Berkshire


<h2 class="wp-block-heading">You’re best known for&nbsp;<em>Smack the Pony</em>. Was it a defining moment in your career?</h2>



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<p>For comedy, yes. It was great fun and very silly at times. But I’d done <em>Coronation Street&nbsp;</em>as Julia Stone before then and if people are into soaps I’m best known for that&nbsp;– I had a stint on&nbsp;<em>Eastenders&nbsp;</em>just before lockdown too.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Do you think&nbsp;<em>Smack the Pony</em>&nbsp;could work now?</h2>



<p>All I know is that it’s repeated all the time, the sketches are viral, and people in their late 20s are watching it but so are their mums. We go right across generations. I put a sketch up on my <a href="http://(https://www.instagram.com/fionaallencomedy/)" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Instagram</a> about a woman who has a cat instead of a boyfriend and it had a few thousand views in a couple of hours. So yes, it definitely works now.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What do you watch to make you laugh?&nbsp;</h2>



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<p>For the last few months it’s been other comedians live. I haven’t got time to watch TV as I’m out performing most evenings, so on a normal comedy night, I get there early and watch everyone before me. It’s like having a night out.&nbsp;</p>



<p>If I do watch TV it’s after I get home to wind down a bit but it’s always wall-to-wall serial killers. Talk about murders at midnight – it’s just not relaxing. I don’t know why they do that.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-do-you-get-a-day-off">Do you get a day off?</h2>



<p>Generally Sunday to Tuesday. And then I want to be out and fresh air and not be in the car as I am driving around the country the rest of the time.&nbsp;I’ll walk my dog around the outskirts of my village – Bray – there are so many footpaths and nature reserves. I try to avoid dog places because I like the solitude.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">So you’re a dog person then?</h2>



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<p>I’m a cat person really but my two cats were killed on the road and as an animal lover I was too heartbroken to get another. Fish don’t count – I don’t care what anyone says. So I thought I’d get a dog.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Is he a pampered pooch?</h2>



<p>I cook most of my dog’s food. I didn’t like the idea of what’s in dog food and I’m a big cook at home so I just see it like it’s like an extra little person. I cook him beef, lamb, chicken, duck and always fresh veg. My husband came in the other day and said the pot simmering smelt gorgeous. It was slow cooked braising steak with carrots. But I said: “I’m sorry, no, it’s for the dog”.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Back to comedy. Has it changed a lot over the years you’ve been in the industry?</h2>



<p>I don’t think it’s changed that much.&nbsp;<em>Smack the Pony</em>&nbsp;is so relevant and has influenced so many other things. In live comedy there’s a lot of one-liner comics coming through because it’s for TikTok, but for me I’m a story teller. It’s such a vibrant and varied scene you can really choose.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">And now you’ve launched a career in stand-up. How was it making the transition?</h2>



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<p>Well, when I first moved to London in my 20s I did a few open slots then. I didn’t know anyone so it was something to do. I quite liked it but got an acting job in 12 weeks and never stopped.</p>



<p>What happened recently was that I wanted to have another go at it. I’m in my 50s and I’ve never been told I can’t do anything. I’m one of three girls and we were taught we can do everything – we were changing tyres with dad at eight years old.</p>



<p>Comics said to me what are you doing starting on the open mic circuit when you’ve already done TV, but I was learning . You do it for free and only have a few minutes on stage.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What did you learn?</h2>



<p>I was delivering as an actress learning the script but I realised you use a different part of your brain and respond to the audience. It’s a really different way of performing.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Is it easy to break onto the circuit as a newcomer?</h2>



<p>The circuit is open to anybody – at any age. I saw an 86-year-old New Yorker in Camden and she was absolutely killing it. She was a Joan Rivers type with an audience of 20 something kids. I love that. There are oodles of women doing stand-up and anything goes – it doesn’t matter who you are or what you are. Stand up is still very much about grungy little clubs with low ceilings where you can feel the energy in the room.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Are you always on the look out for new material?</h2>



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<p>If I have a show far away I’m eating alone and you’d be surprised what people say to each other – I overhear hilarious things and send random texts to my husband to make a note of it.&nbsp;I was trying to get this eyeshadow replacement at SpaceNK and the woman slowly opened every drawer to find it then finally said it’d been discontinued because it wasn’t trending any more. But it’s half the nation’s eye colour – chocolate brown. People just say and do stuff and it makes me laugh.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What about life outside work – how has it been juggling family and work?</h2>



<p>It is stressful and a juggle, like it is for everyone, and I do think that mums – unless dad stay at home – have it harder, and that’s really not changed much. I talk about it on my show, rushing back from voiceover to stand in a playground waiting for pick-up. You are forced together with people you wouldn’t choose as friends. It’s forced socialising – everything you hate about your work colleagues but at 8am in the morning with less coffee.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">So the school gates experience is part of your new show?</h2>



<p>Yes – passive aggressive school mums feature a lot. There’s always a couple who make everyone feel awkward. Where’s the sisterhood there, and how is it they can ruin people’s day? I really let off steam about that in my show.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Have your family been surprised at your new career?</h2>



<p>I don’t think any of them could quite believe it. But I had to do this. Now my kids are older they need you in a different way but it’s like ‘Mum, mum – can you find my trainer’ or ‘Where’s my food’? I feel like an Alexa that never gets asked anything fun. So I thought, this is what I want to do in the evening.&nbsp;</p>



<p>And now I get in the car and I go to these shows. They’re like, ‘bloody hell you’ve gone and done this’. My show is&nbsp;<em>On the Run</em>&nbsp;but really it’s ‘mum on the run’. It’s really a little message to myself – we matter too. We’re not old in our 50s nowadays – lots of women career change in their 50s.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Between shows where do you hang out in Bray?</h2>



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<p>I love the Hind’s Head in Bray village because it is Michelin starred and the food is perfect but the bar at the side is pannelled wood and steeped in history that you can just feel when you go in there – I love it as a bar. And I can walk there. I’m a foodie and I like to nip to Marlow to the Butcher’s Tap because if you get there at the right time there’s this atmosphere that’s great. It’s almost like it cracks in the air and there’s a real hubbub to walk into. Years ago I was very into restaurants but I’ve got more into relaxed atmospheres now.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What would you say to someone thinking of coming along to your show?</h2>



<p>If you feel like I feel after years of doing what we all do and you want a laugh, then come along. It’s just an hour’s show and if you’ve got stories about passive aggressive mums, tell me. I’ll happily add them in!</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Where to see Fiona on stage</strong></h3>



<p><em>Fiona Allen: On the Run</em>&nbsp;is at the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/fiona-allen-run" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pleasance Courtyard</a>, Edinburgh, 2-20 Aug and <a href="https://norden.farm/events/fiona-allen-on-the-run">Norden Farm in Maidenhead on 2 Dec, tickets £16</a>.</p>



<p>M</p>


School run slurs: Smack the Pony’s Fiona Allen lets off steam

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