Mancunian comic Rachel Fairburn tells us about peer-to-peer inspiration, the power of matriarchy and the freedom of doing what you love.
“Comedy is classed as quite a male profession. In previous years there was only one woman on every bill. There was this attitude that women only talk about the same things, which is, of course, untrue. It seems to be getting a bit better but we still have a way to go.
“From the time I started out in stand-up, a lot more female acts and a lot more voices are being heard. There’s an old attitude that women aren’t funny but I think there are enough women out there at the moment that are proving people wrong.
“From the time I was a little kid I used to write funny stories for my family, act things out and do impressions. When I was 18, my mum said I should do stand-up and I thought it was the worst idea. Then I found an advert for a comedy course and went for it.
“The reason I am a stand-up comedian is because my mum encouraged me to do it. She is definitely the biggest female influence in my life. She is also one of the funniest people I know – but she’s shy. If she’d ever had the confidence to do stand-up she would have been brilliant.
“Sisterhood is important to female comedians. It’s not often that we used to be in the same line-up or comedy club together. You wouldn’t work with your female colleagues that often and when you did bump into them, it would be really nice and you’d have a chat.
“I’m part of a WhatsApp group with women comedians - there are over 100 female comics on there. Sometimes people are having a laugh, sometimes they’re voicing their concerns and problems. Everyone chips in with advice because we’re all at different levels professionally.
“The Edinburgh Fringe this year was a great year for women. Rose Matafeo won the Best Comedy Show award, there were lots of female newcomers, and lots of women were nominated. It felt like the first year where the women were more prominent - it was nice to see.”
“I never expected so many people would start listening to my podcast, All Killa No Filla (which I host with Kiri Pritchard-McLean) – it’s going into its fourth year. We didn’t really know each other before we started, because of the lack of women on the comedy circuit - four years ago, you wouldn’t get two women on the same bill. People kept telling me we should meet. And that we both liked serial killers…
“It turned out we lived across the road from each other. She came to a party at my house and we started hanging out and a couple of months later, she said: “Do you fancy doing a podcast about serial killers?” We recorded one episode which never went out, which is a good thing - it’s probably the worst thing you ever heard. We never expected that we’d be going on tour in America with the podcast, or selling out Leicester Square Theatre.
“What people love about it is that you’re not only getting two people with similar interests, it’s also about the development of a friendship. We don’t have that bond we have now in the first episode - there’s nothing we won’t say to each other now. Part of the big success of it is that it’s two women talking as friends speak.
“I’m influenced by women in general. My peers, people around me. I did a show a couple of years ago about how all of my role models were male rock stars and it was about me finding out how my proper role models were the women in my life.
“Like my grandma - she was amazing. She was this lovely woman who worked so hard all her life and had six kids and never complained about anything. She always held strong liberal values and believed in equality and diversity, challenging anyone who held views to the contrary.
“Comedians I admire are Caroline Aherne - I’d see her and think, she sounds like me. Victoria Wood - she was brilliant. I really admire females that have been on the circuit for a long time like Mandy Knight. She’s been gigging for over 20 years and she was one of the first female compères at The Comedy Store, which is amazing - she’s still writing new material. Also, Joan Rivers. I remember watching her and thinking, that woman is literally just saying whatever she wants. I thought that was amazing. I still watch videos of her now and think, how did she get away with that?
“I also admire people who aren’t in mainstream stand-up - there are loads of great female acts that don’t get access to television who are just as worth seeing as everybody else.
“I’m inspired by female rock stars, like Debbie Harry. I’m very attracted to the ‘bad girls’, like Amy Winehouse as well as female singers in bands. Anyone who’s doing their own thing but also has that little bit of vulnerability. I loved people like Twiggy, Jean Shrimpton and those iconic 60s images that were so different at the time.
“The nature of my work is that I have to see myself as a business in a way – I’ve just been sorting out my tax receipts this morning. You’re responsible for your living, so you’ve got to be able to decide what gigs are worth taking and what gigs to say no to because it’s not going to be beneficial in terms of travel and pay. This is the boring side of it - is a certain gig going to be worth it? Are you going to lose money?
“I haven’t been full-time as a standup as long as other people. I’ve had day jobs since I was 16 - I even had a 2.5 day a week job as recently as 18 months ago. I found it really hard not to have that extra routine and security and I think it’s important to do something else in addition to something you love. I was just doing admin part-time but I started getting recognised from the podcast so I thought, I’d better quit this now.
“Having that faith in yourself and being able to say, comedy is my job - I just needed to have the guts to go for it. It changes your life to go self-employed rather than having that extra security.
“You’ve got to be your own biggest fan in comedy because it can be so lonely and quite disheartening at times. It’s hard and if you haven’t got faith in yourself or have any doubt, you’ve got to talk yourself out of it. Financially, it’s an unpredictable career. Sometimes you make amazing money for not much work, other times you’re doing a gig for not very much in the middle of nowhere on a Friday night. You’ve got to toughen up quite a bit and make sure that you’ve got your own back.
“When I started out in stand-up about 10 years ago I wasn’t as confident as I should have been and I actually stopped for three years. Part of me was glad that I did because I came back doing what I wanted to do. Part of me thinks I never should have stopped.
“I wish I could tell my younger self to have more confidence, to have faith in my writing, to keep going, to not to take a break unless I really need to. Just be sure of yourself. As you do stand-up, your confidence grows and I get more confident every year.
“I believe in surrounding myself with good people. Any industry like stand-up or music, with so many people around and so much competition, you can get caught up in cliques and people not making you feel good about what you’re doing. It’s nice to have the support of your peers as well - if you’re on a bill with someone higher up than you they will usually support you if they like what you’re doing.
“Also, learn to appreciate those friends that aren’t in stand-up comedy. The people who don’t care you’re in standup, who want to talk about general things and not get bogged down in comedy. As long as your friends and family are supportive, it helps. I know a lot of stand-ups whose families don’t like what they’re doing and it must be hard. That’s so alien to me.
“Success to me can mean a lot of things. It’s a 50-bedroom mansion in the countryside overlooking the sea. It’s being able to have enough money to not struggle and to buy yourself a few treats.
“Sometimes, I’m in a comedy club on a bill with brilliant people, and I think to myself, this is strange, I never thought I’d be at this level doing this job - that’s success. When you get to do the thing that you love as your job, that’s success. And also having people enjoy what you do is also always very nice.
“Feminism for me is similar: it’s doing what you want, getting your voice out there and doing the career that you want. It’s being in the industry you want to be in, being who you want to be and saying what you want to say. It’s giving you that freedom.”