Tell Us about:

Your latest stand up show:

This show is a body of all my best work to date, it’s a reflection of the last few years of my life so a key running theme is change. I transitioned, beat testicular cancer – pretty confident that’s a unique selling point of mine at the Women in Comedy Festival and it’s a really joke heavy way of dealing with difficult moments and how it impacts all aspects of your life not just the obvious.

Your favourite joke you have created: 

It’s a joke likening a gender transition to a pub renovation “I’ve got this new name, new lick of paint, but at the end of the day we’re still letting the same dodgy old regulars, come inside of us”. It’s silly crass wordplay but one, the wordplay is good, and two, I think sums me up – I’ll let you into my sincere thoughts but I will then undercut you (with laughter).

Your favourite venue to perform at:

The Frog and Bucket, it was where I watched comedy when I was at Uni. It has a ton of history and there is no better feeling than hearing a full Frog and Bucket laughing back at you at their loudest. 

The joke that was the longest to write and why?

Is any material every truly finished? I have a routine that I started in 2023 about a local newspaper article, and there is just so much to unpack in it that the routine every 6 months is completely unrecognisable. I’m always toying around with it, exploring new angles.

Comedy hero:

I was always a fan of James Acaster’s from panel shows, but when I saw his Netflix special repertoire it changed how I perceived standup. Every absurd joke is funny in its own right, but how it unravels into a personal truth of his was inspiring and how everything was considered artistically from stage lighting, backdrops, music, camera angles… it’s a genius special.

Dream venue to play at:

My dream gig would be the Mitchell Theatre in Stoke, it’s my hometown and was the first place I had a gig, to 30 people in a 300 seat theatre for an amateur poetry night, where they let me tell jokes for 5 minutes. It was also the first time I stepped out of my house dressed in female clothing, so to have a night there would be a lovely full circle moment both professionally and personally.

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

My head is normally a little all over the place generally, but it becomes weirdly very focused prior to walking on, but once you get on, I just tend to look out at the crowd a bit and just appreciate the setting before I crack on. 

The hardest joke to perform and why:

My material about my cancer diagnosis most definitely. I had the fundamentals of the routine very early, but it’s taken about 4-5 months to get the balance, the tone right and give the audience the right to laugh at a subject that is fundamentally a hard one to laugh about.

I was very conscious I didn’t want to turn it into a pity party or mislead the audience into trauma, so would give away right at the start that I was now clear, but I learnt it created a tone of sorrow vs laughing and we’d lose momentum on it very quickly, so now there is a solid punchline at the start and it helps. Although you have to pick your moments, Saturday night in a rowdy pub this material is not.

Essential items you always take on tour with you?

I have a print out of a news article which I need to carry with me, its A2 and it’s on canvas so it’s easy to spot me. It contains a picture of a fake boob stuck in a tree so it can be “interesting” walking down the high street. I’ve also left it backstage on a couple of occasions which is awkward when you need your MC to bring it onto the stage!

Describe your fans in three words:

Blue-haired, nose-ringed, self-aware

What we can look forward to from you this year: 

Aside from the Women In Comedy Festival of course, but I’m busy working on this show which will no doubt be a core root of what will hopefully be an Edinburgh Fringe debut in the not so distant future.

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