Lazy Susan are returning to the Fringe with their sketch comedy, as heard on BBC Radio 4 and seen on The Windsors, This Country and The Mash Report – these two have been racking up the credits since being nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer award. Mariana Feijó caught up with the pair to talk about their show, Toni Collette and shunning convention…
Mariana Feijó: Tell us a bit about your show Forgive Me, Mother!
Lazy Susan: It’s about fear, self-deception and retribution. Ya know – the stuff girls talk about!
MF: How does it feel to be going back to Edinburgh after being Toni Collette’s daughter and a regular on The Mash Report?
LS: Exactly as we imagined! (the same as always)
MF: It’s your fourth year going up to Edinburgh, which makes you fairly experienced at it. Has it become less daunting and/or less exciting?
LS: Not really! Each show has its own unique challenges and therefore fresh opportunities for failure. That’s what makes it scary. It’s also what makes it exciting. You see the predicament…
MF: Your comedy has been described as shunning conventions in the past – does experience make that easier or more difficult to achieve? Are you still shunning conventions?
LS: We shun conventions all the time – blanked them at a party just last night! Ha ha, ok seriously guys… I guess we try not to worry about whether we’re conventional or not – we more just focus on if something feels alive and true. If it ends up seeming unconventional that’s really just a by-product of those things. Experience makes it easier to trust your instincts, so yes it does help. However, you can also get stuck in habitual ways of doing things or get scared to experiment because you don’t want to disappoint people, so it’s always a balance.
MF: Who are your favourite funny women?
LS: Lou Sanders, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Sarah Kendall, Emma Sidi, Sindhu Vee, Tessa Coates, Stevie Martin. Laura Davis is a wicked Aussie comic, we love the women of Beard… There are so many funny women out there that it’s almost as if gender has no bearing whatsoever on how funny you are. Funny that!
Lazy Susan: Forgive Me, Mother! is at the Assembly: The Box at 16:20, 1st – 27th August. for tickets click here!
