© Ellie Gibson / Guinness World Records Scummy Mummies claim highest ever comedy gig
Guinness World Records confirm title after Everest show
Scummy Mummies comedy duo Ellie Gibson and Helen Thorn have been granted the official Guinness World Record for the highest altitude stand-up comedy gig.
The pair performed at the 17,417 ft (5,309m) Mount Everest’s South base camp in Sagarmatha, Solukhumbu, Nepal, on March 29.
They donned their gold lame catsuits – despite temperatures of -15C and performed to an audience of fellow climbers, mountaineers and bemused sherpas.
And today the global authority has confirmed they have the title.
They trekked ten days to perform the gig, enduring altitude sickness, migraines, blizzards, lightning, and sleepless nights.
When they finally arrived at Everest base camp they discovered that, due to global warming melting a glacier, the planned comedy venue was 70 metres lower than it should have been.
A frantic scramble up the Khumba ice fall ensued so they could find a higher spot to ensure they broke the record, using the base camp of mountaineer Nirmal Purja’s Nimsdai team.
And they also had to drum up a new audience – not all of whom had great English – after many of those who had due to watch the show had to get helicoptered off the mountain when they were hit by severe altitude sickness. The record required a crowd of 30.
Ellie said: ‘Trying to do comedy at minus 15 degrees conditions when you’ve had very little sleep and suffered from altitude sickness is tough.
‘We were freezing cold in our gold catsuits, and the audience looked pretty chilly too. But they were brilliant, cheering us on, and it was an amazing experience. It wasn’t our easiest gig ever, but it was definitely the most memorable.’
And she joked: ‘We’ve been through hard times before, like that gig in a Thai restaurant in Manchester to nine people. Trekking to Everest was easy peasy by comparison.’
Helen added: ‘It was a lot harder than we thought it was going to be. We're like, "Oh, it's a few walks every day, I'll eat a few Snickers bars, it’ll be great." But actually, it was quite it was quite overwhelming.’
Their training included running the London Marathon 2021 together, plus a practice 100-mile hike through the Lake District and Yorkshire last year.
But for all the physical demands, they said they found missing their kids was the worst part.
Ellie recalled nipping out of her tent for a midnight wee on the last night, saying: ‘Stepping out of the tent, into the freezing cold, and seeing Mount Everest under the stars was just amazing.
‘There was no one around and it was totally silent. The glacier was glowing in the moonlight and it felt like being on another planet.
‘With all the excitement and exhaustion of doing the gig, then the stress of trying to eat and get into bed before it got too cold, I hadn’t really had a moment to appreciate the magnitude of what we’d achieved.
‘But it hit me then, in the silence, while looking at the most spectacular view I’d ever seen, and weeing.’
In 2016, stand-ups Wayne Deakin, Tom Wrigglesworth, Martin Mor and Mickey D also performed a comedy gig at Everest base camp – although their effort was never officially verified by Guinness World Records.
Helen and Ellie set themselves their challenge to celebrate ten years of their friendship, which blossomed after finding themselves kindred spirits at an ‘awful’ comedy gig in Clapham. That decade included a difficult divorce for Helen and and Ellie’s son Joe being born nine weeks premature – while they also performed 500 live Scummy Mummies shows and 250 podcasts.
Their attempt raised more than £15,000 for the Borne charity which researches premature births and supports those affected by it.
Ellie said: ‘My son Joe was born nine weeks early in December 2014. It was a very scary time, and there were moments when we didn’t know if he was going to make it. Our story has a happy ending, but I wouldn’t wish what we went through on anyone, and I know the outcome could have been very different.’
Borne chief executive David Badcock said: The money Ellie and Helen have raised will go towards funding vital research to advance our knowledge, improving the lives of mothers and babies, and helping us with our mission to end premature birth.’
It is not the first record held by Gibson – who was also the resident video game expert on the Dave show Dara O Briain's Go 8 Bit. She has the record for the longest videogame marathon playing a simulation game, racking up a mammoth 24 hours 6 minutes and 33 seconds on PowerWash Simulator in February this year.
Here’s a video of their Everest adventure:
Published: 5 Jul 2023
