When I wrote my first comedy hour ‘Hole’, I’d never seen any comedy live other than Joe Lycett once in 2016. I’d never done a comedy slot, had never thought about being a comedian, and had no idea how any of it worked.
All I knew is that I’d written an hour-long serious one-woman show that I hated (but really believed in the idea of) and that it needed to be funny, if I was ever going to enjoy performing it.
I’d done improv professionally with a regional theatre group for a couple of years, and figured comedy couldn’t be too different to that.
So I scoured Youtube until I found a comedian I related to – Maria Bamford – and with my newfound idol, and misguided confidence, I started doing comedy.
Jennifer Forward-Hayter
LOOP PEDAL
At uni, I got the maximum loan (ka-ching!) and a termly bursary of £250 (double Ka-ching!). I loved Grimes at the time and would obsessively watch a video of her playing music on a rooftop in Mexico.
I desperately wanted all the equipment she had, so I paused the video and googled everything I could see her using.
The cheapest thing was a loop pedal – a £250 BOSS VE 20. I've used it for EVERYTHING ever since.
Pre-pedal I did everything on a ukulele but neurodivergent women with ukuleles seem to frighten away audiences, there’s something violently whimsical about us – the loop pedal is my best friend.
Paul Gilbey
IMPROV
I used to do improv with a small professional group called Black Cherry. It was mostly short-form with an incredible pianist also improvising.
During a scene, he’d start playing and you’d just have to make up a song. He’d shout out “IN THE STYLE OF KATE BUSH” or “IN THE STYLE OF BJORK AT THE OPERA” to set you up. It was fun and definitely improved my song writing.
I make the audience sing choruses back to me sometimes in my shows; that’s definitely something I got from improv.
In my first hour, ‘Hole’, I’d get my audience to sing “Dildos on the NHS, Dildos on the NHS” over and over. They loved it, it was great fun… I promise.
Paul Gilbey
SOHO THEATRE
It had been my dream since uni to perform one of my own shows at Soho Theatre. So doing two sold-out nights there in 2024, felt incredible.
They are by far my favorite shows I’ve ever done. I think that first night at Soho was the proudest I’ve ever been. I was bloody thrilled. Still am. The whole experience made me feel like a proper artist/comedian.
WORKING WITH KIDS
For a few years, I led creative writing groups for kids with a non-profit company called ArtfulScribe.
I taught kids in different age groups from 7-18. Honestly, they made some of the best, most interesting work I’ve ever read.
Kids are funny without the limitations adults have. I had free rein over what I was teaching them, so we did comedy, DADA, surrealism and at one point a whole session based around an unnerving stock photo of a chef.
My writing improved when I was reading their work all the time, and the more I led a classroom of kids, the easier I found being in front of an audience.
Jennifer Forward-Hayter
SH*T JOBS
My new show ‘Tall Child’ has been written around working 40 hours a week on minimum wage. It’s a show about how making professional work is becoming more and more a class-exclusive sport.
The creative ‘choices’ I make in my work are, more often than not, born from limitations. I can’t upgrade my musical equipment, so I’ll just use my loop pedal. The only time I have to write is at weekends when I’m shattered from the work week, so my writing is often blunt and to the point – there’s no time to ‘explore’ a theme, I’ve just got to get it down.
It’s a dangerous time for people from low-income backgrounds to try to be artists.
There’s little to no-support, and the support that is there can't be means-tested, so often doesn’t reach the people who need it the most.
I’m so grateful that I got the Keep it Fringe Fund this year and that, alongside the fund, I’ve been able to borrow another £2,500. But it will take me more than a year to pay that money back.
My work and career so far has been controlled by my background and limitations. But the help and opportunities I have been given are a privilege, and the reason I’m still able to make work.
Come and see ‘Tall Child’ – an hour of loop pedal-powered, minimum wage-fuelled rage! It’s on at the Edinburgh Fringe. Underbelly, Bristo Square - 5.45pm. Get your tickets here.
