Andi Osho interview: 'I never watch myself on TV'

Even if you've not seen Andi Osho on stage, there's every chance you'll recognise her from her acting work (Casualty, Doctors, EastEnders, more!), her panel show appearances on shows like Mock the Week, Stand Up for the Week, or her spot-on Comic Relief dance routine for Michael Jackson's 'Bad' last year.

This month, Andi takes her latest show All The Single Ladies to London's Soho Theatre, and we got on the phone to talk to her about comedy, working an audience, dating fans and more.

What's your show All The Single Ladies all about?
"It's about dating. It came out of being single for three years and a bad breakup and trying internet dating and all kinds of things, and just writing a show about that and my experiences with it. When I did it at the Edinburgh Festival I asked a guy out on a date after every show - I'm not doing that now!"

Would you ever date a fan you met at a show?
"I'd talk to someone if they chatted to me after the show - but it's a funny old territory that, isn't it, dating fans... it hasn't happened yet!"

Why do four nights at the Soho Theatre?
"This is the tail end of a mini-tour really. I did a little national tour of this show - not as big as the previous one. I took it out and about, but it's nice to finish at the Soho Theatre. This is my second time there and it's also fun to play to a home crowd. I love playing other places but it's really nice to just come, final few shows, to a London crowd."

Do you find the audience interaction a challenge?
"No, I love it. It's brilliant! It's usually within a pretty standard parameter of talking about relationships, if they're in a couple, how they met, that type of thing. Then after that, audience interaction's always fun because you never know what people are going to say.

"You always find out random things that you could never make up. I spoke to a nurse who works in an X-ray unit and she was talking about all the things that people come in with up their arse! You couldn't prepare for that."



Did you worry that the set draws attention to your gender, which reviewers sometimes focus on?
"I don't think it does. I'll talk about waking up next to someone unsavoury you've met in a nightclub. I think that applies to everybody, doesn't it? Very little of what I say is specific to being a woman. I get a nice mix in the audience at the gigs."

Are you okay with putting your personal life out there?
"I don't always talk about specific incidents. I think it's just stuff that's universal rather than always this thing happened to me. I don't think I'm putting too much out. A lot of it's the laughter of recognition as well. Even if I am putting myself out there and people are laughing they're probably laughing because they're true of everyone as well."

Do you get annoyed when shows like 10 O'Clock Live or Have I Got News For You feature women who aren't comedians?
"It doesn't annoy me particularly, but it's one of those things where you want to know what other female comics think of that. Does Sarah Millican think she's not getting enough work, Jo Caulfield, Shappi Khorsandi? I don't think they do.

"It would be nice if it was a comedy show that they get actual female comedians on rather than DJs or comedy actors - which is a totally different discipline. But it works - I don't have a huge gripe with it."

You've been on Mock The Week a few times - would you agree that it's an adversarial show?
"It's a panel show, it's a quiz, there are points to be won. So I suppose it brings out that competition, but also to see who can be the funniest. You want to be able to get in your funny stuff. It's got its own particular character but I think that's why it's a good show.



"I'm happy that the show is the way it is. I don't mind that there's more men that do it than women, it's not a big deal to me. They've been very kind to me and keep inviting me back on the show, so I can't grumble!"

Are there too many panel shows?
"People say there's too many reality shows, but people are watching them. It's probably the same with comedy. People still have an appetite for it at the moment, and when they don't you can bet your bottom dollar that the commissioning editors will stop commissioning them.

"It's the same with sketch shows. There were loads and loads of sketch shows and commissioners just went, yeah, we're not doing any more sketch shows, and there's hardly any of them on anymore."

When you watch Mock The Week back are you happy with the edit?
"I never watch the show. I never watch it. I don't watch when I'm on telly."

Why not?
"It makes me cringe! It does!"

Don't you have to be confident to get up on stage?
"That's one way of looking at it. You can say that comedians are confident, or they're driven by such a massive insecurity that it drives them to have to show off in front of loads of people. I think that's probably more true for more comics than being supremely confident with themselves."



You do straight acting as well as comedy - which would you choose?
"Stand-up. It's just so alive. In the moment all you've got is you, your material and your audience - and between all three of you, you make something happen. It's not just you and your jokes, it's totally a two-way street."

Do you ever think about potential controversy when writing your material?
"It's in my mind, but I don't not write a joke because I'm worried it'll offend people. Sometimes I'll write a joke and it's offensive and I think, 'Yeah, that's going to be fun to say that, because it's so offensive!'

"Also, just because you mention something that people think is contentious, it doesn't mean that the joke in itself is out of order. You can reference Stephen Lawrence, but it doesn't mean that you're laughing at the fact that he was murdered.

"The joke might be about something completely different, but as soon as they hear something like that - Madeleine McCann or Stephen Lawrence or cancer, or whatever, people freak out, and they don't listen to the context."

Andi Osho performs her show All The Single Ladies at the Soho Theatre from January 18 for four nights. Tickets are available here.