Perth Fringe: ‘Mining’ my own Business

What is it like working on a mining site in Western Australia surrounded by Aussie men (and a hand full of women) with colourful language and high visibility vests? Comedian Xavier Toby sets out to answer these questions in his show ‘Mining’ my own Business.

The most obvious question needing an answer is how does a comedian end up working on a mining site for six months?

It’s simple according to Toby, “A shit load of debt”. After raking up a huge debt while performing at the Edinburgh Festival he was confronted with the realisation that he needed to get a ‘real job’.

Toby shares some very funny stories of his experiences; all of which are true, often confirmed by laughs, nods and comments from members of the mainly mining worker audience.

Toby’s monologues cover flying out with a plane full of large, over weight, bearded workers; living in a donger; eating in a wet mess; and a rather unpleasant welcoming ceremony involving beef jerky.

An amusing moment is provided by two audience members who arrive late. “Welcome to the show girls” Toby says as a man and a woman appear out of the spotlight.  “Ok, recovers Toby, I was looking at the legs and he has a great set of pins”

Two of the funniest sequences are when Toby replaces the swear words used by miners (which he assures us can be every second or third word) with the word “smurfs”, and also when he gives an account of his experience of the safety inspection of the manholes on site.

At one point Toby leaves a quiet, blank stage for a little too long to change into his high-vis vest. Also a mockumentary sequence where Toby presents himself as David Attenborough, might have been funnier if there had been mocked up photos projected on the screen, rather than Toby trying awkwardly to perform appropriate movements to accompany the commentary.

After an hour of pulling the mickey out of the Mining Industry and some of its workers, Toby relents by expressing his respect for fly-in-fly-out workers who must leave their families for weeks at a time to work out in the middle of nowhere.

You don’t have to have worked on the mines to appreciate ‘Mining’ my own Business and it is all the more relevant and funny given Western Australia is in the middle of a mining boom.