CASE STUDY: How comedian Hannah Camilleri overcame performance anxiety and developed a new show

“This work with Rachael has been sensational at holding a magnifying glass to my work as a performer.” (Hannah Camilleri)

As a seasoned performer, Hannah Camilleri is very comfortable on stage. She can read a crowd and work a room, performing gigs and shows. The time between shows is a different story. Like many performers, Hannah finds it stressful, particularly when she is devising new work.

Hannah’s challenges for herself as a performer

Hannah came to me in late 2025 when she had set herself a new challenge. She was devising a new solo show in which she wanted to perform more as herself. Without the comfort of a character to hide behind, Hannah wanted help to overcome the nerves that come with really being seen.

Hannah had booked a venue for a trial run of this new show, but it was two months away and she hadn’t made a start on writing it. Fear of not being interesting, funny or liked was stopping her.

Coaching approach

Hannah was really open to different methods, so her first session included a mix of traditional coaching, somatic work and visualisations. I also drew from my Strategic Speaker Coaching methodologies. 

This combination allowed us to:

• Explore Hannah’s nerves from many different perspectives, rather than pretending they don’t exist, which can make nerves hit from nowhere, on stage or in exhaustion afterwards.

• Take a broader view of where she is in her career, so that fears had context rather than becoming a fixation.
• Understand her creative processes, so that Hannah could identify what was already working well, and hone in on specific areas to develop.

“The process of creating and performing material can be overwhelming. Rachael’s inquisitiveness has been extremely helpful in uncovering parts of the devising process I had not been aware of.”

Hannah Camilleri, 2026

Key moments in The Coaching Process

Some of the things we worked on over 4 sessions: 

1. Somatic exercises using movement and visualisation to help Hannah get to know her stage personas from different perspectives. 

“Being guided through visualisations was useful in connecting with my fears and allowing the wisdom I already possess to surface. This wisdom accumulated over years of performing can be hard to access on your own, especially when the stress of performing is so prominent.”

2. Diving into her performance fears, investigating which needed to be worked through, and which could be channelled into the performance.
3. Creating frameworks for Hannah’s existing professional processes, such as how she devises new work and reads an audience.

“Rachael’s questions helped me to recognise actions I already took to create new works, and which areas were still undefined. The approach was encouraging – I could see I had processes that were working and simply needed to create steps for areas that required more structure.”

4. Propositions to help Hannah to find curiosity and openness in the devising process, such as starting small and letting go of being ‘funny’ and ‘liked’ as the main markers of success.

“The exercises helped me to acknowledge and celebrate growth, while underscoring what needed further nurturing.”

5. Exploring some of the contradictions inherent to the creative professions, such as: 

• Staying challenged and interested by work outside her comfort zone, without exhaustion of nerves taking over
• Being perceived as very confident because of her strong stage presence, even though that is not how she experiences herself

“This coaching has helped to challenge beliefs that were holding me back and has made my work more emotionally and physically sustainable.”

After the coaching process…

Coaching gave Hannah the momentum to gather support and start working on her show. She booked a three-day workshop, engaged three performers with improv and clown backgrounds and brought in a director. Hannah even enlisted a producer, psychologist and vocal coach to support her season. 

It also improved her performance quality in her 4 trial shows. Instead of opening with an apologetic cushioning in case the show wasn’t good, Hannah realised she could dive straight into the material, which led to a stronger performance. She would then reflect more closely after each trial show, making tweaks that improved the next night. 

Hannah shared that I’d helped her to create space to see more options for what an audience might expect, and enjoy, which expanded what she could offer them. 

“By focusing on my goals with Rachael I was able to move through challenges I had been holding onto as dreams for years.”

Where Hannah is now…

Hannah has now taken her Dinner with Hannah show to Adelaide Fringe, Melbourne International Comedy Festival and a repeat season at Comedy Republic. Although there were no characters in this show that were strictly ‘herself’, Hannah experienced growth through the coaching journey. She was able to appreciate that she already approaches gigs with professionalism and learnt to articulate and refine her own working methods, so that she could build on what she already had. Hannah understood that getting help is part of the work (rather than a source of shame) and that difficult parts of the theatre-making process can be observed, understood and nurtured. 

“My confidence grew during the coaching. I was trusting my theatre-making process more, taking actionable steps to give myself the best chance of performing effectively, approaching gigs in a pragmatic and curious way and reminding myself of what I am doing and why I am doing it. I am looking forward to working with Rachael again and to implementing what I have learnt for the periods leading up to future shows.”

Hannah Camilleri

Do you have a show or big talk that you would like to feel more confident about? I would love to hear from you. I offer complimentary calls to see if we are a good fit. I have been a Somatic & Strategic Speaker Coach for over 15 years, drawing on a rich background in innovation and strategy, plus training in physical theatre, Body Mind Centering and other movement disciplines.