Ahead of her stand-up tour this Autumn, self-pegged comedian, mother and clown Bridget Christie comes to Deer Shed Festival pondering ‘Who Am I?’ and, more importantly, what am I doing sleeping on an inflatable doll?
Women across the UK are plumping their scatter cushions with a little more resentment this summer, and it’s all down to Bridget Christie. “I'm hoping I cause a lot of trouble!” she laughs, as she dials into our call from her home in North London. The culprit for all this pent-up angst? A, now somewhat infamous, chore ledger and a core component to her celebrated Channel 4 series, The Change. The comedy-drama follows Linda (Christie) exploring a new lease of life as she learns that she's experiencing the menopause.
The show is the award-winning funny woman's first foray into writing for the small screen marking Christie's own change from stand-up to screenwriter. "I know what an hour's set looks like physically on a page,” she reflects. “I didn't know what a 24-minute TV script looked like. I would say things like, 'How many pages?' and the production company would say, 'Well, it depends how long your stage directions are?' and I was like, 'Oh, what does that mean?'" To cushion the steep learning curve, Christie's blossoming scriptwriting is bolstered by a stellar cast of fellow funny folk, from sketch show royalty Paul Whitehouse (fresh from putting down his fishing rod with Bob Mortimer) and Radio 2 regular Liza Tarbuck who plays Christie's brash big sister with aplomb.
Marking the moment that a woman ends her menstrual cycle in a jovial manner might feel like a tough sell but Christie has made a name for herself unearthing humour in difficult or important societal subjects. Take her award-winning A Bic For Her show. Breaking Box Office records at Soho Theatre, the was inspired by news of the biro company producing lady-friendly pens. Christie was furious. Had the Bronte sisters been bad novelists because their quills kept slipping through their fingers? The show signalled a breakthrough moment for the comedian; in 2012, the UK was entering into a fourth wave of feminism. Laura Bates' Everyday Sexism Project was in full swing. Lucy Anne Holmes kickstarted the No More Page 3 petition and even Girlguiding introduced a campaigning and activism badge for its young members. But A Bic For Her proved that feminism can also be fun. Or, as The Evening Standard called it, "sublimely deft and winningly daft."
"THAT IDEA IS REALLY MAKING ME LAUGH. I'VE GOT THIS VISUALISATION OF ME IN THE WINDOW OF A MANSION RUBBING MY CHIN LIKE A MAN PONDERING MY BLUE PERIOD..."
" That idea is really making me laugh. I've got this visualisation of me in the window of a mansion rubbing my chin like a man pondering my blue period..." A decade on and Christie has become a staple across mainstream media, whether that’s topping The Telegraph’s Christmas shopping lists with her debut read, A Book For Her (arguably for all seasons), to regularly popping up on panel shows like Have I Got News For You, QI and most recently, Taskmaster Season 13. Reflecting on that pivotal moment from her career in the early aughts, Christie admits there was no masterplan or beard scratching over her many oeuvres. "That idea is really making me laugh. I've got this visualisation of me in the window of a mansion rubbing my chin like a man pondering my blue period, you know?" A moment of internal reflection that's fuelled many other artists and creatives, I suggest. "Generally, rich men," she reasons.
If Christie isn’t measuring her success by breadth, her ascent through the comedy scene certainly acts as a definitive guide. This August, she’ll return to the Edinburgh Fringe where, ten years ago, A Bic For Her won the festival’s annual award. And whilst she’s technically still under the umbrella of The Stand - the original venue she performed in - things have happily sized up to the Grand Hall. “I hope that people come now and it's not just a big empty room and I should have gotten in the fifty seater!” This knack for a self-deprecating aside is a classic Christie move, but much like The Change’s central protagonist Linda's decision to dust off the leather jacket and follow her intuition into the forest of her youth, the comedy writer knows she wouldn’t be at this stage without the stop overs and sojourns. For her, the greatest part of the adventure has been getting here. "Our lives are full of pain and misery and trauma, and happiness and laughter. I got addicted to the puzzle and the process of that. I live that moment and I wouldn't have changed a single day!"
Christie's latest stand-up show, Who Am I?, does just that, building on the themes of the TV series (see: seismic hormonal changes, the freedom of no longer caring what others think of you when you've passed a certain age) with a wider social commentary alongside her signature silliness. Boris Johnson and Louis CK's recent headlines both get namechecks around their upwards failings despite - maybe even because of - serious and repeated moral transgressions no women would get away with. If all this sounds a little too much like an intense way to spend an afternoon in the comedy tent, rest assured, Christie has the knack for playfully exaggerating the preposterousness over the political. Besides, she's well aware of the shift in setting as she heads out onto the road this summer.
"I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO SOME FESTIVAL FOOD FROM THE LOVELY VANS, EATING OUTSIDE AND GAZING AT THE STARS..."
"I'm looking forward to some festival food from the lovely vans, eating outside and gazing at the stars..." "I have to just get over the fact that there are people coming in and out. It's daytime. All the sides [of the festival tent] are open. It's so exposing!" While the natural environment for stand up tends to be a small, darkened room with a low ceiling, the last few years have put things into perspective for the comic. "During lockdown, I became much less precious about things like that and just grateful that people want to book me so I became less afraid and more inclined to do festivals." Navigating the fields doesn't come naturally to a woman who's openly admitted to forgetting why she walked in a room, but Christie is confident she's got all the essentials covered. “I'm staying in a school that's on the site because I've got a slipped disc so I don't really fancy being on t'ground on one of those blow-up things. Not a doll, a mattress," she confirms, sheepishly.
Alongside the inflatables, the comedian will also be revelling in all the field favourites from the lush setting of the 200-acre park to the plethora of camping cookout options. “I'm looking forward to some festival food from the lovely vans, eating outside and gazing at the stars. I’ll walk and be like 'Ah, yeah, pizza!' and then 'Oh, no, there's some really nice sushi!' I'll be doing a full sweep and then making my decisions.” It’s all a novelty when you don’t have to prepare the meal yourself and then plot it into the chore ledger, presumably. Bridget is touring the UK with her live show "Who Am I?" from September, after Edinburgh Fringe.
Bridget is touring the UK with her live show "Who Am I?" from September, after Edinburgh Fringe. All episodes of the The Change are available to watch now on Channel 4 streaming. See bridgetchristie.co.uk for dates and details.
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