Comedy: Laura Lexx
Being happy is a rare thing in comedy these days. Laura Lexx spreads the love ahead of her show at Three & Ten this week
You’re previewing your new show ‘Lovely’ on Friday. What’s it about?
It’s loosely based around me and myself at the moment. I wanted to write a show that celebrated being OK with yourself and being happy. Don’t get me wrong: there’s no self-help section where we all hug each other and cry for a while. I am still just as sarcastic and withering on some subjects as ever. I’ve just noticed a trend over the past few years of shows being built around tragedy and, while this can be incredible, I haven’t really got much tragedy, so I couldn’t write that show!
What’s your comedy USP?
I’m a lot cheaper and more readily available than other comics of my ability.
You’ve performed at Edinburgh for the last five years. Are you planning to take the show there?
I’m taking it to Camden Fringe first (Camden Head, 12-14 Aug), then our own Brighton Festival next year, Leicester too, and then hopefully up to Edinburgh.
I think Edinburgh is a hyper-critical, very intense place to take a piece of work and I’m loathe to subject my little show to it until I’ve properly learned how to love it inside and out.
Do hecklers give you problems?
I’m a very interactive comedian, so I invite a lot of chat because I know I can deal with it! I am surprisingly acidic if you’ve not seen me before and I think that catches people off guard because I’m so smiley and upbeat in my act. Usually a heckle is good-natured or at least a one-off, and part of being a comic is being quick enough to deal with it. If it’s persistent, a good club should have the person removed and that’s not a sign of weakness on the part of the comics. Suggesting we should be able to work regardless
is like saying a surgeon should still be able to perform seamlessly with someone covering their eyes.
What was it like playing at Worthing Rugby Club last month?
An absolute peach! It’s a gig I book myself for the rugby club and I choose the best comics I’ve worked with over the last few months and I get to MC it too! It’s an absolute dream that gig; the audience are smart and enthusiastic and they’re purely there for the comedy, which makes the atmosphere really experimental.
How do you feel about Chortle calling you the “next-generation Lucy Porter”?
I can think of worse people to be compared to! I personally don’t think my material is much like hers but I can see why I got compared to her in my early days when I had longer hair; we’re both very short, sweet-looking and sounding.
What would you do if someone forcibly prevented you from doing comedy? Any back-up plans?
I’ve got a couple of children I’d probably start looking after again. I had them young and then really put them to one side to concentrate on comedy. They’re probably hungry.
Got anything else in the pipeline?
I will be MCing the phenomenal night that is Comic Boom at Brighton’s Komedia (July 31). I also intend to finally finish the first draft of the novel I’m working on; it’s an apocalyptic comedy with a working title of As We Know It, that I am very close to finishing. I’d like to get that out there and see if people like it as much as I do.
What’s funnier: a stupid-looking dog with food on its face or a child falling sideways over a very small ridge?
What breed is the dog and how old is the child? Two-year-old off a small ridge beats Chihuahua with jam on, but a husky with meatloaf beats an eight-year-old off a banister. You shouldn’t have got me thinking about this…
Why do you perform in bare feet?
Ha! I do sometimes wear shoes, but I move about so much and play all sorts of different characters in the show and I like to be able to dash across stage without making a load of noise. If a venue is really grim, I’ll wear my shoes, but I just like it more without. Maybe I’ll wear some just for you at the preview on Friday!
Laura Lexx: Lovely, Three & Ten,
Fri 20 June, 8pm, £5
Follow me: latestvicky
