| Collection | British Stand-Up Comedy Archive Events |
| Description | Susan Calman gives the Linda Smith Lecture on 16th May 2017 at the Gulbenkian Theatre.
Summary: Track 1 [1:08:39]
[00:00] Recording starts. Host Oliver Double introduces the event, including a discussion about Linda Smith [LS. English comedian. The event is named after her] and her husband Warren Lakin [who is responsible for the event in part through donating LS archival footage to the University]. [02:25] OD introduces the guest Susan Calman [SC] with various humorous anecdotes. [4:03] SC introduces herself. Discusses LS's influence on her work in comedy. [6:55] SC describes how she started a career in comedy. Discussion about her early life and reaction to her Scottish origins from audiences. [10:00] SC describes her academic background and previous work in corporate law. [11:20] SC explains how she had always wanted to pursue comedy. [12:27] Describes important formative influence, Victoria Wood [English comedian and singer known for grounded, observational comedy]. [14:30] SC explains her sexuality and how it impacted her time as a lawyer. [16:30] SC talks about her first “five minutes” of comedy at the ‘Stand Comedy Club’ [club in Glasgow, Scotland]. [17:15] Discussion on gender in comedy/stand-up. [19:30] SC anecdotes about bad early shows, concluding that they enrich the stand-up experience. [22:20] SC story about her first television show, ‘Blowout’ [2007, Channel 4]. [25:20] Story about a negative experience at the Fringe Festival [performing arts festival in Scotland]. [27:00] SC describes her relationship with fellow comedian Sandy Toksvig [British-Danish comedian] and her time on the News Quiz [British panel comedy show, Radio 4]. [29:30] story about one of SC’s negative performance experiences at a Jongleurs in Edinburgh [Jongleurs is a chain of comedy clubs operating in the UK], experiencing discrimination from hecklers. SC goes on to describe a positive experience in 2012 with her show ‘This ladies not for Turning Either.’ [32:30] SC discusses her support of radio broadcasting as a medium for expression with more freedom than television. [33:20] Return to the discussion of gender in comedy. Including a digression about ‘Mock the Week’ [a British comedy panel show] and sexism experienced as a lawyer. [37:10] SC describes how LS performed satire well. Following up with a brief discussion of what makes satire effective. [39:08] Sc story about fighting for equality on an unnamed satire show. [41:45] Sc talks about the structure of her shows. [42:40] SC states her opinion: that women are being disallowed from a point of view. With this comes the idea that television viewers are being patronised. [44:20] Sc states that humour should be “difficult” [45:35] SC describes the way in which women are judged as a whole and not as individuals – referring to comedy. [49:00] Questions and answers. Question one: An audience member asks if SC will ever do a travelogue with Sofie Hagen [Danish comedian, SC stars in a podcast with them]. [51:09] Question two: SC is asked whether Scottish acts tend to “die” in England. [54:43] Question three: An audience member asks how SC would deal with the mental health crisis in the UK. [58:20] Question four: Are universities encouraging students to think differently enough? SC takes this to be an ambition problem. [1:03:32] Question four: Audience member remarks on the presence of UK navy assets in Scotland. SC talks about the issues around the Scottish Independence referendum. [1:05:43] Question five: Audience member asks how SC feels about Sandy Toksvig’s following the Women’s equality party. [1:18:00] Closing remarks.
[1:08:39] Interview Ends. |