Krishna Istha Stars in BEAST At The Melbourne International Comedy Festival

One of the most influential queer artists in the U.K.* is coming to Australia with their hilarious, ridiculous, new stand-up show, Beast.

The transgender, trans-national, Krishna Istha is an established performance artist working across the UK, USA and Australia. Sick of overly earnest transgender coming out stories, they took up standup comedy with some initial coaching from Hannah Gadsby.

"I love comedy" says Krishna, comparing artforms, "the aim of comedy is to make people laugh. The aim of performance art is for people to never laugh again."

Beast is directed by Zoë Coombs Marr (Best Show Melbourne Comedy Festival 2016, Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee 2016). Sharply observed absurdities mix it with daggy puns and silly props, as Krishna deftly dismantles what you think you know about how gender, identity and even comedy itself, works.

Krishna performs Beast at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival from March 26. They also appear, performing stand-up comedy, in a new cabaret at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, F*ck Fabulous.

Get more background and view a short 3 minute intro video to Krishna Istha and Beast at https://www.milstead.com.au/beast/who-is-krishna-istha/.