Comic shares the beauty of neurodiversity

STAND-up comedian, singer and podcaster Em Rusciano has announced she will perform in Ballarat as part of a fifteen-date national tour.

Her new show, Outgrown, is coming to Civic Hall on Saturday 3 August which will be her only regional Victorian performance.

Rusciano said the themes of the show include her diagnoses of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism and early-menopause in her 40s, the positives of being neurodivergent, and speaking at the National Press Club of Australia.

“The last five years have been brutal, beautiful and bonkers,” she said.

“They challenged everything I ever believed about myself to my core. Not to be dramatic, but the term ‘complete ego death’ wouldn’t be out of place here.

“I’m finally limping out the other side of it now with way less oestrogen, and as a newly crowned neuro-divergent double threat. So naturally it felt like the right time to get myself back on stage.

“You can look forward to a multi-sensory exploration and examination of the beauty that can emerge after everything has been burned to the ground.

“And of course elaborate costumes, novelty sized props and me workshopping my trauma via an over the top all out musical comedy extravaganza.”

Rusciano is the host of popular podcast Emsolation and the author of Try Hard: Tales from the Life of a Needy Overachiever.

In 2022 she presented at the National Press Club of Australia about her ADHD and her son’s autism, and is an advocate for those in the neurodiverse community.

Rusciano’s last live show was Rage and Rainbows in 2019. Visit frontiertouring.com/emrusciano for tickets.