CityLife

Interview: Lady Garden

Lady Garden

FOR every memorable sketch show that has worked well over the years (see people mist over and begin to spew out the quotes when The Fast Show is mentioned) – there are many more misguided attempts at the comedic genre (see much of BBC3’s output).

So when a new comedy troupe arrives on the live scene who were up until recently, heaven for-fend, students (just teasing ladies); and are purporting to get their laughs via the medium of sketch - you don’t hold out much hope.

So it comes as an intensified pleasant surprise when you take in (the beautifully monikered) Lady Garden’s sublimely crafted offerings.

One of the two founder members of the sextet, Eleanor Thom, was already a fan of the sketch format and considered it a good place for burgeoning writers to start.

Dark side

“I like the fact that it’s short and sweet and you can tweak it; that it’s simple - and if you get the idea right, it pretty much writes itself, but you can go back and draft it again,” she explains.

Unsurprisingly Thom’s own influences include the aforementioned popular comedy series of the 90s. “Fast Show definitely did it for me,” she agrees. “We all really love League Of Gentlemen - massive fans of that.

"Smack The Pony was very good. That’s something that we’ve been inspired by as well. It gets forgotten a lot of the time, but I watched them back recently and it’s really good. It stands up as well even though it’s quite a long time ago now really. And the same with The Fast Show - they both stand up ten years on.”

The nod to The League Of Gentlemen is understandable too, as the group aren’t afraid to plunder the dark side for a chuckle. In one sketch, a street charity worker predicts a woman’s likelihood of contracting cancer to provoke her to donate. “We’re not quite as dark as League of Gentlemen, I don’t think… one day maybe,” Thom laughs.

'Cathartic'

In fact, the charity worker sketch is more to do with the pushy hawkers found on Manchester's Market Street most days of the week. “We’ve all been caught by those people, particularly in the Arndale Centre. They say, ‘just come over, come over'. They shine a nail for you with a buffer, you say you’re not going to buy anything - and leave with one shiny nail.”

Much of the troupe’s material stems from life’s little irritations. “A lot comes out of annoyance. I find it quite cathartic if you get it right, if you observe it right you can say 'isn’t this funny about the world?'”

The group all met as drama students at Manchester University, looking for a way to do their own thing and break out of the format of the uni’s more serious theatre programme.

“In the second year I really wanted to show some material that I’d written and asked around other people that wanted to do it as well. I set up a comedy night with Camille (Ucan) where it was all original material, boys and girls, no audition process - just anyone who wanted to put on some new stuff.”

Well received

They reprised the idea, this time stepping out of the uni campus and putting on a show at The Comedy Store. Approached by interested media types post-show, it was suggested they head to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

“We couldn’t take a show of twenty people for an hour’s slot in Edinburgh, what would we do? We really liked working with these people so basically just asked four of the people that were in it if they wanted to be involved.”

They did - and on board came Hannah Dodd, Beattie Edmondson, Jessica Knappett and Rose Johnson. They’ve performed two Edinburgh Fringe shows now and both have been well received by both audiences and critics alike. Currently they are busy scribbling away at their office at the BBC in preparation for their debut on the airwaves. Not bad for a bunch of relatively recent graduates.

“It was an amazing speedy rise to people knowing who we were and audiences coming,” agrees Thom. “We decided in September 2008 to really go for it full time, yet five of us only graduated that June.” Truly one for The Fast Show legacy to be proud of.

Lady Garden are at The Comedy Store on October 20 and perform as part of the Bloody Funny Charity Event in aid of young children with haemophilia in Pune, India at The Dancehouse on October 24.