Critically acclaimed and master crafter of the one-liner, Chelsea Birkby joins Katerina Partolina Schwartz to talk about her upcoming Edinburgh Fringe hour, 'This Is Life, Cheeky Cheeky', as well as an exploration of the joy of stand-up and live performance.
Ah it’s here, it is the biggest arts festival in the world, and it’s lovely
How would you describe your show?
The show is very silly, very playful which you can probably tell from the title, This Is Life, Cheeky Cheeky. There’s so much pop culture and fun messing around, and my favourite thing is playing with the audience, seeing what fun happens in the room at the same time. I like it to be conversational, it’s sort of like a conversation with friends, and that’s the vibe I want to bring. The show is for anyone who likes their comedy fun and silly, and maybe there’s something they can think about for a few days afterwards, but that’s not the point. It’s not like it’s an essay and I’m trying to convince anybody of anything.
What inspired this particular hour?
This hour was inspired by – I think it’s a classic case of your first show you work on for years and it’s of all of your best material added together and then you work out what the theme is, whereas this is my first chance to be like, “What do I want to speak about?” And all the new material that I was writing for some reason, there seemed to be a unifying theme of the symbol of the butt; what does the butt mean in our society, big butts, how butts are changing. So that is what a lot of the material was about, and then I was like, “Well, what do I really want to say?” and like the last show, there’s lots of pop culture and there’s lots of philosophy, and it’s all playful. So, the combo of that led me to what I’ve really been thinking about the last few years, what am I drawn to, what am I driven by? And that’s how I got to This Is Life, Cheeky Cheeky.
The subject that you touch of your stand-up hours are quite personal, how do you find the courage to share such yor experiences?
I just started that way and didn’t realise that is what I was doing. Because my background before was like I wrote an autobiography when I was a kid which is a bit… um bonkers. Then I wrote a bunch of poetry, which was dreadful, then I finally found blogging and I loved that; that was a way to be funny, to explore the things I wanted to talk about. And then when I finally started stand-up and found the thing I absolutely love, it was a natural extension of that, basically, a non-fiction essay was sort of the approach, and that just blurred into my stand-up. But the question of courage came a bit later, ‘cause it was only when I was putting the first show together, I realised that “wow this is actually a lot of personal, vulnerable stuff to be sharing, am I ready to do that?” And I thought, “Yeah you just have to think about it, back it, consider who else it affects and dive in.” And I was lucky it was received well, and people have been really kind and supportive.
Is there something particular about comedy that drew you to it after your experience of writing in different mediums?
Yeah, well stand-up comedy I just love so much. I think it’s a fascinating way that combines my favourite things of like personal non-fiction, like the essay basically because it’s people sharing their thoughts and ideas, which is what I thought I loved, but once I saw that in stand-up I was like, “Oh it’s that plus it’s live and in the room, and it’s about how you’re connecting with people that you’re actually sharing a physical space and a moment with.” And that for me is just electric, that combo of this shared idea together in the moment. And there’s that thing about stand-up that even a show that you write, and you know what the hour on a whole is supposed to be, is different every day in minor and major ways, and that’s because of the chemistry of what happens in the room. I love that about it, it definitely keeps me on my toes and keeps me in the moment. And from an audience perspective as well, I sometimes love going to the same show a few times and see how it feels different or what’s different about it.
What are you looking forward to the most at the Edinburgh Fringe?
Well, the journey up for me is one of the most exciting parts because it’s always me and some other friends from Oxford, and we always talks about what we hope to get out of the month, how we are going to survive it. And it’s that giddy energy of like anything can happen, we’re going to see so many incredible things, we’re going to have amazing days, we’re going to have bad days and just knowing that this month is going to be significant in one way or another. I’m really looking forward to that journey up. And the second you drive into Edinburgh, and you start seeing posters everywhere and you’re like, “Ah it’s here, it is the biggest arts festival in the world, and it’s lovely.” It’s kind of like a stand-up gig itself; it has to be in that space in time, and the Fringe has such a specific feel, and I can’t wait to be excited on the journey up and then entering that place.
Apart from your own, what shows would you recommend?
I’m really excited about seeing Celya AB’s new show. She’s a good friend and I just love what she does, and I saw her, I was at her taping for Live At The Apollo this year, well last year and she just blew me away, like she just gets better all the time and I think this show is going to be her best yet, so I’m hugely excited for that. This year I wanted to go and see, I tend to just go and see comics that I know or have heard of , but this year I’m going to try and see comics from like Australia and New Zealand and America and all of the comics that aren’t really in my circle and just see is it different, how are they doing things differently, and hopefully discover some new faves.
