When people ask me if I’ve ever had any bad experiences as a female comedian, it’s depressing that my reply is usually that I’m ‘lucky’ I haven’t. I’m a stand-up based in London, one of the most progressive cities in the world for it. But that doesn’t mean it’s perfect.
I get asked a lot at the moment about how comedy has changed, with people assuming the old cliché of, ‘You can’t say anything these days.’ You can, but your audience is your own litmus test, and they’ve modernised, too. If Russell Brand did a club gig this weekend and joked about loving it when a woman chokes during oral sex, in my experience the crowd would tense up. It wouldn’t get a good reaction. (Brand vehemently denies all the allegations against him and says he has never had non-consensual sex.) I talk about sensitive subjects in my own comedy; my latest show, Not My Finest Hour, is about morally questionable relationships, abortion, sex and losing my virginity. Nothing is off limits as long as it’s done in a way in which the joke is on the right person (in my case, myself).
