It is the last feature of the year so we are finishing off 2023 with a bang before we go on and celebrate the festive season and the end of the year in December. This month we speak to writer-performer and improviser Laurie Stevens. This year she has had a busy one performing the show Sticky Floors – A wild mashup of character comedy, clown, drag and live music exploring teenage anger. Today we get to go behind the scenes of preparing for a show.

Favourite way to warm up for a show? 

My improv team, Geraldyne, made up a game based around thinking up small kind gestures you’d do  when in a good mood. Like taking a snail off the middle of the pavement and putting it on a leaf, or  remembering to take the empty loo roll and put it in the recycling. I can’t remember its name or the  rhythm of it but it was absolutely lovely. 

Favourite way to relax after a show? 

At the moment I’ve got a lot of musical kit, so any time I can come offstage and not have to  disassemble a drum kit feels like a holiday! 

Best advice anyone has ever given you and why? 

No effort is ever wasted. 

Favourite suggestion ever been given? 

Oh god, I don’t remember any.

What is the worst suggestion you have received? 

Do other people remember suggestions? Am I a terrible improviser? 

Do you find performing on stage scary? 

Not really. I find the idea of disappointing the audience scary, and the musical elements are  intimidating, but I’m always happy to get onstage. 

You also use social media, what are the fun parts of using social media to promote your talents?

You can set yourself smaller creative challenges that fit around your other projects. I also think it’s particularly easy to let loose and be silly – you can just film a video on a whim and if you don’t like it, you don’t have to put it out there.

As a performer, how important is it to adapt to modern trends in technology to get noticed?

I think it really helps. I’m very late to the party, but it’s such a great space to create freely and cheaply. And people can get a sense of your voice to see if they want to engage with your live or longer-form content.

What do you think the future of comedy is looking like? Do you think it will involve more technology if so how?

Personally, I watch a lot of theatre/comedy crossover that incorporates drag and live art. I’ve been interested to see the gradual erosion of the comedy-drama boundary, and I think with drag moving further into the mainstream and Gen Z having grown up with Musical.ly/TikTok, there’s a real surge in people using lip-sync in comedy.