Nothing turns out as you plan, I guess; but I often think if I'd gone to a fortune teller when I was at school and been told I'd marry a guy who makes false teeth, move to Alice Springs, have five kids and become a standup comedian; well, I would have been surprised to say the least.'


Fiona O’Loughlin is certainly the funniest (and possibly one of the busiest) working mothers in Australia today: a stand-up comedian based in Alice Springs and Adelaide, she is on the road for most of the year, doing live performances, plus regular television appearances. Fiona has also had successful shows at the Edinburgh and Adelaide fringe festivals, the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

This book contains her stories – funny and sometimes sad – about her upbringing as part of a large Irish-Catholic family on a wheat farm in South Australia, her chaotic and disorganised family life ever since, living in Alice Springs and making it as a stand-up comedian. She also talks of a darker side of the life of many performers – alcohol.

This book is for anyone who likes to laugh (and cry), who wants to read about a woman living her life on her terms.


‘O‘Loughlin memoir is deep and honest, as she describes her love for her large family and her ordeal of struggling with alcohol addiction’– The NSW Writers Centre

‘Her memoir is charm personified in that it’s not only a fascinating journey through an Australian woman’s life, its candour and honesty is kind of heart-melting’- Australian Women Online

‘This is one which will raise a lot of laughs not least because she is one of those rare people who can see the funny side to everything life throws at her’ - Weekend Notes