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Grace Mulvey finds the funny in death – and back fat

Richard Beck Richard Beck
10 Jul 2025

We talked to Grace Mulvey about attitudes towards the subject of death and the background to her show, Did You Hear We’re All Going to Die?


Grace, you’ve been nicknamed the Death Queen. How did that come about?

By the time I was 24 years old I had been to about 20 funerals and had never been to a wedding, so the nickname the Death Queen stuck. I’m like Angela Lansbury in Murder, She Wrote, with less iconic glasses. Due to having so much experience with it at a young age, I have a practical attitude towards illness and death, so I am the person my friends turn to when they need advice.

You grew up in Ireland but moved to London. Was that for career purposes?

Absolutely! I won the BBC Galton & Simpson bursary for comedy writing, so thought it best to up sticks at 33, leave Dublin and head to the city of bright lights and cancelled trains. I think leaving my home country really made me commit to my dreams and goals.

Do you think that generally the Irish have a very different attitude to death from the English?

I think the attitude towards death is the biggest cultural difference I have come across between the Irish and English. The Irish live to die. Wakes in the home are an Irish tradition. There is even an Irish Wake Museum – oddly it’s not as famous as the Guinness Storehouse.

My mum is from Roscommon in the west of Ireland, so I’m used to traditional wakes. Irish funerals are like a strict hotel checkout – they are 48 hours after the person has passed. It means that when someone dies, loved ones, friends and acquaintances get together instantly. It leads to an intense time of bonding, storytelling, drinking and inevitably laughing.

In England, it seems that funerals happen almost a month after a bereavement, so there’s a sense of detachment, I think. I’ve found the English take longer to settle into my show as they find the subject matter uncomfortable at first. Scottish audiences are on board straight away. But I have won round the English – I just address it straight away so that the show is great craic from the get-go.

And your mum and dad had their own approaches to the subject.

My dad is so open about the fact that death is part of the life cycle. He’s almost too open about it, if I’m honest. When I worked in retail in my 20s, he once insisted on meeting me on my lunch break at a Yo! Sushi – he was going on holiday the next day and wanted me to read his will. After seeing how little money I’m to inherit, I talked him out of getting the expensive dragon roll.

What’s mad is that my mum is quite a worrier in day-to-day life – she jumps every time her phone rings. But when it comes to a death, she could run a business as a funeral planner. Like the Jennifer Lopez romcom classic The Wedding Planner, but with an Irish twist.

Death is perhaps the last taboo subject. Did you embrace the topic because you thought you’d found a comedy niche, or was it just a personal fascination?

Honestly, it’s not a taboo subject to me because I’ve always been surrounded by it. I’m 36 now and I haven’t hit the milestones of most of my peers – I’m not married, don’t have kids, I still don’t know what a tariff is – but I’ve experienced a lot of death. It’s natural for me to talk about it and to joke about it. Also, it’s something that every single one of us will experience, so why don’t we talk about it? By finding the funny in it, we can take some of the fear away. And frankly, I have too many funny stories to not talk about it.

Did you have any doubts about creating a show around it?

Absolutely – but then I have doubts about doing a show at all. I have doubts about stand-up. I have doubts about the outfit I’m wearing today. I have doubts all the time about everything – but then just do it anyway. Nothing is for certain except death and taxes.

I read that while you don't fear death, you do fear back fat, the rise of fascism, and low-rise jeans. Would you care to comment on those?

I think we can all agree that life is scary right now. The rise of fascism is plain to see, and I think it’s linked with low-rise jeans coming back into fashion. If you want to hear more about that, you’ll have to come to the show.

And I fear my back fat because I can’t see what’s going on back there. Frankly, it’s none of my business – it’s for other people to look at.

What would you like people to take away from the show?

It’s fun and life-affirming. I hope this is a show that stays with people – not only because there are some truths in it, but because it’s really funny.

It’s also a show for the “bad news” friends – those people who always have some bad news to add to the WhatsApp group. For the people who at this stage are embarrassed by not being able to provide news like: “Hey, I got engaged,” “Hey, I got the keys to my dream home,” or “Hey, I don’t have a UTI.”

Richard Beck

Richard Beck

A graduate in theology and education, Richard acted and contributed to dance, drama and music productions throughout his teaching career. He joined Broadway Baby in 2014 and is now our Editor-in-Chief. He usually disappears to warmer climes for the winter to pursue his passion for travel.

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