
LONDON born comedian Alison Spittle is back in the city of her birth. She returned here in late 2018 to โgive it a go.โ
Her family moved over to Westmeath when she was six.
โMy dad is English and living here. Itโs kinda living away and kinda not. I feel very cultural Irish while living here.โ
The plan for Alison is she is starting again in the UK and adjusting her material for the new audience. The competition among comediansโ night be fierce in London but there is an abundance of contacts to pitch new ideas to as well.
โEnglish people donโt know as much about Irish people as we know about them.
โWe have their โCoronation Streetโ, They donโt have our โFair Cityโ!!โ
The comedianโs new tour is called โAlison Spittle Makes a Show of Herselfโ coming to Ireland in the next few weeks. We are chatting on the phone as she is making her way down Londonโs Camden Street when the call suddenly goes silent!
Hi, Alison, Are you still there?
Seconds later, โYeah, Iโm fine, I just walked into a lamp post !!!โ laughs.
โThis fella was making faces at me! So I was taking pictures of him โฆ.โ laughs.
Alison is the creator of funny RTE series โNowhere Fastโ. Her new show follows hit tours and the multi award winning โWorrier Princessโ and โDiscovers Hawaiiโ.
This natural raconteur just canโt help being funny. Her podcast โThe Alison Spittle Showโ is rambling and hilarious. Check out her interview with Sharon Horgan at Electric Picnic or Tommy Tiernan as guest.
Alison is part of the growing number of Irish women who are shaking up the comedy world led by Sharon Horgan, Deirdre OโKane, Lisa McGee (Derry Girls) and Stefanie Preissner.
I suggest that the line that only men can do comedy is irrelevant now?
โI donโt know who made that a line in the first place. Humour is part of the human condition and weโre (women) human – laughs – Some people forget that simple fact.โ
โI have been surrounded by hilarious women, my mam, my sister, my granny.โ
The comedian talks freely about โNowhere Fastโ, her RTE series which ran for one season.
โIโm very thankful to RTE for taking a chance on โNowhere Fastโ. It has given me a lot of experience.โ She admits that she found it โhard to give the men funny linesโ when writing it.
โFailure is part of life. Iโm at peace now whatever happens either way.โ
Alison sometimes works with โGuilty Feministsโ podcast, one of the most popular podcasts in the UK.
โThey did a live show in Vicar Street last year. There was so many people from Limerick there!
โDeirdre (Deirdre Francis White) shouted, โIs there anybody here from Limerick?โ to huge roars.
โThere were more Limerick women there than there was at the All Ireland Final. They even took over menโs toilets.โ laughs
Limerick is one of Alisonโs favourite haunts to perform.
โThere is something different about Limerick people. They have a worldly knowledge that they have an insatiable appetite for. You can see how it has produced people like Blindboy Boatclub. You can get away with being off the wall with them as well!โ
Alison is writing a play at the moment called โStarletโ. It is still in the early stages of development but will get its first ever showing in Smock Alley in February. It is one of her goals to write more for theatre.
Alison made a list of her goals when she started out in her career and achieved a large chunk of them, making a TV series, playing Vicar Street among them.
Is she making a similar list for this London chapter of her life?
โWould you believe, I am literally on my way to Camden Library to do that in an hour. As someone self employed, I have to have goals to know where Iโm going.
โI made a goal that I would move to London. Right! I will do my own headline shows in London. Now, Iโm going to sit down and decide what I want.
โI wish you caught me an hour later!!!โ laughs
Support on the night comes from Julie Jay. Julie is a name to watch in 2019 with new projects about to be announced. She presents the very funny and nostalgic โUp to 90โ Podcast with Emma Doran.
Alison Spittle is in Dolanโs on Friday February 22.