Talking about the past few decades of performing arts in Australia without Julia Morris's name coming up would be a challenge.
asserted
name → talk → Australia
It was just over 40 years ago that she came to the fore as an energetic 17 year old on talent show New Faces, her rendition of Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out For a Hero" imbued with an inimitable confidence.
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rendition → come → confidence
It took another decade before Morris landed her breakout gig on 90s sketch comedy show Full Frontal, alongside the likes of Shaun Micallef, Kitty Flanagan and Eric Bana.
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Morris → take → Micallef
But since then, Morris has toured her stand-up routines at every international comedy festival that counts.
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that → tour → festival
She's performed across the stage, in television and film, and been nominated for the Gold Logie Award no fewer than five times.
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She → perform → Award
For the past 12 years, however, Morris has predominantly been associated with one thing: hosting the Australian iteration of competition reality series I'm A Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here — first alongside Dr Chris Brown, then Robert Irwin.
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I → associate → Irwin
Then in May, Channel 10 announced it wouldn't be commissioning a 13th season.
uncertain
it → announce → season
And while Channel 7 later picked the show back up, no hosts were attached to the format.
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hosts → pick → format
That's how Morris came to face a question she hadn't had to ask herself in a long time: What next?
To start with, she's returning to school — in a way.
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she → come → way
Morris leads as the principal in new TV game show Class Clowns, responsible for corralling her six "students" — really, comedians including Nina Oyama, Matt Okine and Becky Lucas — as they try to complete assignments in everything from maths to sex ed for points.
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they → lead → points
With heapings of innuendo and the sort of schoolyard banter real teenagers wish they were capable of, the series makes for the easy and frequently titillating viewing you'd expect of a comedy competition show, but the softness and vulnerability Morris extends to her pupils adds an unexpected and earnest depth to this series that could have easily stopped at being silly fun.
uncertain
that → wish → series
And yet, the role comes a little over a year after Morris announced she was diagnosed with ADHD.
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she → come → ADHD
In doing the promo rounds for the show, the 58 year old has repeatedly said school was not "one of her special gifts".
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school → do → gifts
So, we of course had to find out what made her want to go back, how she's handling all these big life changes — and where we can expect to see her next.
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we → have → her
Where did you go to school?
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you → go → school
I went to St Joseph's Catholic College in East Gosford, NSW, and then Santa Sabina College in Strathfield, where I commuted to and from Gosford — it took an hour and a half on the train, where I busked with my flute.
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I → go → flute
I left at like 6:00am and returned around 6:00pm, so it was a big day for a student, but it's not like I was doing the schoolwork, so…
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I → leave → schoolwork
[Laughs]
Did you actually busk on the train?
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you → laugh → train
You've gotta busk on the train with your flute, right?
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You → got → flute
It's the only way you can get the coins to buy musk sticks.
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you → get → sticks
The children yearn for musk sticks.
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children → yearn → sticks
My focus was on being funny and liked and lightening moments.
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focus → like → moments
I mean … I must have been so neurodiverse; I didn't realise how bad I was at school.
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I → mean → school
[Laughs] I got 198 out of 500 when I did the HSC.
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I → laugh → HSC
How do you think your teachers would have described you?
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teachers → think → you
The teachers continuously described me as lovely, but disruptive.
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teachers → describe → me
I actually have all the physical copies of my reports, and the signs couldn't have been clearer, but unfortunately, we didn't know that's what it added up to then.
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it → have → what
What was it like attending school in the 70s and 80s as a young woman with undiagnosed ADHD?
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it → attend → ADHD
It was a lifetime of being in trouble for something I had absolutely no control of.
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I → have → control
I just assumed there was something wrong with me, and I didn't know what to do about it.
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I → assume → it
There were kind teachers, but not everybody understood the difference between inattentive and naughty.
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everybody → be → inattentive
So, I was in trouble a lot at school — and at home — for what I now understand was my brain function.
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understand → understand → what
Because I was likeable and funny, that's the gift that I worked on.
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I → work → that
I still had a great time at school — I loved it, I loved my friends.
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I → have → friends
I just couldn't do the work.
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I → do → work
Maybe I wanted to show a capability.
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I → want → capability
Even before the decision with the jungle [I'm A Celebrity …], I was just desperate for Class Clowns to go to air and be seen in an entirely different light …
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Clowns → go → light
It was fun to show a pared-down version of my output.
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It → show → output
A lot of the time, if we're being interviewed, if we're on a television show, you're kind of on your own high-octane output, "must be funny".
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you → interview → output
I think people forget comedians aren't just one-note.
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comedians → think → ?
…and 41 more, not listed.
The Aporia