Lorna Shaw

Ava Rage is a character played by comedian and actress Lorna Shaw. ‘Born out of an existential crisis’, Ava is a force to be reckoned with; she’s loud, musical and extravagant. The show, ‘Ava Rage’ will be at the Brighton Fringe from the 3rd-5th May and tickets are available here.

To find out more, I asked Lorna these seven questions…

1) Who is Ava Rage?

She is my comedic alter-ego. She is a stifled city worker trying to find her purpose in life having hit her 30’s with no direction. She has drunk her way through her 20’s and woken up with the mother of all hangovers – but instead of a headache she’s got a maxed out overdraft, successful friends, and non-stop Destiny’s Child’s ‘Survivor’ ringing in her ears.

2) What was the last thing you bought?

Erm… hang on let me just consult my banking app. Ah OK this is a bit embarrassing but I’ve bought two wooden wine boxes off Gumtree that I’m going to upcycle into side tables. This is what Pinterest has done to me!! I’m an upcycler!! Eugh. But truthfully, I’ve never fully grown out of my Blue Peter/Art Attack phase. I remember making a table as a kid out of a cardboard box and empty coke bottles.

© Karla Gowlett

3) Who is your least favourite person?

Traffic wardens. I recently had my car towed and its still pretty raw. They are completely evil and unnecessary human beings. The fact that they exist destroys my sense of hope in humanity.

4) What is the most testing thing about live performance?

The unpredictability of audiences I guess. You can NEVER tell what they’ll be like. I’ve had girls my age in the audience and I think ‘these are my people, this is gonna kill!’ then they sit and stare at me like I’ve just pooed on stage. Then I’ve had middle aged men guffawing and snorting beer up their noses at my material.

5) What are your priorities while on stage?

Appear in control, try not to spit on the front row, and don’t say ‘yeah so…’. I record the audio of all my sets and when I’m doing newer material I have a tendency to say ‘yeah so…’ way too much and its unbearable to listen back to.

6) What thing in life are you most looking forward to?

Being in the moment. Not waiting for my life to start but being totally happy with where I am, wherever that may be. Any day now.

7) If you had to be a different comedian, who exactly would you be?

A specific person? Probably Tig Notaro. She is so totally understated and deadpan but razor sharp. I wish I could have that kind of persona on stage.

For more information, visit Lorna Shaw’s website and follow her on Twitter