1. How would you summarise yourself as a comedian?
Well my tagline is “frank, fast, feisty, sharp & engaging - honest humour with attitude!” I think that sums me up.
2. The Edinburgh Fringe is the biggest Arts Festival in the world, why should people come and see you?
Firstly because I think I’ve written a good show. It’s hopefully full of jokes but also has something to say and deals with an issue – race - that we don’t like to deal with in the UK. The show charts how I grew up with a very Scottish upbringing - despite living in London; then went to a predominately black school in a not particularly salubrious part of North London, and ended up living in Kiev, Moscow, Vienna, Paris, Berlin, Mallorca and in various villages and towns around Frankfurt am Main. In the process I managed to get a Christmas present from Tom Hanks and now work as a comedian performing regularly on the black and gay comedy circuits despite being white and straight!
3. Are you happy with being an ‘Outsider’? Do you think that you have been forced to be an outsider because of society?
I think being an outsider is great. If you look at history most people who have achieved anything in life were often considered outsiders by their contemporaries. Clearly there are varying degrees but even in my small way just by being an outsider you are causing cracks in the way society likes to pigeonhole and ultimately limit us. I think I’m a natural outsider due to both my personality and my upbringing. I was in the midst of a Scottish family in a part of North London which was predominately Irish Catholic at the time, and then one of the few white girls in my school. So I’ve been an outsider for as long as I can remember. As a result I’m not thrown by being the odd one out and I tend to get on with a wide range of people.
4. Is there any subject that you think should NOT be the material for humour?
My real bugbear is all the misogyny that’s so rife in comedy at the moment. If anything, comedy should be deriding and pulling apart prejudices not reinforcing them. That’s why I hate rape jokes so much. I’ve never heard a single one that doesn’t in some way propagate all the misogynistic propaganda that is rolled out when it comes to violence against women. In these jokes the victim is invariably the butt of the joke never the perpetrator and the violence and its victims are belittled. The only exception I’ve heard was Tony Law whose ire was aimed rather at those who tell rape jokes. I talk about race in my show and when I do the tension in the room is palpable even though I’m not being racist. On the other hand, most people seem completely indifferent to the casual misogyny in some comedians’ acts.
5. I notice that you lived in the Soviet Union; what are your thoughts regarding the current situation with the LGBT community in Russia and what do you think needs to be done?
To be honest I think the matter is more complicated than most Westerners may think. With Russian athlete Yelena Isinbayeva backtracking on what she said, it may well be that what the West thinks does matter on this issue. However I think the views she expressed in her initial interview are probably only too representative of what a lot of Russians think.
And the real nut to crack is changing the attitudes of those Russians which won’t be easy. How exactly? I’m afraid it would need someone more knowledgeable on Russia and its people than me to posit a theory.
You have to remember that Russia’s history, political and social culture is very different from the West. If you look at how the UK’s attitudes have changed towards the LGBT community since the 1950s to the present day, then you also have to remember that many of the cultural and social movements that have occurred in that space of time didn’t take place in Russia.
When I was in the Soviet Union, I was struck by the fact that although it was supposed to be a communist country, it was probably one of the most conservative countries I’d ever visited. The average Soviet would have had more in common with your average Daily Mail reader than that of a Guardian aficionado. I can’t underline how conservative the people were in their views when it came to women and race. On the one hand the people I met were incredibly generous, hospitable and inquisitive but old-fashioned (I got slapped by an old woman once for wearing shorts on the metro) and at times racist, sexist and anti-Semitic. I had a guy try and drag me across the floor of the Rossiya Restaurant in Moscow because I’d gone there for lunch with a female friend. I think he assumed - because we had no man in tow - we were touting for business rather than just feeling hungry. And on one occasion when stopped by a Red Guard at Kiev Airport, the guard in question seemed more interested in why at the ancient age of 20 I didn’t have a boyfriend rather than in the Russian books I had in my suitcase that I clearly couldn’t read.
In Russia individual civil rights – whether you are straight or gay - aren’t entrenched in the same way as they are in the West. Reporters are routinely harassed, some have even been killed; government critics are imprisoned and some have been silenced permanently; reports are made regularly in the press of alleged police corruption and a lawyer who recently exposed major government corruption was arrested, died in custody and despite already being dead then put on trial! I think if you look at the general Russian attitude to race, violence against women and women per se then I don’t think it’s that surprising that Russia isn’t in the vanguard when it comes to gay rights. As I say, I think the major hurdle is that most likely a large swathe of the Russian population is behind the government’s stance; and that the government – not as popular as it once was – has even gained Brownie points with some with the introduction of this law. I’m sure the educated, middle classes in Moscow and St Petersburg are against the new law but then they are the very people who wouldn’t vote for Putin in the first place.
6. Will you vote Tory now that we have equal marriage?
I would never vote Tory.
7. Who is your favourite and least favourite comedian and why?
I have a lot of favourite comedians. I often like comedians whose style of humour I can’t do – like one liners. I loved Tommy Cooper for example for his ability to tell really bad jokes and still make you laugh. I love Lee Mack because he seems effortlessly funny. Now they are both real skills! Not surprisingly, my least favourite comedians are those who do rape jokes and general misogynist crap.
8. Do you think a person’s sexuality should be mentioned in your industry?
Well it seems a person’s sexuality is only ever mentioned if they are gay. It never seems to crop up when they are straight. Jen Brister is an excellent comedian but in one review someone wrote about her that she was an “enthusiastic lesbian”. Not sure what that is exactly but it has no place in a comedy review. I’m sure no straight comic has ever been referred to as an “enthusiastic heterosexual”.
9. What suggestions would you give to a woman who wishes to follow her dreams?
Carry on regardless. Don’t care what other people say or think. Most people don’t follow their dreams and resent anyone else trying. Find people who support both you and your dreams.
10. What is your definition of ‘true love’?
Well I’m still looking but I guess it’s where you feel safe to be yourself and vice versa and hopefully lots of great sex.
11. If you were going on a first date where would you go and what would you wear?
I’d be in heels, a dress (hopefully food free – I tend to get food everywhere when I eat). I’d probably go to the Panorama cocktail bar in London. 360 degree view of London, nice cocktails, no loud music and plenty of comfy seating.
12. What is the funniest thing that you have ever seen?
Usually it’s Jen Brister moaning. She moans a lot but is so hysterically funny doing it. I’m sure she’s looking for sympathy but I’m generally creased up laughing.