#EdFringe17 Comedy Q&A: Eleanor Morton by Martin Walker

By Martin Walker
|
26th Jul 2017
|
Edinburgh Fringe

Eleanor Morton’s Edinburgh show promises a passive aggressive and witty journey through the history of angry women. We wanted to know more…

...any review where I was singled out negatively for being musical and female – they always seemed to go together. I never saw that with male musical comics.

Hi Eleanor, tell me about your show, ‘Angry Young Woman’.

I am a woman and I am angry. And funny. Very funny. The show is about sexism and feminism and history and rap and copper levels and films.

What does Edinburgh mean to you?

It’s my home town. So it means going to the dentists and bumping into school teachers.

Who inspires you and why?

Female comics who push boundaries like Maria Bamford. Anyone surreal and unique like Seymour Mace. And lots of my friends, all of whom make very creative shows . And Joz Norris, I suppose.

Describe your best or worst experiences on stage.

Worst- I died hard in Glasgow last year after the taxi driver on the way to the gig spent ten minutes telling me how unfunny women were. And I forgot to get a receipt.

Describe your best or worst review.

Worst - any review where I was singled out negatively for being musical and female – they always seemed to go together. I never saw that with male musical comics. And one review where the guy thought I was playing a guitar (it was a uke) which shows he was really paying attention.

If you weren’t a performer, what would you be?

I’d be the guy with the hawk who hunts down pigeons in train stations.

What was the last book you read?

A Dirk Gently one, The Long Dark Teatime of The Soul by Douglas Adams.

Eleanor, why aren’t there more features about you this fringe?

Great question. I think it’s because no one is writing features about me. It’s a catch 22.

Imagine that the BBC have asked you to produce a primetime show. What would it be and who else would be involved?

A living history show where I got to do stand-up for people from different periods of history.

Twitter: @eleanormorton

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eleanormortoncomedian/

Website: https://eleanormortoncomedian.com/

Related Listings

Eleanor Morton: Angry Young Woman

Eleanor Morton’s show takes a smart, but self-deprecating look at feminism and the comedian’s own place in it, but feels full of more potential than she delivers.Morton warms the crowd up with a few short, clever jokes at the beginning, talks a bit about her awkwardness when confronted with the sexism of strangers, before heading into an improvised rap about a suggested historical period which was just shy of being funny or impressive enough to warrant a place in the show...

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