Frodo Allan sat down with Hannah Platt to discuss her Fringe debut, putting off Stag Dos and what inspires her comedy.
I feel at my most creative when I'm surrounded by people who are genuine
How is your Fringe going?
Yeah, I'm really loving it, it's my first hour, it's my debut show, so I've been up a few times before but never doing my own thing, so I was worried about that, but it’s great!
So you've been on the comedy scene for quite a long time, why has it taken you so long to bring your first hour to the Fringe?
Because it's so expensive! Because it's such a big deal, and I've been coming up to the Fringe doing cabaret shows and stuff like that for so long that it really means a lot to me. I only wanted to do it if I've got something worthwhile to say. Now I think I have, and other people seem to think I have too!
You have been getting some fantastic reviews. Do you want to talk a little bit about your show and what inspired it?
It’s called Defence Mechanism, I called it that on purpose because I didn't want drunk Stag Dos to just see what was on at ten past eight and go, “that'll do” - I wanted it to kind of put them off with a wonky title. But it's about how I've always had a harsh view of everything and the world in general. And then, when I got diagnosed with body dysmorphia, it kind of made me wonder, if I'm wrong about myself, then maybe I'm wrong about everything else.
You have quite an evocative image on your posters, where did that idea come from?
Yeah, so it's an image of me kind of glamorous, with massive ginger hair and I'm wearing all white. My face is quite pale, and I've got a nosebleed. The whole idea from that was that I wanted it to look like an old Hollywood idol when it's like, oh, they're damaged, but they're so beautiful. But also, because the show is about body dysmorphia, it's almost like, you can present this front of being okay and everything's fine but it's hinting at something happening below the surface. And obviously, I'm going to want to look fit on the poster. I used to get nosebleeds a lot when I was younger, and I looked into it and it'd be because of stress. I get stressed and my body’s saying, “You’ve reached the limit” and you just start bleeding from your nose, which is very helpful in life!
You’re getting great crowds and some fantastic reviews, how do you feel sudiences are responding?
I’m really enjoy seeing the different audience responses. I think it's fun that there'll be people who automatically react to me talking about how I don't like what I look like, and going, “f-off, you look fine” and I'm like, no, no, no, I know. I haven't come up to the Fringe and invested all this time and effort and money just so people go, “No, you're all right looking”. Because people will - it's a big thing that a woman doesn’t like what she looks like, people do want to reassure you and it doesn't matter. I'm not purporting to be a model or anything; I'm trying to be funny. But people still want to be like, no, no, you're great and if I was a bloke, no one would be like, no, no, you're very handsome.
Okay, classic question for any new comedian at the Fringe, who and what inspires you?
Um, God, that's a big question. I mean, I think that I just tend to get inspired by, it seems wonky to say it, but everyday life. But that is what it feels like because I feel at my most creative when I'm surrounded by people who are genuine, and people who are authentically themselves. I've got so many pals who don't do comedy, and I really value them as people. And they'll talk to me genuinely about things, and they'll talk to me genuinely about myself. And that makes me feel like, oh, I want to do that on stage. I want to be authentic; I don't want people to be like, “yeah, that probably didn't really happen”. And also, the pals who have got horrible jobs or pals who've got babies or whatever, and I’m like, “I got a got a three-star!” and they're going, “yeah, but look at my little baby”. I’m like, yeah, that's way more important than Fringe.
