We chat to people person Lucy Porter
LIZ CROSTHWAITE • Published 25 Jan 2013 04:30
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"I'm so much more relaxed since having kids," comedian Lucy Porter tells me. "In terms of stagecraft, I could not give a stuff what anyone thinks of me anymore! Having done childbirth - and I don't want to sound like a martyr - but even the toughest gig you have ever had is not as bad as that!"
Bubbly, pint-size comic Lucy has had a rather condensed experience of all things baby-related recently, having spent much of the past two years either 'giving birth or being a mum' to her two children. But now she's back, with a new show, People Person, which garnered warm reviews at last August's Edinburgh Festival.
"It's largely about friendship, and it is about motherhood, which I had not intended because I did not want to bang on about being a mum - but I have not done much other than being pregnant and being a mum and giving birth for the last few years!" Lucy explained. "But the further I get away from that period, it becomes more about other things. It's about friendship and motherhood and the internet...
"I know it doesn't sound very interesting, but I can't ever describe a show and make it sound funny! It's funnier in practice than it is in theory!"
One accusation laid against the show in Edinburgh was that it was a little baby-heavy, but Lucy countered: "You have to know what people want to know. Things like childbirth... it's a huge thing for you when you have been through it but I have come to realise that no one else cares! It's a constant on-going progress.
"I have been trying to make it less child-obsessed. But I think you can talk about anything and make it relatable as long as you do it in a way that makes people laugh."
Lucy added that while her open, friendly stage demeanour hadn't changed, she was trying to rein in her tendency for
over-sharing - a bit, anyway.
"You do not want to be the Liz Jones of stand up, expressing everything... I have always been quite a shameless person. My sense of shame is very under-developed. My husband [actor Justin Edwards] never approves. He feels I over-share and he may have a point! He does let me ridicule him for being ridiculously tall though - that's allowed," Lucy explained, adding cheekily, "But there's other stuff he said he will divorce me for telling people...They will have to find me in the bar afterwards!"
Lucy Porter: People Person is at South Street Arts Centre, Reading, tomorrow (Friday), Newbury Corn Exchange on Saturday, March 16, and Norden Farm, Maidenhead, on Friday, March 22. Visit www.readingarts.com, cornexchangnew.com, or norden farm.org
This article appeared in Bracknell News 24 Jan 13
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