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Quarantine Questions: Lauren Pattison

April 22, 2020 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment
© Andy Hollingworth

Over four weeks into a minimum six week lockdown in the UK due to the Covid-19 pandemic, now is a time where we need comedy more than ever. Unsurprisingly, it’s also a time where it’s perhaps hardest to find something that’s actually damn funny. MoodyComedy is trying to remedy this.

Lauren Pattison chats to MoodyComedy about her love of reality TV, and her efforts to give herself a break…

What is the first thing you plan on doing once the lockdown is fully lifted?

I want to see my niece and nephew – I’m not sure if they’ll give two shits about seeing me but I miss the daft idiots so much. Weirdly I have no interest in going to the pub – I think they’re gonna be rammed and it’s gonna turn feral very quickly, y’know like the weekend before Christmas when there’s both excitement and the potential for violence buzzing in the air? So I want to continue my journey into the fifteen-year-old I’ve regressed into during this lockdown by going to have a drink outside somewhere with some mates. To clarify, these two things are separate events and I won’t be taking my underage niece and nephew to get hammered in a field.

What’s your current lockdown binge watch?

I’ve been binging Friday Night Dinner from the beginning; it has absolutely been time well spent. I also watched Too Hot To Handle arguably too quickly. Loads of people sneer at reality TV and I’m like, okay Einstein, sorry this is too low brow for you, enjoy reading your encyclopaedia or whatever you’re doing instead.

Has anything made you laugh recently?

Mark Nelson’s videos of homeschooling his son have really been cracking me up. He’s also done an amazing job hosting The Stand’s online gigs. Aunty Donna’s Instagram feed has been making me laugh on a daily basis, without fail. Laura Lexx’s Twitter feed is hilarious regardless of whether we’re in a pandemic or not, but she’s been a much needed source of laughter during this. Also Rob Mulholland is putting out lockdown chats with groups of comics and the feeling of just chatting with my mates again was like being back in a greenroom which is what I’ve missed almost as much as the gigs; we had a right laugh and they’re well worth checking out. Oh, and I got sent a great video of my niece eating a lemon, top stuff.

How are you trying to keep sane at the moment?

I guess I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself. There’s this worry that I bet I’m not the only creative person has, that if you’re not putting loads of new stuff out online to entertain, then others will think you’re not adapting and you’ll look like a failure. The truth is – this is a weird as fuck time, everyone’s circumstances are gonna be slightly different and you shouldn’t feel bad if you’re not in a position where you can or want to make anything creative. Absolute fair play to those who are, it’s amazing seeing the kind of things people are coming out with but I’m also trying my best to not feel bad if I’m not doing it on the regular. I’m trying to keep doing some of what I was doing before in the sense of being funny and making people laugh on Twitter, in the hope I can keep building a little audience that way and raise a few smiles. Also not every creative thing you do has to be stuff that goes out straight away, I’ve tried to focus on getting a few bits of writing done, things that have been bubbling for a while but I hadn’t had the time to put on a page. I’m really just trying to do what’s best for me, arguably something I should have been doing for ages. Sorry this wasn’t a very funny answer was it, I should have said wanking or something.

What past, current or future projects of yours would you like to draw our attention to?

I have a podcast called Conversations Against Living Miserably. It’s a mental health podcast where we try and tackle everything with as much laughter as possible. I think it’s such an important time for people to be keeping their mental wellbeing in check, and an even more important time to keep smiling and laughing and finding light in the dark, so hopefully this is literally the ideal podcast. It’s the thing I’m most proud of and hopefully I can make more if it gets loads of lovely listens and feedback, no pressure to you all there. I also have my debut show Lady Muck available on NextUp, there’s so much great stuff on there to keep you occupied and the NextUp team are working their arses off to help comics during this. As for the future – I urge you to support your favourite comics after this, come see them live, spread the word, take chances on people who you may not have heard of. I also think when the dust settles after this, it’s a time more than ever to champion the voices of working class performers.

THE QUARANTINE QUESTIONS

Posted in: Interviews, Quarantine Questions Tagged: Conversations Against Living Miserably, Interview, Lady Muck, Lauren Pattison, NextUp, Quarantine Questions

Ask The Expert: Sarah Henley (Founder of NextUp)

January 18, 2017 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment
Sarah Henley is part of the team responsible for creating the online stand up comedy platform NextUp, a company that organises the recording of stand up shows from the likes of Tony Law, Richard Herring and Lou Sanders and publishes them online for comedy fans to devour. Sarah is also a playwright and director, as well as being the founder of ComComedy.
To learn more about Sarah’s career, I asked her a few questions…

What triggered you to set up the NextUp initiative?

Dan, Kenny and I (three of the four NextUp Founders) used to run a comedy YouTube channel and monthly live variety comedy night called ComComedy. It involved showcasing great up-and-coming comics by filming parts of their set and interviewing them and sharing the videos online. We went up to the Edinburgh Fringe each year to film and interview comics and couldn’t believe the amount of high quality shows, which might get a tour or a short run in London, but would then just disappear. We figured that there was a much bigger audience for those great shows, and that they just needed the right platform; so NextUp was born!

Who is on the NextUp team?

Dan Berg. He’s got a great background in comedy and has even one a BAFTA for writing! He runs the company on a day to day basis –working across all areas of the business.

Kenny Cavey. Kenny has an incredible amount of experience in production and tech, so he’s our head of production as well as the person in charge of our user experience.

Stuart Snaith. Stuart has many years of experience in the comedy industry – he worked as Head of Comedy for BBC Worldwide and for NextUp he is head of content and partnerships.

Me. I work across a lot of different areas of the business as well, but one of my big focuses is on marketing and communications – making sure we get the message of NextUp out there to comedy fans and comedians alike!

© NextUp Comedy

How do you choose which comedians will feature on NextUp?

Good question! And something that I think will evolve as we get to know our audience more and what their particular likes/dislikes are. At the moment we’re trying to promote a really broad range so there’s something for everyone. We’re also really keen on showcasing the diversity of comedy out there that perhaps can’t find a platform on TV yet – there’s a way to go on this one but it’s something we’re passionate about. In the main, we’re looking for really well-crafted full hours of comedy.

What aspect of your work/career are you proudest of?

I think when we get a tweet or email from one of our subscribers saying that they’ve just discovered their new favourite comic…that’s when I know we’re getting something right!

How do you see NextUp developing in future years?

We’d love NextUp to grow and grow. We want to film more incredible comics and reach a really wide audience. We’re available worldwide so it’d be great to feature comics and market to other countries and really become the home of stand up comedy online.

SIGN UP TO NEXTUP COMEDY STREAMING HERE

ASK THE EXPERT…

Posted in: Ask The Expert, Comedians Tagged: British Comedy, Comedy, NextUp, Sarah Henley
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