Mayo Pride: Lesbian Comedy Duo The Wild Geeze Bring Laughter and Empowerment

Mayo Pride takes place this Sunday in Westport, promising music, comedy, drag, burlesque, and—above all—community.

The Wild Geeze will be there, singing, slinging, and spreading the craic. The Wild Geeze are comedic lesbian farmer Breda Larkin from the dykes of Ballinasloe, and burlesque chanteuse and body-positive activist Laura Lavelle, a.k.a. Miss Lavelle.

"We're a bit like the traditional Wild Geese in that sense, where one of us is from Galway and one of us is from Limerick," says Laura Lavelle.

"So Breda is from Galway, and I am from Limerick City. But my father Kieran is from Mayo, from Achill, so I spend a lot of time there. I have a GAA jersey that's half Limerick and half Mayo."

Laura is excited about their upcoming show in Westport. The Wild Geeze will perform at this weekend's Mayo Pride Festival in the Mariner Hotel.

They are a comedy duo, and they focus a lot on eco-feminism, and feminism. Their songs have a rural twist: It's called 'Slurry':

"It's about how we need to treat the soil a bit better, just to neutralise the slurry a bit better, so that the soil life can live easier, and have a better life, and I dress up as a worm for it, which is really good," says Laura, speaking to The Mayo News ahead of Mayo Pride weekend.

"A lot of our show is based in humour, dark humour, we both have a shared grief of a loss of a sibling, so we talk about grief briefly in our show as well, but kind of in a more healing way. But mostly just having the craic, we're like craic dealers."

Apart from The Wilde Geeze performing, it will be a jam-packed weekend with lots of activities, parties and shows. 

"Mayo Pride is, in my opinion, honestly, the best Pride. It's just so well run, everyone's so friendly, the crowds are amazing, and it's just a gas, colourful time."

With everything happening globally, especially in the US, it seems Pride events and activism are more important than ever.

"What's going on the US for example, I can't even wrap my head around it, it is frightening. In one of my acts, I tear up a picture of Trump, kind of Sinead O'Connor style: Fight the real enemy. Existing is resisting, so we now, more than ever, have to make our voices heard."

There’s sometimes a misconception about feminism and queer spaces being exclusive. 

"A lot of people see our show, they're like, 'oh, lesbians, feminism, they must hate men' but it's not about that. It's about not one standing in front of the other, it's about standing shoulder to shoulder, it's about standing beside each other, and lifting each other up, making sure everyone gets to where they need to be," explains Lavelle.

"And I think it's important, especially queer female representation. We do get a lot of male queer representation, so it is important to fly the flag for the lesbian women, and to show that we're also artists, and funny, and performers, and marching alongside everyone else."

For tickets for The Wild Geeze in Westport on Sunday, June 1: Click here

FULL PROGRAM: Mayo Pride Returns to Westport This June Bank Holiday Weekend