PERTH comedian Claire Hooper vowed becoming a mother to daughter Penelope 14 months ago would not change her onstage material, although it has altered the way she gets ready for a show.
"I now prepare for gigs by sitting in a dark room for half an hour begging someone to go to sleep," she said.
"It's not ideal but at least it stops me thinking about myself the whole time."
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READ NOWMelbourne-based Hooper will bring her latest show School Camp home this week for Perth Comedy Festival, which was inspired by an old camp diary she wrote at age 10 while growing up in Perth's hills.
"I couldn't believe how different it was from my memory of what happened," she said.
�The stories about school camp are actually in there to talk about something bigger, about whether we remember our childhoods accurately, about how unsafe we were and how different the world is now.
"Penelope may only be 14 months but I don't think it's too early to start planning to never let her out of my sight."
Hooper said she was planning on following her Perth shows at Mt Lawley Bowling Club with a big adventure.
"I�ve convinced my husband to quit his job so we can travel for some really amazing gig opportunities around Australia and a few overseas too," she said.
"It's either going to be the most fun year of our lives or the story we tell in divorce court."
THE ESSENTIALS What: Claire Hooper � School Camp Where: Mt Lawley Bowling Club When: May 13 to 16 Tickets: www.ticketek.com.au