LUISA FEELS BLESSED TO BE IN BRUM
WHO said you have to move to London to establish your name? As comedian Luisa Omielan, who returned to Birmingham, discovered, living away from the capital has distinct advantages.
“I’m very happy here, especially since the pandemic recognising the importance of having a base, fresh air, and a garden! I really feel for people who live in flats, who don’t have an outdoor space. That must have been horrible in lockdown,” says the 39-year-old who was born in Birmingham but lived in Farnborough, Hampshire, before relocating to London for her comedy career.
“You move into the big city to become successful, be busy, make your millions, but I had to move out of London to find life again,” she says. “I found a home here. It’s gorgeous, and green and very friendly.
“I wasn’t prepared for how friendly it is. I was very ‘London’,” she says, citing how residents in the capital avoid interaction. “Now I can’t get out of the supermarket without having a chat to the till staff!”
After a period beavering away on the London comedy circuit to little avail, Luisa broke through with the sleeper hit What Would Beyoncé Do?! in 2012, earning her a BBC special and book, while her viral ‘thigh gap’ routine (from Am I Right Ladies?) earned her a worldwide fanbase.
For her latest show, God Is A Woman, Lusia continues to share personal stories (the traumatic passing of her mother, moving to a leafy Birmingham suburb, her dog Bernie), but also explores religion and how women are often written out of history.
“I also reference the kindness you see every day now, like the kindness you see in a regular person next door who has a set of skills that maybe you don’t have, and yet they help you.”
Luisa Omielan is at Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, on November 19. For tickets visit warwickartscentre.co.uk