In 2025 Effie (aka Mary Coustas) will be bringing her highly celebrated and ever-evolving show UpYourselfness to Sydney Comedy Festival – inviting audiences to tackle the hard questions and find a way to define ourselves through humanity’s ongoing identity crisis... the Greek way – with healthy debate.

“The Ancient Greeks have celebrated the art of arguing since the beginning of time. And no I’m not talking about my mismatched dysfunctional ageing Greek parents. I’m talking about The Great Thinkers and Debaters. Yes, I speak of Socrates, Aristotle and me Effie, The Other Greek Philosopher. We know that if there’s one thing we all have in common, it is that we’re all different. And because of that we’re going to have a difference of opinion. It’s time we got some stretch marks on our thinking, people”

In 2021 Effie gave Australians a safe place to vent, commiserate and laugh at the torture of lockdowns and the Covid crisis with her critically acclaimed show Better Out Than In.

That was then. Now?
The Good news is...we no longer have to wear a mask. The bad news? We have to wear a muzzle instead.

“Currently there’s an ugly bitch-fight between political correctness & freedom of speech. People are getting cancelled more regularly than a known carrier’s domestic flights.”

Join Effie as she walks us through the political and social landmines of isms – feminism, racism, sexism, wokeism, pronounism and goodlookingism – as we try to make sense of the latest version of human evolution without losing a sense of who we are.

“Truth is life’s complicated...and so are we. The only thing that can save us is an open mind, self-love, a big set of balls and a sense of humour.”

UpYourselfness: it’s the oxygen mask we all need. Take it... youse/they’s/we’s won’t regret it!

'Effie is the epitome of a Greek goddess - with the mouth of a Greek bricklayer.' CITY HUB