Lizzy King is one of our very, very shiny Production Coordinators. We sat down and had a chat to hear about Gryffindor, Dragons and all things nerd-chic!

2high is getting very close - are you excited?

I’ve just come back from a different arts festival, This is Not Art in Newcastle, NSW. I had the best time, and it’s made me really excited for our own 2high festival at the end of this month! That’s right, the festival is so soon, which means we here at production central are working hardcore to get all the scheduling, tech requirements, backline etc etc etc ready in time for our artists so that everything looks and sounds and runs like an attractive, noisy clock.

How do you manage to handle such a huge job?

I’m a massive nerd, so in times of stress (like now at 2high), I like to take strength from my favourite fictional characters. When I need to be courageous, I wear my Gryffindor* shirt and I think, “what would Neville do?” When I need to be strong, I think of Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, because that chick is hardcore, and has dragons.

Are you proud of your ‘nerd-dom’?

I love being a nerd; life is so much more interesting when you embrace your inner nerd. Being a nerd is just like being a normal person, except you’re really into stuff. You can be a nerd about anything, about movies or music or dancing or chocolate or tea. You can be a nerd about theatre and socks, if you want, or Star Trek and gumballs. You just have to really love something, and not be ashamed of it. What is the point of being embarrassed about loving something? This is probably the best thing about being a grown up. At school, someone might have punched you, or shouted at you for having a lunchbox with Doctor Who on it, but now that you’re a grown up, you’ll probably just find someone with a Dalek keyring and become best friends. 

And what is it that you’re a nerd about?

I am a nerd about stories, mostly. I love good stories – books, movies, TV shows, plays, stand-up comedy, memoirs… I’m inspired by people who write and create these stories, and one day I’d like to try it myself. To me it doesn’t really matter if it’s the most expensive episode of Doctor Who or a student play put on for $50 and a box of wine, if it’s a great story, I love it, and if it’s funny, I probably want to marry it. I keep shoeboxes with souvenirs of good stories that I have experienced, some of them from my real life, but most of them from stage or screen. I have kept one box every year since I was 11… which means there are 13 boxes in my room. Every now and again, usually when I should be doing something else, I go through these and think about all the excellent stories in there (and some of the terrible ones… from my teenage diaries, shudder). I am looking forward to adding the souvenirs from TiNA and later, from 2high – I hope my nerdiness encourages others to become nerdy about something, and maybe start their own collection. Maybe people could become nerdy about something they discover at the 2high festival?

*Lizzy also wanted you to know that Microsoft Word recognises Gryffindor as an actual word? She chalks this up as a win to nerdkind!

For more blogs about Lizzy’s nerdiness and also the TiNA festival, check out www.lizzyish.blogspot.com