Mary O’Connell is conflicted: she hates capitalism but she loves to shop. Award-winning debut show from a blunt and disturbed perspective of observational annoyance and mischief. The star of Stand Up for Live Comedy (BBC Three), Funny Women runner-up 2020, OFTV Creative Fund Winner 2023 and former creative resident at Steve Coogan’s Baby Cow Productions considers money, pop culture and trying to be a good person while living in London (if that’s possible).
Where do you get your inspiration from?
I think it’s important to look for inspiration everywhere, and not just restrict yourself to comedy in the traditional sense. There’s so much comedy in music, especially rap music, I love coming across the wordplay of rappers and it makes me think more innovatively about how I use wording and rhythm in my performances. Of course most of my inspiration comes from just being annoyed about something, that’s usually the stuff I tend to write about.
What’s your show about and where can we see it?
The show is about when I did a comedy competition that turned out to be a reality tv show (IT DIDN’T SAY THAT ANYWHERE IN THE APPLICATION) and my experience with competing in a show that had such a big cash prize. I have money anxiety, I always have, and doing the competition made it much worse, but I’m still glad I did it. The show is also about my relationship towards being a workaholic and being a woman of colour in the comedy industry. You can watch it on 19th November at 6pm and 8pm for the stand up taping, then after that you should be able to watch it on YouTube, some time in the new year hopefully!
Who are your favourite funny women?
I think Wanda Sykes is the GOAT, she’s just so brilliant in the simplicity of what she talks about. I love seeing her depiction of her French wife and the way she talks about her children. The beauty of what she does is that I feel like I really know her, of course, I don’t actually know her, but her craftsmanship has created a world where I can predict what she’s going to do or say, and then she can choose to beautifully subvert or adhere to my predictions. I think Michelle Wolf is an incredible joke writer, her structure is impeccable and her takes often combine simplicity with a really leftfield perspective on the world and I’m here for it. I think Mindy Kaling is such a funny spirit on screen and she writes these raw, vulnerable, funny, characters. I haven’t seen romcom in a series the way she does it.
What advice would you give for those starting out, entering the Funny Women Awards, taking their first show to a fringe festival or working on their first project?
I think the advice I would find useful is that you should try not to compare yourself to anyone, because there is literally no one else in the world exactly like you, and that fact alone gives you so much power. If you’re preparing for the Funny Women Awards, I think something that’s just as important as being funny is being memorable, it’s not always the funniest people who get the sitcoms and the TV appearances, but often the memorable ones. Competitions are a vehicle for people to figure out where to place you, but if you already know where you fit, you’re way ahead of the curve. When I was a runner up in the Funny Women Stage Award I knew how to be funny, but I couldn’t say if I knew how to be memorable yet, that’s something I’m still learning!
What have you been working on and what’s next for you?
I’ve actually just finished co-writing a play with my old school friend, it’s been selected for a few scratch nights and then we’ll see about it going for a longer theatre run. It’s called The Shubz so look out for it. I’ve also been writing a book, it’s a massive undertaking and I wanted to really challenge myself but the first draft is done! Of course the main thing I want to shout about is that I’m taping my debut hour Money Princess as a stand up special. It’s been strange reliving the show because I’m so different to when I wrote it, of course I’ve adjusted it and re-written parts of it. I wish I’d been nicer to myself at that time, because looking back on it, it’s such a good show and I’m really proud of it
You can see Money Princess at Pleasance Theatre Islington on 19th November. Our readers can enjoy a very generous 50% discount by using code: MONEY50. For tickets and more information click here!
