STAR TURN ‘I love doing the Grumpy shows’
A: Not any that immediately spring to mind, but I do like the St David’s Hall backstage area as they have beds in the dressing rooms, which is always a joy! We do Cardiff, and then the day after that we’re in Swansea. I do try to get to an art gallery, so if I do have time in Cardiff or Swansea that’s what I’ll be digging out.
A: Firstly, they’re all very different shows. This is Grumpy 4, which is totally different to Grumpy 3 and that’s different to 1 and 2, so it’s important to dispel any myth that anyone might have that this is the same show that’s been touring for years.
They are stand-alone shows with different props, sets, costumes and casts. I love doing the Grumpy shows as they very much give me a break from being by myself on stage as I do a lot of solo shows, and have just finished two and a half years of How to Be a Middle Aged Woman. I started that in 2015, so it was really nice to get away from my solo work and watch some other people onstage, and they do genuinely make me laugh. There’s still some bits that I’ve heard about 40 times, but they’re still making me really laugh.
A: I’ve become much better than I used to be. I used to be so terrified of going so far off track that I could never get back and it just all turning into mush, but for my last solo show I forced myself to do 10 minutes of adlib every night, and that kind of broke the fear of it over two and a half years.
With Grumpy, there’s always stuff going wrong so there’s always an element of ad-lib. I had gastroenteritis in the Theatre Royal and threw up in front of 800 people – in the wings fortunately – so the girls had to cover me for that and I had to then come back on with sick on my shoe, so stuff happens but thankfully the three of us are very close onstage. In 38 years of gigging, that’s actually the only time I’ve thrown up – you deal with whatever ball is thrown at you!
A: It’s different for me now in that I’m a 58-year-old woman and my material is about that. I’m not a 22-year-old coming up through the ranks any more. I think it’s probably still tough, but I think it’s better, easier and healthier.
I think that comedy is in a really good state. I think the balancing up of women, and women getting more power and spotlight has been for the absolute good of comedy. It’s taken some of the nastiness out of it and the laddish, rubbish part of it and the bullying. I think it’s been a real force for good.
A: Oh, well that’s a long time ago! I don’t really give it much thought to be honest, but it was great and really good for me at the time and it’s been a lovely thing to have after my name. I think my work since though has spoken for itself. It’s not about getting one thing, it’s about doing it over and over and over again and touring and touring. It is lovely to get awards and that sort of thing, but that all pales to nothing. It’s what you do in the moment in front of an audience that counts.