As Erika Ehler– the 2019 Chortle Student Comedy champion who as gone on to writer for Frankie Boyle’s New World Order and appear on shows such as Comedians Giving Lectures – is bringing her first solo stand-up show, Femcel, to the Soho Theatre this week. And before she gets there, she has shares some of her favourite comedy moments…

Chelsea Peretti One of the Greats

It’s a shame they took the special off of Netflix because it really is one of the greats.  She’s mostly known for acting, specifically for her scene-stealing as Gina in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. But I think Peretti should be more known for her stand-up.  One Of The Greats is a dark and tightly constructed show. 

Peretti has this talent of making deeply relatable topics feel really fresh while also hitting universal truths about everyday life. She has a bit about small talk that I adore.  

She also does this really fun thing in the special where she plays with weird cut away shots to the crowd that get increasingly bizarre. 

I just think she really pushes what to expect of a typical comedy special and isn’t afraid to get meta.  

Video on Trial 

Video on Trial was a show on Much Music  (Canadian MTV)  where music videos would get  roasted in a manner akin to a courtroom trial. It was kind of like our version of Buzzcocks but the actual musicians wouldn’t be present for their roasting. 

A few Canadian comics who now call the UK their home had their start there:  Katherine Ryan, Allyson June Smith and Dana Alexander. 

It was the first exposure I had to stand-up comics. I’ve rewatched some of them recently on YouTube and they still hold up… for the most part.  The show definitely influenced my interest in insult humour and pop culture. 

Conner O’Malley: PVC Feces Rig

I am a recent fan of his. It was actually my agent who one day told me to look him up, saying he might be up my street – and boy, was he ever.  One of my favourite things to do is make people who aren’t exactly comedy-savvy watch his videos and watch them just look so confused and or horrified. The PVC Feces Rig video is a good one to start off with. 

I find chaos really funny and I think he does chaos really well. While also popping in random pop culture jokes in the mix.  I’d say check it out, you are gonna feel strongly about it. Whether that be good or bad will be your call. 

Also there is just a fearlessness to him which I admire deeply.

Larry Sanders Show 

To me, this show is perfect. 

When I get asked what kind of show I would like to make I always cite this  sitcom set in the office and studio of a fictional late-night talk show. 

I love the way they would mix fact with fiction.  One running bit in the show is that David Duchovny has a crush on Larry while he’s  promoting X Files, a show he would have been starring in at the time.

If you are a fan of 30 Rock, it’s like that but tonally closer to Bojack Horseman. 

Again, this show is perfect and if you don’t like it you are the problem. 

Here’s the full pilot episode:

The State

I don’t really remember how I came across The State but I’m glad I did.  You probably may not have heard of this show, but you will definitely recognise some of its members who went on to create and star in Wet Hot American Summer and Reno 911.

I love this show so much. It’s the only set of DVDs I brought with me when I moved from Canada only to find out that North American DVDs don’t work on your machines!

The show's style of humour ranged from satire to absurdism. I rewatch clips every time I wanna remind myself why I got into comedy in the first place. 

Sketches to check out: Eating and Swimming, $240 Worth of Pudding, Hi Brow / Low Brow and any of the Doug sketches. 

Ugly Americans

I once showed this cartoon to a friend of mine at uni and he said: ‘This is like watching your personality.  In all fairness I do think I got a lot of my sense of humour from this show. 

Ugly Americans is a fictional version of New York where monsters and humans all live together (somewhat) in harmony.  Comedically the show is stacked with Natasha Leggero, Bill Hader, John Mulaney, Kumail Nanjiani and many more all having been involved. 

• Erika Ehler: Femcel is at the Soho Theatre from Thursday to Saturday this week.