Funny lady Susan Calman is heading north this month. She shares a word or two with Your Weekend ahead of her Inverness and Aberdeen gigs
HI, SUSAN. THIS IS YOUR FIRST TOURING SHOW. ARE YOU
PREPARED FOR THE OPEN ROAD?
Because I live in Glasgow, travelling is a large part of the job and, for this tour, I’ll have my laptop and my box sets. Whenever I travel, I take two things with me: one is a very expensive shower gel so that when I’m staying in rubbish hotels I can still pretend that I’m not. And I take proper coffee with me for a nice cup in the morning.
WILL YOU FIND IT LONELY?
My sitcom (Sisters) was recently commissioned by Radio 4, so I’ll get into writing that. Yes, it’ll be a bit lonely, but some of the dates on the tour are sold out already and people are getting excited about it, and I’m really excited about it, too.
THE SHOW YOU’RE TAKING ON THE ROAD IS A TWO-PARTER, ISN’T IT? THE FIRST HALF IS A BEST-OF FROM YOUR MANY EDINBURGH FRINGE SHOWS, WHILE THE SECOND HALF
IS YOUR NEW SHOW, LADY LIKE
The first bit is really about getting to know me, so you have a better idea of who I actually am. It’s basically an introduction, so everyone hopefully relaxes and there are no surprises. It’ll be a nice relaxing 45 minutes, go away and have a drink, come back for the second half. It should be a proper night of good old-fashioned entertainment.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE “TAKE HOME” MESSAGES YOU’VE
WRITTEN FOR LADY LIKE?
This show is saying you can learn to like yourself more. People can look at me and know that I’ve had a difficult time, but I’m still here standing on stage. We all know as comedians how badly affected we can be by a bad review, but it’s all about positivity and I like to be positive. In terms of the more difficult stuff, you hold back a little bit; there’s a fine line between pity and laughter, and I don’t want people to feel sorry for me.
There’s so much negativity around these days. People are keen to tell you in 140 characters just how much they think you’re rubbish. I think Twitter is an amazing, amazing thing, but it can turn you on a pin, from happiness to despair. Anything you say can be dissected. It was bad enough when I was growing up, wondering if I was good enough, never mind now. People just want to take a rise out of you, but you can block them and move on.
SO YOUR FORM OF COMEDY IS A POSITIVE ONE, THEN?
Fundamentally, you want people to leave feeling better than they did when they came in; for me, that’s the ultimate goal. Compering can be a gentle thing. A lot of people are frightened of comedy because they’ve seen a compere who’s really gone for somebody in the audience or been particularly acerbic or rude. If I ask a question, it’s just that I want to know an answer – if I’m in a city that I don’t know much about, for example. Comedy is a conversation in every way and hopefully you get a response.
YOU TRADED A HEALTHY WAGE PACKET IN CORPORATE LAW TO DO COMEDY. WAS THAT A BRAVE DECISION TO MAKE?
That was the one bold decision I’ve made in my life and I still don’t really quite know why I did it. I wasn’t very confident with people when growing up and I’m quite set in my ways. I’m very risk averse; anything that seems a bit risky, I don’t really want to do it. Apart from giving up my job.
WHO IN THE COMEDY WORLD HAS INSPIRED YOU TO MAKE THE LEAP?
I’d never seen live comedy before I did my own first gig. My heroes were the Young Ones, French and Saunders, the Carry On films, and I really loved Joyce Grenfell, oddly enough. I know An Audience With Victoria Wood entirely off by heart. That was the kind of stuff I wanted to do – to tell stories. The Edinburgh Fringe really teaches you what kind of comedian you are and, more important, what kind of comedian you’re not. I’m not a one-liner comic and never will be. At the end of a show, I think audiences like to perhaps know a little bit more about that person and that’s the kind of comedy I like to see.
Susan Calman will be at Eden Court, Inverness, on Friday, March 27, at 8pm (for tickets visit www.eden-court.co.uk or call 01463 234234), and then the Lemon Tree, Aberdeen, on Saturday, March 28, at 8pm (for tickets, visit www.aberdeenperformingarts.com or call 01224 641122).