Heard the one about the relaxed mum? No, neither have we. The female comics taking on the chaotic world of parenting
Motherhood? It’s a funny old world. And we talk to three Sometimes my kids don’t even know I’m gone. I’m like a ninja I gave birth in March and was trying out stand-up material two weeks later
Lucy Porter When Lucy Porter announced her first pregnancy, she was told it would be career suicide.
Almost a decade on, the Fringe favourite is returning to Edinburgh with her 15th comedy hour – and her two children, Emily, eight, and seven-year-old John.
“I had people tell me it would be the death of my career, that I wouldn’t be able to do the gigs any more or put in the hours,” said Lucy, whose husband, Justin Edwards, is also a comedian and actor. “There was a certain amount of negativity, especially when I had another baby within 14 months.
“But I was inspired by Jenny Eclair, who has a wonderful daughter, and Jo Brand, who has two kids. They were my role models who’d done it and come out the other side. “Nowweareoutthe other side, too, and my kids love the festival. They love going to see shows and wandering around this place where everyone knows Mummy and Daddy.”
Lucy took two years off from working the Fringe – but she was still there the first year accompanying Justin, who had a show – and it was all change when she returned.
“The Fringe used to be a month of parties for me, but it’s a very different experience now,” she admitted. “The baby years were tough. If both of us were each doing a show, we would be throwing a baby at each other across the Pleasance Courtyard, running around the hills of Edinburgh with a buggy trying to get to where we needed to be. I don’t necessarily recommend that.”
Lucy says that, while she doesn’t speak specifically about her children, her material can’t help but be influenced by motherhood.
“I don’t tell funny stories about them, because I fear they will be embarrassed when they get older, and in a couple of years they will be bigger than me and able to beat me up,” said the 46-year-old.
“But I do talk about the world they have brought me in to, like interacting with school mums, the PTA, Brownies and so on.”
She added:
“It’s the same for all working parents, especially freelancers. It’s hard and is about making sacrifices.
“But being a stand-up is quite good because I can often put the kids to bed and I’m back in before they wake up. Sometimes they don’t even know I’m gone – I’m like a ninja!”
Lucy Porter: Be Prepared, Pleasance – Cabaret Bar, July 31-Aug 17 It’s often said a good sense of humour is a must for being a parent. Now a growing band of mothers are taking that mantra a step further by using their experiences of parenthood as stand-up material. Having had two children in the past two years, you would think the last thing Tara Newton-wordsworth would want this summer is to make her Edinburgh Fringe debut.
But the 30-year-old comic and actor obviously thrives on pressure.
She is bringing stand-up show Motherhood to the Fringe, with 20-monthold toddler Charlie, five-month-old Sam and husband Will in tow. “Will pointed out to me last year that I’d wanted to perform a show in Edinburgh for a long time, so when was I going to do it,” explained Tara. “When I got pregnant again with Sam I thought I couldn’t do it. But I decided there would probably never be a better time, because there will always be something on as they get older, so I just decided to go for it. “I gave birth to Sam in March and was trying out stand-up material on stage two weeks later.” Personal trainer Will This year’s Edinburgh Fringe line-up showcases an increasing number of working mums who are finding plenty of laughs in trying to safely navigate the potential pitfalls of raising a child. We speak to three comedians, all coming to the capital later this month, about being a mum at the biggest and busiest festival in the world. does much of his work online, so can come to Edinburgh along with Tara. “I was offered a 6.30pm slot for my show,” she continued. “But I’ve gone for 3.30pm as it allows me to be there for dinner and bedtime. My husband will work from home in the mornings and evenings.
“It’s our first time doing this, so we’ll just have to find out as we go along. “I directed a show at the Fringe one time and it was late nights and out drinking – a very different experience to what it will be this time.” Returning to the stage so soon after giving birth was a good thing for Tara. “After my first son, I lost a sense of who I was for a while,” she continued. “I was so overwhelmed by motherhood and the responsibility of it. It was only when I went back to stand-up and the compere said my name that I thought, ‘yeah, that’s me, I’m a person’.
“I realised it’s not about having a job, it’s about reconnecting with who you are.”
She added: “The show is essentially my experiences on motherhood. I grew up on an organic farm in Western Australia to hippy parents and was home-schooled for five years, so I had a very different upbringing.
“I talk about bringing kids up in modern UK, as well as working through my own issues and being honest about the relentlessness of parenting. “People appreciate the honesty.”