Friday 18th November

The Friday interview

How comedians work

Artsin in conversation with Leicester comedian Kirsty Munro

Artsin: Kirsty, tell us about how you write new material for your comedy shows.

Kirsty: Sometimes I can get really nervous when I am writing new material. Sometimes I can get really excite, when an idea has popped into my head. I think of an idea or an experience and sometimes it's really funny. You think 'oh its great'.

Then you get writers block. You feel like you are banging your head against a brick wall. You just can't squeeze anything out of your brain. I have tried lots of different ways of writing new material.

Much of my material is inspired by true events. Then you take it to the next level and get creative with it but I like to make it about things that are true to me. Often you write new material because things have happened in your life.

Artsin: So you get all these ideas and experiences washing around in your head. Do you start by writing on paper?

Kirsty: Yea, I have tried lots of different ways of writing. My first ten minutes came really easily. It becomes harder, the more aware you become of the whole process. Sometimes I jot things down, sometimes I go straight to a laptop. Sometimes I make little notes in my iPhone. Or draw pictures. If you don't write stuff down you'll never remember it.

Artsin: So how long does it take to come up with a completely new act?

Kirsty: After all the procrastinating and endless cups of coffee ... I don't know, it's a 'how long is a piece of string' question. Sometimes it can all come together and at others, it can take a really long time. I am quite a last minute kind of person. If I have a deadline for a gig I will get down to it. I don't work in time-scales very well. My friends have to give me a time half an hour before the time we are supposed to meet.

Artsin: So, is it about trying to get the overall structure of the act sorted out in your mind and deciding how long the set will last for? Is it about getting the first bit and then bits lead on to other bits and putting the details in? To what extent do you write down the words you are going to say?

Kirsty: I tend to write it and then sort of improvise it ... in my bedroom, on my own, with a little toy microphone [she giggles]. You sort of get the flow by practicing it. When you get a really good gig and you have got the moment and you are on fire doing it, things come to you on the spot. You put them into your next performance.

Artsin: Do you ever try it out with somebody else, get a second opinion? You know, you've got this half formed act in your mind ... do you ever get a mate round and say 'hey look at this'?

Kirsty: Yea, I do sometimes. I never used to because I would be quite private with it. Now I have a collection of other comedians and sometimes it's about writing sketches together and performing as a collective. It's about finding the right person to share it with. You don't necessarily want to share it, unless you're ready to. When it's fully formed in your mind.

Artsin: You're working now with other comedians quite a lot. But you still have to produce your own material for you own slot but you have been producing whole shows, with a series of support artists. Presumably you don't use script writers.

Kirsty: I like to keep it real. I write all my own stuff. What you see on stage is my character, my alter ego persona, but it's also very personal to me. Sometimes people will suggest jokes that I can put in, but it has to fit. So, mostly it's stuff that comes from me. My work is less about jokes and more about something that comes from my own experiences.

Artsin: Having seen your performances several times, I know the sort of stuff you do. It feels like you talking to your audience rather than acting a script. From the audience's point of view, it feels like you, just talking to them. They probably are not aware just how much thinking, rehearsals and writing have actually gone into it. So, is that what you try to end up with - something that flows and feels like it's just 'off the cuff'?

Kirsty: Yea. I try to stick to the material that I have but when I am having a really good gig I can play with it a bit more and improvise a bit more. I would like to experiment more so that I can go off on tangents and come back. I want it to look like I am chatting to my mates. Make it feel like a chatty conversation. That's what gives me my connection with the audience.

Artsin: So, you have an act sorted out and then you go live with it and you work with it, you experiment with the material, extemporise, more and more ideas come up ... is that how it evolves and grows?

Kirsty: Yea. Sometimes you feel like you're less in control of it. I experiment with different styles. Sometimes I do songs, and you think 'oh, does that really fit with the act?' I think I am still in the experimenting and exploring kind of phase. You can never get a set that you're fully happy with. You always want to drop something new in. You always want to get better and to progress. You have a good gig and you want to refine the stuff so recreate that good gig.

Artsin: Is there a best time of the day for you? Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Kirsty: There may be a best time, but I haven't discovered it yet. When I was preparing for the Edinburgh Fringe (I had a job then) I would get up at six o'clock in the morning and rehearse and write and be up late at night as well. I worked at all sort of different times, though I don't get up a six in the morning any more.

Artsin: Comedians tend to perform at night, so I guess they don't get up too early in the morning. Are there days when it simply doesn't work?

Kirsty: Oh yea. Yea, there are horrible days when there is just nothing. When you are stuck in that block it's about trying to find things that will inspire you. Go out for a walk, watch someone else doing comedy, go out and get drunk. Get a change of scenery. I want to keep it going, keep it flowing.

Artsin: Have you ever talked to other comedians about how they do their work?

Kirsty: I love talking to other comedians. It's a fascinating world, it's like an addiction. When you get a good gig you feel on top of the world. When you get a bad one you feel rock bottom. As soon as you finish one gig you start thinking about the next one. When you are approaching the gig you are thinking 'get me out of this, any how'. It is really scary getting up in front of people and thinking 'I've got to make you laugh'.

Nearly all the comedians I have met are happy to share notes and talk with you. It's a very fascinating world, it's kind of hidden. When you go and watch a comedy gig, you don't know what has gone on behind the scenes. Everyone I have met has been really supportive because other comedians know what it takes. Other comedians understand that.

Artsin: Do you ever check to see what other comedians are doing, particularly if they have an act that might be slightly similar to yours? Do you try to position yourself in the comedy market away from other people? To appear as original as possible? Or do you see someone else doing something that everybody loves and think 'Oh I can do something like that?'

Kirsty: No. What I do is very real and personal to me. I have never looked at what is going down well with other comedians. Or what's working at the moment. For me, it's about what I enjoy doing and what I am thinking about. Yea, you can see someone who is successful and you want a taste of that. You can look at people who may be similar to you and that might give you inspiration. You look at what is working but it's still about you being you and doing what you want to do. You find your audience for what you do.

Artsin: So, if it's about being you do you consciously try to develop the Kirsty Munro persona? Do you look at yourself from outside of yourself and say 'how can I develop me as a character?'

Kirsty: Yea. I turn myself inside out. There's a bit in my routine about me going a bit bonkers. It's a bit like having an out of body experience. You are outside, looking at yourself and think 'that's when you get self doubt'

Artsin: Because in a way you are inventing a character, like writers do in soap operas, or films or theatre, which may be a reflection of a real person but it's also about building a recognisable character that other people can relate to.

Kirsty: Yea, it is like a characterture of yourself, you have got to have an endless sense of humour about yourself. Laughter is a way of getting over things, it's a healing thing. You always need to laugh at something to get over it.

Artsin: People watch TV and become familiar with a particular kind of comedic character. They get used to certain kinds of recognisable characters that are portrayed to them. Does that work for you?

Kirsty: My Kirsty character is an exaggerated version of me. But I can live with my on stage alter ego. I was happy with my on stage persona at first but then I fell out with myself. It can send you a little crazy. But the more I went up there and it worked, the more I worked with the character the more I came to terms with it. The more I went on with the shows the more I saw how I can make a reflection of my self in my character.

Artsin: Do you ever read reviews of your act?

Kirsty: I am my own worst critic. But you do have to keep a balance between the positive and the negative feedbacks. One of the things I learnt from Edinburgh was to take feedback. Before, I didn't necessarily understand why I had a good gig or why I had a bad gig. Because doing comedy is so very exposing, it is hard to take negative feedback. But you can learn from it. It's always good to hear the nice things but you learn more from the things that didn't work. I do read every review but it's about keeping that balance. I do want to get better.

People say to me 'you never stop dying' - if you have a bad gig you call it 'dying'. With writing sketches, it helps you to realise how your brain works. What other people about your work helps you to notice what's there. Sometimes you need to get out of your head. Sometimes it needs someone from a different perspective to notice what's there. You have to work with feedback, it's how you use it that matters.

Explore more

Kirsty Munro's blog site

Artsin reviews Kirsty's show at the Crumblin' Cookie

Artsin's review of Kirsty's show in July

Review in the Leicester Mercury