In her very first Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF) show, Nikki Osborne not only sold out, but also managed to attract over 100,000 dollars of free, or 'earned', publicity for her show "On the Spectrum".

That was the good news.

The bad news was she also endured an emotional onslaught for her show's topic - autism. In this School of Hard Knock Knocks podcast, you'll learn how Nikki's 'go hard or go home' attitude helped her battle online trolls and survive the criticism, all the while polishing and improving her show to make it a positive experience for all, and a true success.

And if the name 'Nikki Osborne' is familiar, but you can't recall it from the stand-up scene, that's because she's best known for her TV appearances, most recently as Delvene Delaney, in the TV mini-series, "Hoges: The Paul Hogan Story". She's also a regular as face as gameshow host and witty guest contestant.

Nikki Osborne is extremely talented and an inspiration to anyone who's interested in smashing the status quo, whether that be on stage or on screen, so I'm sure you'll enjoy this interview.

And if you're enjoying these podcasts, and would like to become part of a comedy community, we've launched our School of Hard Knock Knocks Podcast Community group on Facebook. It's absolutely free to join and full of advice.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.