“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
LAURA LEXX
SAM HURLEY INTERVIEWS LAURA
“Tim Minchin, Eddie Izzard, Zoe Lyons… these are the people I like”, says Laura. “But I don’t think I’m really much like them. I don’t know who I’m like.”
Chortle helped to draw a comparison by hailing her as “the next generation Lucy Porter”, but it’s difficult to pigeonhole Laura’s unique brand of comedy.
Even if it was possible to place her in a labelled box, she would undoubtedly soon burst out of it – her boundless energy a familiar, overflowing presence at her gigs. Described as “delightful” by GQ Magazine, Laura is just that. Honest, self-confessional and with a self-proclaimed short attention span – audiences can expect a lot of interaction and a lot of laughs.
Laura is a born entertainer. To that end, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise that she is a fully trained actress who has just completed a production of The Importance of Being Earnest at the Brighton Grand. It was through improv with friends at university that her natural comedic flair spilled over onto the stage, leading her swiftly into the bright lights of stand-up comedy. From here, the rest is history.
This year alone, Laura has carried out an extensive and relentless UK tour, taking in a full run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and making her What The Frock! debut back in March 2013.
With two more gigs at the Frock! under her belt before 2013 was over, it’s safe to say that Laura is not only one busy bee, but also very commercially astute.
Recognising how incredibly competitive the comedy circuit is, Laura faces the daily challenge of striking the balance between “business mind and creative thinker. Even when you’re established, you still have to be quite canny about keeping yourself at the forefront of promoters’ minds”.
This means lots of hard work and lots of gigging, even if it’s hard to turn a profit when some gigs barely cover travel costs. “I think you really have to love it to carry on”, she says. “But in a way that's a good thing because it weeds out the people who are chancers”.
