No joke – comic Fern ran off stage

Every comedian fears “dying” on stage, when their jokes don’t go down well.

Scots stand-up Fern Brady feared what would happen if she didn’t get off stage.

“I was playing a pub at Hampton Court, a really posh village, and I don’t think any of them had been to a stand-up gig before,” said Fern, who is on Live From The BBC. “They started shouting at me to go back to Glasgow – which hurt as I’m from Bathgate – and offering me money to get off.

“I backed out of the room, ran down the stairs and begged the manager to give me my fee.

“I saw the audience charging down the stairs after me, so I ran away.” Fern had another close escape in Leicester when she saw a woman in the front row looking like she was getting ready to have a pop at her.

“It was just a week before the BBC were going to film me for this show, so I wasn’t going to take any risks,” says Fern.

“I walked off just a minute into my set.”

This is the third series of the hit stand-up show Live From The BBC, with Fern’s episode having been screened on BBC3 a couple of weeks back.

It all came about after Fern was spotted at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe. Although she has been a regular on BBC Radio Scotland’s Breaking The News, she is now Londonbased. That, though, is something she wants to change.

“I’m just in London for the work but I live in a really horrible bit of the city and I hate it,” adds Fern. “I was in Glasgow the other week and I so want to buy a flat.” Live From The BBC, available on the iplayer.