I have always written things. I started with poems, mainly about horses, ponies and death. I wrote my first novel, ‘Yawhei, Story of a Chinese girl’ when I was ten, complete with pages of made up Chinese dialogue without any translation and illustrations or awareness of China or sense of cultural misappropriation. I have had poems published in Ambit Magazine and in the anthology of Women’s Poetry, Purple and Green. My poems came from an anxious time in my life but my comedy comes from my sense of relief at having escaped my poor expectations of myself.

I never planned to go into comedy, or any kind of performance. In fact all my early formative experience of comedy was my mother heckling the TV. We would be watching Morecombe and Wise Christmas specials while she harangued the screen with ‘Do you really think this is funny? It’s painful! Painful!’ I was in some plays at university, but mainly to meet arty boys. You can still see which masked Greek chorus member I am in photos of the production of ELECTRA as I am still wearing my wrist watch; while playing ‘Laura’ in the Glass Menagerie I kept forgetting which was my lame side so kept changing limps.

I had lots of jobs after leaving St Andrews University with an English degree – compiling the singles charts for CBS records, filing in the bowels of The Treasury Solicitor and a couple of years queuing for visas at the Libyan Embassy on behalf of American oil workers. Eventually I got my dream job in advertising as a copywriter but escaped to form the Clown Troupe FRANTIC ANTICS.

FRANTIC ANTICS led to stand-up comedy as well as improvisation with three woman outfit THE POINTLESS SISTERS. I have also worked with HESTER GOODMAN of the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain in our musical rock elf duo ELVENBITCH. With SHEILA HYDE I created ‘The Lost Resort’, a physical comedy show. I have been on Radio 5’s The Treatment, lots of local radio, regularly compere Glastonbury’s Theatre Marquee, and have performed for lifers at Wormwood Scrubs and for cabinet ministers at The House Of Commons. And, as well as all this I have done my rounds on ‘the circuit’ many times.  I have even been in a play, the alien spacewoman vampire lead in Fassbinder’s Blood On The Neck Of The Cat, which was an accidental runaway hit in Edinburgh last century, and in which all the scenery collapsed while I smoked crafty fags behind my spaceship, waiting for my cue..

I live in Peckham where I have regularly contributed to ComedyVariety Extravaganza PULL THE OTHER ONE and CAMBERWELL VARIETIES. I met my husband in my audience, and have two children and a dog. I have been learning the accordion for many years but have been very unlucky with the frequency with which my teachers have had to suddenly move out of London just when I feel I am getting somewhere.

I have performed ten different solo shows at the Edinburgh Festival, some of which I have taken to New Zealand, Australia, and even the Scilly Isles.

I like stories and I hope you do too and that you will enjoy my website where I intend to share, not just things about comedy, but poems, pictures, old teenage diaries, plus, in her own words, the Indian escape adventures of my Great Great Granny whose footsteps I followed   in real life.