Don’t get her started

Deb Filler lands in Sydney this week to kick-start the second stage of her world tour promising to bring a laugh to the biggest gay weekend in town.

I’m going to make sure everyone has a great time and leaves my show with a smile on their face, Filler says.

If you don’t want to get plastered or want to hit the Mardi Gras festivities later on, it’s a great way to be entertained and laugh your buns off. It may also help you lose a couple of pounds as well.

Her latest show Don’t Get Me Started parodies Filler’s life, and features a range of characters.

I love putting on accents and what makes my show even funnier is that it’s at the Hakoah Club, the town’s tackiest bar mitzvah joint with poker machines.

Her father was a Polish holocaust survivor and her mother a German refugee. Their experiences provided her with a unique perspective, she says.

I’ve had a very rich family life. I was an outsider as a child because I wasn’t like my friends in New Zealand. This has been the inspiration of my work.

Coming out in the Jewish community wasn’t an easy step for Filler due to prejudiced views.

In Auckland at the time it was very secretive, so I kept it fairly hidden. But times have changed and more gay members of the Jewish community are being accepted.

Filler has been in a relationship with Canadian filmmaker Francine Zuckerman for 12 years after meeting at a show in Toronto.

Not only were they both in relationships at the time, Zuckerman had some coming out of her own to do.

My mother had told me 25 years ago that I should do what makes me happy, but it took my girlfriend’s mother a little longer to accept, Filler said.

Luckily she is fine with it now. The good thing is that not only are we good mates but I am also her hairdresser.

Don’t Get Me Started plays 1 and 3 March, 8:30pm, and 4 March at 2pm. Bookings at the Hakoah Club or by phone 9130 3344.