Tell us about:

Your latest stand up show: 

My latest show is called Big Girl Pants! I was writing this show in the year I turned 30, and it seemed weird to not touch on this little milestone birthday somehow in the show because I’ve done stand up since I was 18 and I feel like I’ve grown up doing stand up. I wanted it to be positive and about embracing the future and being excited for it (mainly because I’m sick of people acting like turning 30 means they are ready to hobble into the retirement home?!) So it’s a show about wanting to go into the next chapter of life with more confidence than the one before, trying to be a little bit braver and stop being so scared of everything – basically, putting your big girl pants on! 

Your favourite joke you have created: 

I had a joke in my last show where I essentially just wanted to try and make swearing clever. Normally how I write jokes is I take something that has happened in real life and that is the jumping off point – you embellish it and add little flourishes but it’s based on something that did happen. This was the first time I had an idea and then tried to write a joke around it – I did actual academic research!! Can you believe it?! 

I was so proud of it because it was a real clever, funny bit of stand up if I do say so myself. I’d written it for my fringe show but it also smashed it on the weekend clubs, and those can be two quite different audiences (but I do believe the best bits of material are the bits you can make work for both.) When you boil it down, it was pretty much a joke about etymology and I remember thinking, if I can make this work on a Saturday night in a boozy comedy club AND a Tuesday lunchtime in a polite fringe audience, then I should be pretty proud of it. 

Your favourite venue to perform at: 

It is a real close call between two amazing clubs! The Stand in Newcastle is my hometown club and it’s because of their support I’ve been able to find my voice and become the comedian I am. It’s such a good room for comedy and I feel so lucky to have it on my doorstep. I’m very grateful for the opportunities they’ve given me to grow. I can’t not mention Monkey Barrel in Edinburgh though – it’s my home away from home and I truly love it so much. It is such a special club and getting to play there on a weekend or everyday during the Fringe is such a treat. I genuinely look forward to going, you feel so looked after and the audiences are great.

Comedy hero: 

I have so many! I was a huge stand up fan before I gave it a go myself. I remember my first live stand up show I went to was Russell Howard when I was 15 and I was just hooked. I actually wanted to wait and get a photo with Russell after the gig but I was being picked up and wasn’t allowed to wait, so I took a selfie with a tour poster I’d bought and joked that was as close as I’d get to meeting him. Fast forward a good 12 years or so and I got to work with him and I showed him the photo and we recreated it in real life – what a lovely bloke!

I have ticket stubs upon ticket stubs (remember those days) from comedians I’ve seen and admire over the years; Billy Connolly, Sarah Millican, Rhod Gilbert, Katherine Ryan to name a few. It is so surreal when you get to work with your heroes – I got the last ticket for Katherine Ryan’s Fringe run in 2014 and I remember queuing in the rain to get in to the show, I was so excited to see it. Then about 9 months later I was doing tour support for her which was such a pinch me moment.

I also really love Ross Noble for the fascination of watching how his brain works. He is just so joyous to watch and I think he’s in a league (and most likely a world) of his own. 

Dream venue to play at: 

My dream is to be booked for the comedy tent at Glastonbury for two reasons. 1. Because I love a festival and I have been so lucky to play the comedy stage at a bunch of other UK festival gigs  but I am yet to do Glasto and 2. Because I feel it is the only way I will ever get to Glastonbury as even being in the team of 6 spreadsheet system of dreams I have failed to nab a golden ticket. 

Describe the feeling you get when you walk on stage to do a show: 

It’s a real mixture of excitement and nervous. Excervous? Nervitement? I think it’s good to be a bit nervous because I think it shows you care, but also you don’t want to be a nervous wreck to the point you can’t enjoy it. The feeling of getting your first laugh is such a relief and you really feel yourself relax into it. I don’t want to speak for all comedians, maybe some might disagree  with me, but I do think you can tell pretty quick how an audience is going to be.

When you just know they’re gonna be with you and it’s a buzzy, lovely, fun crowd it is the best feeling. We’ll not talk about how it feels when you walk out and it appears the audience have come to a comedy show by mistake … 

The hardest joke to perform and why: 

I think the hardest joke to perform is always a new one! There is nothing worse than going on stage when you’re working on a new show, armed with nothing but a notebook of half baked ideas and a shred of optimism that maybe some of it is almost kind of nearly maybe funny. Then you think you’re getting somewhere with it, only for it to bomb at the next gig you do and your confidence explodes right back in your face. But the feeling of it coming together and working is brilliant. 

Essential items you always take on tour with you?

I feel like as long as I have clean underwear, headphones, contact lenses and a book then I am pretty sorted. If I have my dog with me that is the ultimate bonus – if he could learn to drive and just ferry me about that would be really convenient. 

Describe your fans in three words: 

Lovely kind people 

What we can look forward to from you this year: 

I am on tour with Big Girl Pants and I am really looking forward to it! I hope to see some of you reading this there. I hate to be the person who says ‘I also have something on the go I can’t tell you about’ but alas it is true, so you have that to look forward to, even though you don’t know what it is… mystery! 

Lauren Pattison on tour begins in February 2025 – Tickets can be found here

picture credit: Matt Crockett

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