Loz Booth on acting, comedy and representation

Content warning: this story talks about pregnancy termination. If you or someone you know needs help, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or 000 if it’s an emergency.

Loz Booth is one of those people that makes you think about how you use your time. A mother, actor and comedian, she has an impressive resume.

Loz has created digital content for Play School and ABC Sport. She has also toured with the Are You Pulling My Leg comedy tour and achieved over 30 million views across social media.

Her mission is to make an impact. “I want to change the scenery and improve disability representation on Australian screens or on stage for my son and future generations. If I want to see the change, I have to be the change,” Loz said.

Born with hand and foot differences, Loz has lived most of her life without an accurate explanation of her disability.

“When my parents gave birth to me in the ‘80s, we didn’t have the technology for diagnosis back then that exists now,” she said.

“Doctors just attributed it to unfinished growing in the womb, and I kind of left it at that.”

Growing up, Loz loved musical theatre and performing in theatre and school shows. She wanted to study at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA).

“This was the ‘90s,” Loz explained.

“I looked around and there was nobody on stage like me. There was nobody on TV that looked like me and I felt I was never going to be successful in the arts.”

“A Director once told me, ‘You’ll never be successful in the industry because your hands will always be a distraction.’ That cemented it for me. I quit musical theatre.”

As a creative person with ADHD, Loz had difficulty living without a creative outlet.

Then Loz became a mother. Her first child was born with all 10 fingers and 10 toes. It wasn’t until she went for a routine scan for her second child that she learnt more about her own disability.

“The scan showed my baby’s feet had 2 toes and possibly one finger on each hand.

“That was rough. The doctor talked about options to terminate the pregnancy, but we never had any intention to do this – we had him and he’s amazing,” Loz said.

As her youngest son got older, Loz began worrying that he would encounter the same prejudice she faced if he wanted to be a performer.

“Fast forward to COVID. I was at home. I couldn’t do anything but homeschool my kids and use TikTok.

“I went on this wild journey of trying to make an impact. I kept creating content because I could see that was making a change. I became a stand-up comedian,” she said.

It was on TikTok that Loz began making comedy videos.

“They started getting a bit of traction. I received messages from mums of kids with limb differences and disabilities. They said their kids loved my videos because they saw how confident I was.”

After COVID, Loz decided her next step was to be on TV to increase disability representation. She also wanted to learn how the industry works for her Masters of Screenwriting studies.

Loz appeared on Colin from Accounts, Total Control and Bump. She landed her dream role when she was granted a placement working with the Play School team.

“Play School is the biggest highlight over the last few years. I spent 2 weeks on the Play School set, which as an Australian is magical. I developed a content series for their social media channels.”

Loz has also worked to make entertainment venues more accessible. She hosted a 2-part series with Double J about giving venues an accessibility makeover.

“We all need to be more inclusive. It’s a slow process and education is a big part of that,” Loz said.

After a whirlwind few years, Loz is showing no signs of slowing down.

“I’m looking for every opportunity to make an impact and make a difference, but also to have fun along the way.”