Kate Dehnert is an Australian comedian, writer and actor. She was a staff comedy writer for BBC Studios, writing for a wide variety of shows for BBC Radio 4. She has written for Channel Ten’s The Project and ABC’s Get Krack!n. She has performed comedy live at several Melbourne International Comedy Festivals, Melbourne Fringes, on Triple J, ABC Radio, at Splendour in the Grass and Women of Letters. Kate is bringing her ‘breakup show to end all breakup shows’ ‘Echo’ to the Edinburgh Fringe. We spoke to her about the show, her habit of laughing in inappropriate situations, and her hopes for August.

Can you tell us about ‘Echo’?

Hold onto your asses – ‘Echo’ is 1/3 play, 1/3 stand up, 1/3 rave. It’s about a breakup that took down my whole life instead of just the relationship, to the point where I had to leave the UK and effectively give up on comedy. You’re not owed a comedy career, but I figured ‘OK, let’s do a solo show and truly see it off because this show is pouring out of me’. Turns out, there’s something about a death rattle that really draws people in, and it immediately started selling out in Melbourne. Thanks to that success it’s been picked up to head to Edinburgh Fringe and London’s Soho Theatre – which is even weirder because those are the two locations where everything went to total and utter shit like a UK river. It’s all very surreal and I feel like I’m on some kind of bizzaro explosion and reconstruction odyssey.

The show’s been described as ‘The breakup show to end all breakup shows’, yet that’s only a part of what you’ve been through. How did you set about finding the humour in your situation?

I have always laughed at terrible news and funerals, it’s a real problem. In my defence, someone always does something really self-serious and odd, and once the church giggles get hold it’s impossible to stop. It’s not a trait I’m proud of.

You’ve described the show as 1/3 play, 1/3 stand-up, 1/3 heartbreak rave (which sounds like the best kind of rave). Does that imply that some of it has been at least semi-fictionalised to some extent?

No all of this is very real to me, this is just how my brain works – in images, vibes, textures, music and metaphors. A sentence describing a feeling doesn’t cut it – a bunch of weirdo characters living through something does.

For those who might be unfamiliar with you, how would you describe your comedy and your approach to performance?

Premium stupid. My favourite comedies have joy and stupidity as the main goal, unfortunately something weird and serious happened to me but it’s still the paint I like to work with. I’m not going to stop being an idiot just because an idiot happened to me.

It’s a month until the Fringe begins and you’ve recently performed the show in Melbourne and Sydney. Do you have the show locked in, or do you continually tinker and revise it?

I have been explicitly told to not make major changes. So I won’t. I made this show in a huge rush so I can see the cracks, but maybe that’s what keeps it exciting. There have been tiny tinkerings, but all you’re missing are jokes I hated but couldn’t change because I didn’t want to collapse the QLab software that runs the show mid-run.

What are your hopes for the show? What would constitute a successful Fringe for you?

The only thing I’m hoping to achieve this festival is to not get sick and see friends. And to eat a cardamon bun from Söderberg. Please don’t tell me that bakery is run by fascists who I shouldn’t purchase from – I couldn’t bear it.

What are you most looking forward to, or perhaps dreading, about the Fringe?

Looking forward to seeing friends, dreading having my grammar corrected by the English who don’t realise I’m twisting language on purpose for funny or rhythm. But we must be forgiving – they have literal shit in their rivers.

Besides the show, can we expect to see you performing elsewhere during August; guest spots, compilation shows, etc?

Reuben Kaye asked me to get up at ‘The Kaye Hole‘ so there’s that, we’ll see about the rest.

Are there any other shows/ performers at the Fringe that you would recommend?

Frankie McNair, Birds by Alex Hines and Sarah Stafford, David Correos, Reuben Kaye, Emma Holland, Ben McCarthy, Lou Wall, Kate Dolan, Chris Parker.

‘Echo‘ is at Pleasance Courtyard – Baby Grand from Wed 5 to Sun 30 Aug 2026