Interview: Ava Vidal

Ava Vidal has written for the broadsheets, can be heard regularly on BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz and used to be a prison officer! With these credentials, we can’t wait to see her latest stand-up show, loosely based around a Facebook page. Victoria Nangle found out more about the talented funny lady.

Your show that you’re doing for Brighton Comedy Festival… could you describe it tome?
I did it a couple of weeks ago, and somebody reviewed it, and, oh you know; it’s not modern day feminism, ’cause Brigette Christie’s just done a show about feminism. (laughs) So it’s not about feminism, ’cause feminism’s about fighting for rights, this show’s about hating men. [chuckles] No, but it is – it’s about women and gay men telling their stories; ‘He’s Not A Keeper’ stories, essentially.

The point of realisation it’s time to move on?
Um… you can still be with that person, and still just think: ‘Why? why? God help me, someone shoot me!’ and still be with that person. It started as a Facebook page, actually. And people started sending me stuff, and they were like: ‘Oh, you should make it into a book.’ And I took it to publishers, and they were like: ‘Well, we don’t know if this could be a book, so I started doing as a show, and now I have got a literary agent who’s trying to sell it as a book.

Do you have fond memories of playing in Brighton?
I do, yeah. Because they’re really vocal. If they disagree with something they’ll just say so and you can have a conversation on stage. Which some comedians don’t like but it doesn’t really throw me at all, ’cause I’m quite conversational anyway. Sometimes you come up with some great stuff. I came up with a really good joke that was given to me, not – he didn’t actually mean to give me a a joke, but a good line was in my last show, when I previewed in Brighton.

Oh wow.
Yeah, I was like: ‘I am taking that and pretending I wrote it.’

Well, we aim to please!
I’m looking forward to this because really the audience for this show, it is gay men. By the time I’d finished at [The] Soho [Theatre] I’d literally weeded all the heteros out… gay men and women. And guys come in with their partners. There was one guy on the second to last night – no, on the last night – that came in on his own, and I went: ‘Where’s your girlfriend’ and he went: ‘She’s sent me here.’ and I went; ‘What do you think she’s trying to tell you?’ [laughs] He was just sitting there alone. So yeah, it’s definitely…

I think, especially in comedy, it’s such a male dominated thing, and I go to clubs all the time and I see if there’s a gay couple in, or a lesbian couple, sometimes they’re just teased mercilessly. And it’s almost like comedy clubs are not a safe space for them. So I pick on the hetero guy: ‘You will accept responsibility for all your kind.’ Yeah, we pick on them a little bit. And sometimes, if they can suspend their privilege for like one hour, they have a great time with it. Sometimes men get moody but, you know, whatever.

You were saying about women in the comedy environment, and a lot has been written about that lately. I was speaking to some musical comics who said that they don’t tend to share a bill with other musical comics because bookers go: ‘I’ve got one of you, I don’t need another one.’ Do you get that same thing being both a female comic and a black comic?
Yeah. I always joke with other black comics: ‘I’ll see you in October. ‘Cause that’s black history month, and it’s the only time we’re allowed to be seen together. So yes, a lot of the time with female comics it’s exactly the same thing. I even joked about it – it’s on the internet on the Brighton Comedy Festival – I actually addressed that and said the only time we get to see each other is at festivals and stuff, ’cause we’re not allowed to be on the same bill in case we spoil things.

The musical comics were saying how much they like being gathered together. Do you get much chance to gig with Andi Osho or Miss London?
No. no, never. Never gigged with those girls, ever. Actually I can’t even remember… I don’t think I ever have gigged with either of them. Oh, once I gigged with Miss London at a black gig. But no. Never with Andi, ever.

A lot has been made about your height, 5’11”. I’m 6’2″…
Are you? Oh, sister! Hi!

I’m going to ask you a question I asked Greg Davis: where’s the strangest place you’ve ever banged your head?
Bearcat Club. I nearly knocked myself out.

Oh my God!
And they warn you, actually. Even if you’re much shorter… there was another place as well. It’s always been at a gig. When you go onto the stage at the Bearcat Club, you’re supposed to sort of, dip. And you have a really good gig, and I wasn’t looking and I was sort of waving, going ‘thank you, thank you’ – smash! And it hurt so much I saw stars. I was like: ‘Yeah, I totally meant to do that’ [chuckles] I was like: ‘I need to sit down, I need to sit down.’ It was bad. Yeah, there’s been a couple of times.

If you could have a super power, what would it be?
I used to say it would be to be invisible, but now, with gigging and driving, I think it would be to be able to teleport. Go straight home, that would be awesome.

And what are your plans for the future?
Like I said, I just got a literary agent. So, I want to write more. And tour off the back of that, really. Less sort of stand-uppy stuff and doing shows… like He’s Not A Keeper, I really want to start building the audience up from that show. Take it around the place when it becomes a book, doing book readings and gathering more and more material for it. Another thing as well, I’m writing my autobiography at the moment.

Oh wow. Because you’ve got a well reported story: single parent, prison guard, stand-up comedian… it must be much in demand.
Yeah, I’ve been asked to do it for the last couple of years, but I’ve found it hard. Really difficult, reliving some of that stuff. I didn’t realise how draining it would be. But I’m forcing myself to do it ’cause I’m broke. [both laugh]

Would you do your own solo sitcom?
I’m trying to. I’ve got one I’m pitching already. I’ve written a pilot episode. The waiting around is awful, but it’s out there and we’re hoping.

Who’ve you pitched it to?
The BBC are looking at it at the moment. I was actually speaking to them yesterday.

Is it autobiographical?
Slightly. It’s about a black family that live out of London, that live out in the sticks, move out there from London. Move and go, ‘Oh my God, this is actually quite racist.’ ‘Cause I used to go to school not far from Brighton. My first school was in Haywards Heath and it was interesting to say the least.

Wow. It will be a twist on Miranda. A female comic with a story to tell.
Yeah. We have the same agent as well, so hopefully. I hope, I hope, I hope that they’ll make it.

Ava Vidal, Brighton Dome Studio, Saturday 5 October, 7.45pm, £12/10, 01273 709790, www.brightoncomedyfestival.com