Jenny Eclair has been an accomplished stand-up for more years than she’d care to remember.
She started out with a first gig at Manchester Poly, moved to London to seek her fortune and ended up being the first woman to win the coveted Perrier Award, scooping the accolade in her 13th appearance at the Edinburgh Festival.
Among her early TV work was Packet Of Three, which she wrote and acted in alongside Frank Skinner.
She’s come a long way and is back on the road with her tour Old Dog, New Tricks, which comes to Lincoln Performing Arts Centre on April Fool’s Day, appropriately enough.
Having seen Jenny’s show, I know there’s a lot of pacing up and down, so is there a lot of nervous energy inside?
“I prowl,” she says. “I’m basically working to burn off some calories. You play lots of different styles of theatres and you want to give everyone a go at seeing you.
“They will find a lot out about me, and they will find out a bit about themselves because they will recognise chunks of their lives. It’s about looking in the mirror
“There’s a real streak of teenage rebellion there for people that are still growing up. Everyone’s 17 at the core, they show off, fall over – all that kind of thing.
“But you have to acknowledge the passing of time. If I was still on stage standing there just being filthy it would be unbearable. And a little bleak.
“Your audience grows old with you. A lot of them are the same age as me. There’s definitely no one under 16, because its too traumatic for them.”
And yet tales of middle-age, true life and the facts of life prove a popular draw for the audiences, with many venues selling out.
“It’s a combination of experience, writing, and getting the right audience.
“Put me in front of the wrong audience and I’ll die on my arse on stage.
“Most people know what they are coming to see. I’m usually quite welcome on stage.
“But it’s a low-pressure tour, I’m going to some nice medium-sized theatres. There’s a huge amount of competition and everyone’s so skint.”
You’re as likely to see Jenny on Grumpy Old Women, This Morning or Loose Women as on the comedy circuit these days.
And away from touring and being on the box, she’s carved out a niche as a successful writer, both as a columnist and with a couple of novels. A third is on the way. Her theatre roles have included the Vagina Monologues and she was also in I’m A Celebrity, trapped in the jungle – a performance she admits “opened some doors”.
Finally, playing within the university campus, and with a daughter at uni, I checked if she’s a cool mum.
“She’s a bit too old to be impressed,” said Jenny. “I rarely get young and trendy people in. If there were, they’d be there with their mum for their mum’s birthday treat.”
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