Geraldine Mary Quinn is an Australian songwriter, guitarist, singer, comedian, and actor based in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. She has performed solo shows at many arts and comedy festivals, including ''Hex And The City'' in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, Melbourne, and the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

(2009), and ''Queen Bitch'' at the 2018

Melbourne International Comedy Festival The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the largest international comedy festival in the world. First held in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typically starti ...

Early life and education

Geraldine Mary Quinn''Who's Who in Australia 2017'', ConnectWeb, 2017. was born in

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and moved to

with her family at a young age. She attended

St John's Regional College St John's Regional College is a Catholic co-educational secondary school located in Dandenong region in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. College history St John's Regional College began when the parish priests of ...

between 1987 and 1992. She trained as an actor at National Theatre Drama School.

Career

Live performance

In 2007 Quinn performed at The Famous Spiegeltent with Paul Kelly in a celebration of his songs by leading cabaret artists including

Eddie Perfect Edmund Perfect (born 17 December 1977) is an Australian musician, comedian, writer and actor. Widely known for his role as Mick Holland in Channel Ten's TV series ''Offspring'' in which he performs his own music, he has recorded solo albums an ...

Camille O'Sullivan Camille O'Sullivan is an Irish singer, musician, and actress. She is known for her unique, dramatic musical style and Cover version, covers of artists such as Radiohead, Tom Waits, David Bowie, Nick Cave, Sinéad O'Connor, and Shane MacGowan, S ...

Paul Capsis Paul Capsis (born 1964) is an Australian actor, singer and playwright who mainly works in cabaret and musical theatre. He has also released four albums, ''Paul Capsis Live'' (2004), ''Boulevard Delirium'', ''Everybody Wants to Touch Me'' (2008) ...

, and

Debra Byrne Debra Anne Byrne (born 30 March 1957), formerly billed as Debbie Byrne, is an Australian pop singer, variety entertainer, theatre and TV actress and writer, director and choreographer of cabaret. From April 1971 to March 1975 she was a founding ...

. In 2007, 2008, and 2015, Quinn toured with the

(MICF) Roadshow. In 2009, she performed her show ''Hex And The City'' at

Adelaide Fringe Adelaide Fringe, formerly Adelaide Fringe Festival, is Australia’s biggest arts festival and is the world's second-largest annual arts festival (after the Edinburgh Festival Fringe), held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. Between ...

and in Melbourne, where it sold out, and then at the

. In April 2014, Quinn hosted the Upfront Gala at MICF. In July 2015, Quinn was asked to perform at the opening of the ''David Bowie Is'' exhibition in Melbourne. In 2018, Quinn performed her show ''Queen Bitch'' at the

Malthouse Theatre Malthouse Theatre is the resident theatre company of The Malthouse building in Southbank, part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct. In the 1980s it was known as the Playbox Theatre Company and was housed in the Playbox Theatre in Melbourne's CBD ...

for MICF. Daniel Ziffer of the Herald Sun gave it 3.5 stars out of 5, describing it as a "funfair ride of laughs and thrills" and "sharp and controlled". In 2023, Quinn performed her original show ''BROAD'' at MICF. The show was highly successful, receiving positive reviews in ''Australian Stage Online'', Over the course of her career, Quinn has also performed and toured solo shows at the Sydney Big Laugh Comedy Festival, Bangalow Arts Festival, Brisbane Cabaret Festival,

Melbourne Cabaret Festival The Melbourne Cabaret Festival is a not-for-profit cabaret festival that has been held each year since 2010 in the city of Melbourne in Australia and that by 2013 had grown to become the world's second-largest event of its kind. The festival was l ...

New Zealand International Comedy Festival The New Zealand International Comedy Festival (NZICF; sometimes the NZ Intl Comedy Fest) is a comedy festival in both Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand. The festival is run by the New Zealand Comedy Trust, and is held across three weeks duri ...

Fringe World Fringe World, or Fringe World Festival, is an annual multi-arts fringe festival held in Perth, Western Australia during the city's summer festival season of January/February. The annual program of events features artists and acts from a range ...

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, and the

Adelaide Cabaret Festival The Adelaide Cabaret Festival is an annual arts festival featuring cabaret held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It has been held in June each year since 2001, with the exception of 2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia ...

Television and radio

Quinn has appeared on Australian TV shows '' Spicks and Specks'', ''

RocKwiz ''RocKwiz'' is an Australian television live music trivia quiz show, focused on rock music and featuring different guest artist musicians who perform live in each episode. The show was co-created by Brian Nankervis, Peter Bain-Hogg, and Ken C ...

'', ''

Adam Hills Tonight ''Adam Hills Tonight'', formerly known as ''Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight'', is a comedic Australian television interview show that ran from February 2011 to July 2013 on ABC1. It was hosted by comedian Adam Hills and co-starred Hannah Gads ...

'',

The Comedy Channel The Comedy Channel (promoted on air as comedy) was an Australian subscription television channel available on Foxtel, and Optus Television. The channel ceased broadcasting on 1 September 2020. History A joint venture between Artist Services ( ...

and '' Upper Middle Bogan''. She is a regular guest on ABC Radio's ''The Conversation Hour''.

Music

Quinn has released several albums. In 2020, Quinn performed Casey Bennetto's song ''I AM'' as an entry in ''"SBS's Eurovision 2020 - Australia Decides"'', the competition to decide Australia's entry for the

Eurovision Song Contest 2020 The Eurovision Song Contest 2020 was planned to be the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It would have taken place in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following the country's victory at the with the song " Arcade" by Duncan Laurence. This w ...

Awards and nominations

Quinn won the Best Emerging Cabaret Artiste award at the 2006

Green Room Awards The Green Room Awards are Australian peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, theatre companies, independent theatre, musical theatre, contemporary and experimental performance, and opera. The awards, which were established in ...

in Melbourne, and was nominated for Original Songs. In the 2010 MICF, Quinn was nominated for the

Golden Gibbo Award The Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) is the largest stand-alone comedy festival and the largest international comedy festival in the world. First held in 1987, it takes place annually in Melbourne over four weeks, typically starti ...

(Best Independent Local Production) for her solo production ''Shut Up and Sing''. ''Shut Up and Sing'' went on to be nominated in the 2010 Victorian

for Best Cabaret Production, Best Cabaret Artiste and Original Songs. Quinn is a two-time recipient of the Moosehead Award for the development of her 2011 show ''You're the Voice: Songs for the Ordinary by an Anthemaniac'' (directed by

Casey Bennetto Casey Bennetto is an Australian writer, musician, performer and radio broadcaster. Bennetto was born in 1969 in Mildura, Victoria, and grew up in Greensborough, Melbourne. He wrote and composed the musical ''Keating!'' for the Melbourne Inte ...

, writer of ''

Keating! ''Keating!'' is a sung-through musical which portrays the political career of former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating. Keating was Prime Minister between 1991 and 1996; the musical follows him from his ascent to the leadership through ...

'') and her 2014 show ''MDMA: Modern Day Maiden Aunt'' (directed by Justin Hamilton). ''You're the Voice'' went on to win the 2011 Melbourne International Comedy Festival's Golden Gibbo Award for Best Independent Local Production. It was the second year running Quinn had been nominated for the award. ''You're the Voice'' and the follow-up ''The Last Gig in Melbourne'' were nominated for Best Cabaret Artiste, Best Cabaret Production and won for Original Songs in the 2011 Green Room Awards. At the 2014 New Zealand Fringe Festival, ''Stranger,'' an original show by Quinn inspired by the music of

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

, was nominated for Stand Out Performer and Best Music. In 2014, Quinn was nominated for her third Green Room Award for Best Cabaret Artiste for ''Sunglasses at Night: The 80s Apocalypse Sing Along Cabaret''. Also in 2014, ''MDMA: Modern Day Maiden Aunt'' dominated the Green Room Awards with four nominations for Best Cabaret, Best Artiste, Original Songs and Best Writing, as well as a nomination for her collaborative cabaret with Perth musician Michael de Grussa ''All Out of Pride: An Evening of Songs You're Ashamed to Love'' (Best Cabaret). Quinn took away the award for Best Cabaret Artiste (2014). ''MDMA'' was also nominated for Best Cabaret, Best Stand Up, Best Comedy and Outstanding Performer in the 2015 New Zealand Fringe Festival, winning Best Cabaret.

Discography

*''A Quick One'' (2006) *''Scream 'Jarvis Cocker' When You're Losing'' (2009) *''You're the Voice: Songs for the Ordinary by an Anthemaniac'' (2013) *''MDMA: Modern Day Maiden Aunt'' (2015)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Quinn, Geraldine Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Australian women comedians People from Wagga Wagga Comedians from Melbourne 21st-century Australian comedians