Maisie Adam: The comedy scene is so incestuous
‘Everyone’s either shagged each other or hates each other.’
Maisie Adam has branded the comedy industry incestuous, saying: ‘Everyone’s either shagged each other or they hate each other.’
But the stand-up says she always felt like an outsider on the circuit, especially when working in London, as she didn’t stick around after gigs to socialise.
She said the culture of comedy is ‘late nights’ and obviously, a lot of times it's in a pub on the open mic circuit. A lot of you do the gig and then hang around for a drink afterwards. And it's chatter, that's why it's why the comedy industry is very incestuous.
‘And because I didn't live in London, everybody would be going for drinks afterwards in the pub, and I'd be shooting off to another gig. So it's kind of like why I always felt like I was the new kid at school.’
The comedian was speaking celebrity hairstylist, Jonathan Andrew on his podcast This Is Not What I Asked For – so obviously the topic of her distinctive cut came up in the conversation.
She said: ‘When I go on stage I have to address it straight away, because if I don't, they [the audience] will.
‘Jayde Adams, the comedian who’s been on Strictly this year, put out on Twitter, "if you think you're the first person making fat jokes… I know, every fat joke". And she listed them.
‘She literally wrote out like all of these jokes like, "Your blood type must be Ragu sauce", and I was reading them and I was thinking, "God yeah I reckon some wanker would say that thinking that really original." But we’ve heard it over and over again.
When Andrew asked if she had ever received a heckle about her hair that she thought was genuinely funny, she said: ‘No, never. It’s always something really bad.
‘It's always like, "Was the hairdresser pissed?" You know it’s so dogshit, whereas I've got good jokes about it.
‘So in this [touring] show Buzzed, I address it quite early on because you can't walk out on stage with a haircut like this and not.’
This Is Not What I Asked For is available on all podcast platforms.
Published: 6 Mar 2023
