds, “which is that the way to have any kind of longevity as a comedian is by being a writer.”

The premise of their show, Winning At Life, is that Dingo and Wolf are delivering a motivational workshop. Dunemann says “it's stand-up, but we perform characters.” The duo performed as Wolf and Dingo at last year's MICF as part of the Raw Comedy competition. In Wining At Life, “Dingo really gets her own back; it's a bit more even. In the past Wolf was almost too dominate and therefore mean.”

The show is directed by Dave Callan, who “acted as a great mentor figure for us,” says Dunemann. “We cover sex a lot, as well as boys, relationships, and body image. All those superficial things.

“The thing that we like to remember when we think about their back stories is how much they need each other. They are real losers and loners and don't really cope in the world on their own.”

“We don't ever want the audience to wonder, 'Why are the even friends if they fight so much?” adds Webster. “But there's real friendship there, even if they have been thrown together by necessity.”