Mel Buttle has a knack for finding the hilarious in the mundane. The minor irritations of life that can snowball into a personal existential crisis.
The Australian comedian found an audience while posting TikTok videos of Lyn, a character she developed based on a suburban mum.
"I was really surprised by how well Lyn has been received," Buttle told the Newcastle Herald on the eve of her solo show at City Hall on Friday night.
"I think Lyn is relatable because she's a bit of an 'every woman'. If your mum or nan wasn't like Lyn, I bet you've worked with someone who is.
"Lyn is a little slice of Australia."
Buttle's latest tour is called Let Me Know Either Way? and can be interpreted as you please.
"I have a habit of choosing my show titles based on the phrase I find myself saying or texting to people the most, so that's how it came to be," she explained.
"I reckon next year's show might be called 'Oh, hard pass' as I'm saying that a lot more now I've hit 40."
Audiences can expect plenty of observational takes on the absurdities of modern life from Buttle, whose first solo show in 2010 scored her a nomination for best newcomer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
In 2013 she won the directors' choice award for her show How Embarrassment and in 2014 she wrote and performed her own TEDxBrisbane talk.
Buttle has hosted The Great Australian Bake Off and entered the jungle in the seventh series of Network Ten's I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! Australia. You may also have seen her on SBS comedy quiz show Patriot Brains, Network Ten's The Project, This Week Live, Hughesy We Have a Problem, ABC TV's The Weekly with Charlie Pickering, Australia Debates, Tractor Monkeys, Back Seat Drivers, It's A Date and Seven Network's Australia Now & Then.
Yes, she's a busy woman, and laughs when asked if she has achieved that elusive work-life balance.
"Oh it doesn't exist, next question!"
And she is familiar with Newcastle, having visited the city several times.
"I had a New Year's Eve there in my 20s that is etched into my brain. Newcastle knows how to party," she said.
"I'm also very keen to see the largest KFC in the Southern Hemisphere up close after the show."
