Port Kembla's female comedy night She'll Be Right celebrates fourth birthday ahead of International Women's Day

She'll Be Right began in 2018 on International Women's Day (IWD) with the aim of being a platform to foster local female comedians and performers, it was also the first show to be held at the Servo Food Truck Bar.

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Producer and performer Diana McLaren founded the event with Malika Elizabeth, and was proud to say they've proved the naysayers wrong - the people who thought an all-female variety night would never work.

"We are excited and a little teary," McLaren said. "All our performers, the women and the many men who have performed as allies, believe in what we do and the space we create."

She said one of the reasons to start the monthly event was the lack of stage time being given to female performers, especially comedians, as it was "still a very male-dominated" industry.

"People are starting to realize that not only are women hilarious but we have some different perspectives that can make things more interesting," McLaren said. "As far as the Illawarra goes we do like to think that we've helped change some minds and hearts with our monthly showcase of hilarious and talented women."

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She'll Be Right is a variety night with seasoned performers and emerging talent, welcomes all genders and ages to the venue and even dogs.

During lockdowns it moved online and helped fundraise for the Illawarra Women's Health Centre at the same time. It's back in real life now, with funds raised going back to the artists under a profit-sharing philosophy.

The last two years haven't been the easiest for the event founders, Elizabeth forced to end her regular children's music classes after 16 years "sucking the wind from her sails", while a calamity of events occurred for McLaren.

"I like to joke the [initial lockdown of 2020] was the least of my worries as the same weekend I was inundated with cancellation emails and months of work disappeared, my car got stolen and written off, my parents were getting divorced, I got dumped and all my other design work disappeared too," McLaren said.

Rather than leave a struggling industry, both persevered and have found other creative projects to work on, including their continued passion for boosting females in the industry.

This year's theme for IWD is "breaking the bias" which Elizabeth described "stepping even more into our feminine power".

"It means women helping to lead the way forward because with men doing that alone it is not a balanced society," she said. "It is time absolutely to break the bias."

She'll Be Right returns to the Servo Food Truck Bar, Friday March 4, doors open 6pm.

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