“What The Frock! has become the UK's most significant nurturer of female talent, and has meant Bristol now gives female comedians a bigger slice of the action” – The Naked Guide To Bristol, 2015
DOTTY WINTERS
CAN SONMEZ INTERVIEWS DOTTY
How did you initially get into comedy?
By accident. I don't know why I first started. It terrified me. It still does. I often ask comedians this exact question in the hope that one day someone will give an answer that makes me think: “Oh yes, that's why I do it, too”. I found my phone in the downstairs bathroom soap dish earlier, there are a lot of things I don't know why I do.
How would you describe your take on comedy?
I talk a lot about my life as a working mum with young kids. I try to present a very positive spin on it all. We all know there is real joy in family life, but lots of the comedy out there focuses on the irritations of it all. That’s not to say it's all sweetness and light: I have a bit of a dark sense of humour at times. I also talk about issues that interest me, like feminism, science, politics. I try hard not to write jokes that “punch down”, but I'm sure I don't always get it right.
You won the What The Frock! Comedy Newcomer Award in April 2014. Are awards important to you?
Honestly? Awards make me ill, they are generally an awful experience, no matter how nice they are, or how well run. My favourite gigs are ones where everyone is motivated to see everyone else do their best and have a cracking gig. But, awards do make a difference. Not huge - audiences stubbornly continue to laugh at jokes, not trophies - but the right award can make a difference to who will book you. Also, sometimes, when an audience are just staring at you like you are a worrying damp patch on a wall, it's nice to know you have some sort of empirical proof that someone else thought you were funny, once.
Is there anything else you'd like to say to the readers of this interview?
Hi! Come and be my friend on Facebook (search me, I'm a person not a page, who do you think I am?), or say ‘Hello’ on Twitter . I had great intentions of making this hilarious, or life changing or grammatically correct. I often have great intentions: today I was totally planning to smash the patriarchy, but I was having terrible trouble with my fringe so I got distracted.
