Award-nominated comedian, Freya Mallard, debuts this year at the Edinburgh Fringe with her show, The Bounce Back. Here, Mallard talks to Katerina Partolina Schwartz about her new hour, the flaws in Darwinism and the phrase ‘have it all’.
How would you summarise The Bounce Back?
I’ve been calling it “The Fastest Show Ever Written,” because I’ve written it whilst being pregnant! On average I would say that is much shorter than most people put together a show, especially your first show, as it tends to be years and years of material. I would summarise it as a time capsule of my experience being pregnant, being in labour and becoming a new parent. The show is watching one person transition through those different states of being into what you’ll see as the ‘finished product,’ which is me on stage in Edinburgh.
What inspired this show?
The show is inspired by the fact that I wanted to do my first-hour show this year and have a baby, and I didn’t want either of them to budge because I’m a spoiled brat, basically.
I don’t know if it’s my upbringing, but I find it incredibly cringy to be an artist saying things like, “Oh my goodness, my debut!” and agonising over art and saying, “I have to go to Edinburgh!” when you really don’t have to do any of it. I didn’t want to just be agonising over my show, I just wanted my life to have a bit more. I wanted to have things to talk about, and I wanted to start my family. It’s very easy in comedy to have nothing to talk about cause you just spend your Friday and Saturday night doing gigs and not really seeing people, with very little life beyond the world of comedy. So, the show is about not putting my career on hold just because I wanted to have a baby and doing both at the same time.
If it’s not too much of a spoiler, what are the holes in Darwinian principles?
It’s glaringly obvious when you find out. What’s really terrifying is that Charles Darwin married his first cousin and had a bunch of kids with her! I talk about that in the show and make fun of the him and that the one thing he’s known is fundamentally flawed.
What is your opinion of the phrase ‘to have it all’?
I was of that generation of girls I think that was told, “Don’t worry, you can have it all, go for it!”. Occasionally they’d talk about it on Loose Women and say things like, “Don’t be so silly, women need to get real, they can’t have it all.” Now that I’m a parent, I’m learning that it is really tricky, especially for women. My partner’s career hasn’t stopped or taken the same pause that mine has currently.
Parenthood is a job no matter if you’re doing it in the 18th century, right now or in 20 years from now. Being a parent is really hard, all-consuming, working round the clock and it’s really stressful when they baby’s crying, not just because it’s a baby crying, but because someone you love so dearly is crying and in pain. I’ve found that’s really what’s stressful about it. Despite that, I’m going to continue to try and have it all, but I think you just have to go into it with a really open mind, especially as a woman, consider how all-consuming it is. You have to change the way you approach your work, and to be honest, as a comedian now, it’s new ground because comics historically have been men, and they haven’t had to worry about, “How am I going to do a 20 minute gig and make it home for bath time?” because either their wives do it, or they’re single men who didn’t have kids.
The whole dynamic and landscape of comedy is changing, and the job is going to have to change to fit around me, Sara Pascoe, Katherine Ryan, and all the other women who need to get the work done and get home to their kids. I’m really excited to see how we’re all doing that; we’re changing the scene.
Freya Mallard: The Bounce Back, 31st July – 12th August and 14th – 25th August at 4.35pm, at Pleasance Courtyard (Baby Grand). Book tickets here.
