SINDHU VEE

Leicester SINDHU Vee is heading for The Y in Leicester later this year with her debut show Sandhog. This is what she had to say. Where and when was your first stand up gig? How did it go? It was for the Funnywomen UK heats in 2013 in Soho in London. I went straight to the semi-finals. I was very out of body while I was on stage – I’d never been to a live comedy gig before that, let alone get on stage at one. But the audience was tremendously supportive and clearly like hearing about my mother and me. Why did you leave your career as an investment banker? Because I never realised I would be quite as maternal a mother as I turned out to be. I had a baby and went back to work because I loved my job and I thought I could “have it all”...turns out the only thing I cared about having was my kid stuck to me like a limpet. I quit to be with the limpet. Do comedians have any strange superstitions? I can’t speak for all comics... I don’t have superstitions but I have rituals. One is visualising my mother reassuring me that I can make people laugh because “you have always been like joker” just before I go on. Who were your main influences as a comedian? So many different ones because we moved countries a lot. Carol Burnett, Oscar the Grouch, Peppermint Patty and Marcie from Peanuts, Amitabh Bachchan in his comedic roles in Hindi films, Eddie Murphy’s Delirious, which I only knew the audio of until after I started stand-up, Billy Connolly, Wanda Sykes, Ellen de Generes (in her stand up avatar)... Do you practise gags with your husband? Rarely. He is one the few people who can make me laugh hard and so if he finds a gag of mine not funny, I know it’s dead and I can’t risk that so I just avoid the whole conversation as much as possible. Cowardice basically. Do you feel stand-up comedy is slowly becoming less of a all-man calling? Yes. Everyone, especially women, are aware of how things have to change and we are all working at it. Lots of men too. There is no looking back. Advice for anyone wanting to get into stand-up? Get 3-5 minutes of stuff you think is funny and go to an open-mic gig. JUST GO. Stand-up is very egalitarian, the barriers to entry are low and the stakes aren’t crazy high, most people there feel exactly like you do, so just go do it. And go back 10 times before you decide to give up (if that crosses your mind at all).

■ Sindhu Vee is at The Y in Leicester on October 27. For details visit sindhuvee.com