Making ‘Jana and Heidi’ has been an interesting experience for both of us. We made the show ‘Jana & Heidi’ after mum saw a young comedian in 2013 and whispered to me during his set “Pops, is he meant to be funny? Because I’m funnier than him” and then suggested we make a show together!
Mum had no prior experience of performing, and when we started to devise the show I was surprised how much she trusted me in the making of it. She trusted me totally to explore areas of our relationship that were uncomfortable, and had been difficult for us in previous years, and to look at her own relationship with her mum.
We started off not really knowing the shape the show would take, though we knew we wanted it to be funny! I wanted to give us the space to find our own voice, ways of devising and performing together. Once we had started to work on parts of the show we realised we were making a show that would be a truthful and honest journey looking at relationships we have with our family, and how funny, heartbreaking and comforting these can be.
I wanted to make this show because I think the mother/daughter relationship is fascinating – everyone has a story. Mum wanted to make the show so she could be famous!
Sometimes we both really annoy each other, in the middle of rehearsal mum will tell me I’m looking spotty/fat/tired, and I revert to being a stroppy 15 year old. But she is also full of praise: "Working with Jana has been a delight and without too many arguments in the process. She is bursting with ideas and the show has evolved due to Jana's constant attention to detail."
We had a lovely moment recently when she told me I was much funnier on stage than she thought I would be, and she got a kick out of hearing the audience laughing. Luckily we find each other funny, sometimes so much so that mum forgets her lines, "which could be a disaster, but luckily Jana knows my lines so well she can put me back on course", we both definitely feel closer for having made the show together. Let’s hope that feeling is still there after touring together!
It's been great when the audience come up to us after the show and say they recognised in our material some of their own lives. The fact that we are real life mother and daughter is a bonus as they see that relationship happening on stage (mum sometimes tells me off on stage for waffling!), mum gets a real thrill from peoples responses: "I love the end where so many people want to be photographed with the 'set' – hilarious!"
The hardest time we have had was while we were previewing the show and mum went into hospital for a routine procedure that ended up being not quite so routine. It was really scary, I nearly lost my mum, and co-star! We were not sure we would be able to perform at Edinburgh Fringe in August. But she rallied and now her consultants all have signed copies of our poster on their walls!
Jana is a skilled MC, comedian, performer & writer, Heidi is 69 and worked in PR for 30 years, she now likes to visit stately homes, do jigsaws and watch action films in 3D.
