BECKY BRUNNING

JANE DUFFUS INTERVIEWS BECKY

Bristol-based comedian Becky Brunning is a regular at What The Frock! events. Here's why...

Whether performing her Edinburgh solo show The Olympic Gene at the Windmill Hill Social Club, treating a sold-out audience at The Wardrobe Theatre to a preview of her latest Edinburgh show Six Steps To Joy, or else doing a spot of stand-up… we like to keep an eye on just how quickly Becky is becoming a hot comedy name to watch.

So Becky, we've seen you fulfill your Olympic dream and discover the route to joy, what will you achieve in your next show? “I’m not sure yet. But I’d like to do something really spectacular like dancing on ice with dogs or solving world peace while wearing 1970s fancy dress.”

In The Olympic Gene, you celebrated your great-grandfather William LeBeau, who won a medal for gymnastics at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. Following in his footsteps, you set out on a mission to become an Olympic medal winner in the 2012 games – and were rightly decorated on Bulgarian national TV. What do you think William would have made of your tribute to him? “I think he would have been rather bemused by the whole affair. He was quite a quiet, modest type despite his success and would have found the renewed celebrations of his achievement a century on quite bewildering. I’m sure he’d have been impressed by my Welsh accent though – that’s lush.”

With two Edinburgh runs under your belt now, how would you sum up the experience of performing at the world’s biggest arts festival? “Edinburgh was everything people tell you it’s going to be: exhausting, exhilarating, depressing, inspiring, stimulating and long. It just goes on. Overall though it’s brilliant to be in a place that’s buzzing with creative people for a month, even if it does mean you sacrifice any hope of a summer tan.”

Did you always want to be a comedian? “I was always in awe of comedians and still am. It’s such a pure art form. Yeah, I called it art. Get over it! I’d also like to have been a colonial explorer. Just for the headwear really.”

What's the best piece of advice another comedian has given you? “Robin Williams said ‘You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.’ Although I can’t say he said that to me personally. That would have been cool.”

You can see Becky next on Friday, October 17 at The Mauretania in Bristol. Tickets only £7 in advance (£10 door)!

And on that note… “WTF! is ace. Of course it is. It’s amazing how much it’s grown in such a short space of time and as a Bristol act it’s brilliant to have this now nationally recognised brand based right here in the hood. Hope I’ll be on the first international tour…”