Louise Reay’s Hard Mode is an immersive comedy show where the audience experiences life in an authoritarian regime. We fired a Q&A over to Louise and here are her answers.
The reviewer said they wanted to give me a “sloppy kiss”. What a gross thing to write in a review and, I wonder what they made of my comedy?
Hi Louse, tell me about your Edinburgh show.
It’s an experimental comedy show with a cast of masked police watching the audience. It’s a response to the rise of authoritarianism across Europe and talks about censorship and surveillance.
What does Edinburgh mean to you?
Edinburgh means flyering under damp bridges like a troll and trying not to embarrass myself in front of my comic heroes.
Who inspires you and why?
Richard Gadd and Joseph Morpurgo really inspire me because I think they are genuinely reinventing what standup or comedy can be as a genre, cheesy as that sounds it is true.
Describe your best or worst experiences on stage.
A man recently tried to suck my booby on stage, whaaaaaaat!!! Literally, FFS, FML, etc.
Describe your best or worst review.
Well, my least favourite review I recently received when I was doing shows in South Africa. The reviewer said they wanted to give me a “sloppy kiss”. What a gross thing to write in a review and, I wonder what they made of my comedy?
If you weren’t a performer, what would you be?
I am also a documentary maker for the BBC, so I would make a lot more TV programmes I expect.
What was the last book you read?
The Bible mate, a page a day keeps Satan away.
Why should I care about surveillance if I’ve got nothing to hide?
That’s as stupid as saying you don’t care about freedom of speech because you’ve got nothing to say.
Imagine that the BBC have asked you to produce a primetime show. What would it be and who else would be involved?
I would be with Spencer Jones and we would travel the world doing stupid stuff, like Mr Bean but a married couple. I genuinely want to pitch this, haha.
Twitter: @louisereaybeam
Website: www.louisereay.com
© 2017 On the Mic.
