Many of us have come to associate sign language with serious moments, from emergency announcements to natural disaster updates. During the pandemic, the regular sight of Auslan interpreters skilfully signing at press conferences lead to renewed interest in the language that bridges the deaf community and the hearing world. It’s important work, but such a view also overlooks the humour and levity of deaf people, who have been as desperate as the rest of us to shake off the gloom.
Over the last couple of months, a dedicated team of Auslan interpreters have been working at Australia’s many comedy festivals in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. While many in the crowds were probably largely unaware of their presence, their work provides deaf audiences with valuable access to comedy. But what is it like to interpret live standup through sign language? And how do you know if you’re doing it right?
Susan Emerson, the co-founder of Auslan Stage Left which provides theatre training for interpreters around Australia, says that you “don’t need to be funny” to interpret comedy. What is more important is that you’re able “to match the pace of the comedian” and mirror their manner, a technique known as “affect”.
“We might take on some of the characteristics of the comedian,” says Emerson. “So if a performer was really vibrant and dancing around the stage, you wouldn’t expect the interpreter to dance around too – but you would expect them to exert that same kind of vibrancy.” The opposite is true, too. “We’ve got an interpreter, Kirri Dangerfield, who works with Geraldine Hickey, who of course is quite deadpan,” says Emerson. “Kirri would say she’s not funny [herself], but she just nails it.”
Some shows are harder to interpret than others – not because of the skills of the comedian or interpreter, but rather a function of the languages at play. “Auslan and English are two completely different languages, and sometimes there is just no direct equivalence between them,” Emerson says. “You’d find the exact same thing if you were interpreting between English and Mandarin, or English and Spanish.”
Deaf audience member Maria Burgess, a teacher at Furlong Park school for deaf children, agrees this is the trickiest job for the interpreter. “[Auslan] is very visual,” she says. “Usually a good interpreter can paint a picture just like a comic book. When they’re under-skilled or struggling with time, it becomes a jumble, something that no longer makes sense.”
We’re listening, we’re translating and then delivering the Auslan message, and we’re predicting what is coming next
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