Performer: Lolly Jones Photograph by: Steve Ullathorne Show: Lolly Jones: Fifty Shades of May Venue: Assembly Roxy Downstairs Promoter: Indie Online: Box Office Facebook Website
Tell me about your Edinburgh show.
It’s a comedy burlesque show about Theresa May. With saucy routines, I’ll retrace her disastrous election results, U-turns and naughty days in fields of wheat. I’ll also be performing a fan dance as Nicola Sturgeon. Featuring footage from Liam Hourican (the Tracey Ullman show) as Jacob Rees-Mogg; we’ll find out who is really cracking the whip in Westminster.
Tell me about your first gig.
I tripped on to the stage so the audience were laughing before I spoke. It’s been downhill ever since.
Do you have any rituals before going on stage?
I embody Theresa May which is like being possessed. You know that scene in Ghost when Patrick Swayze’s spirit enters Whoopi Goldberg? Imagine that, except the ghost is a Tory.
Tell me about your best and worst review.
Broadway Baby said that I was ‘desperate to be liked’. The Scotsman described me as ‘a blast to spend an hour with’. They both had a point.
During this Edinburgh run, do you plan to read reviews of your show?
Probably.
How do you feel about reviewers generally?
Mixed feelings. And it appears that’s mutual.
In April 2018, YouTube comedian, Markus Meechan (aka Count Dankula) was fined £800 for training his girlfriend’s pug dog to do a Nazi salute with its paw, in response to the phrase ‘Gas the Jews’. Do you believe Meechan committed a criminal offence, and why?
Technically, yes. That kind of behaviour stirs up racial hatred; even if that wasn’t the initial intention. But it is a slippery slope to prosecute comedians because who determines the tone and intention of a joke? It’s a tough one.
Are there any subjects that are not suitable for comedy?
No. But sometimes you have to give it some time.
Have you ever gone too far?
Not on stage but in my personal life; all the time.
Looking back over your time as a comedian, tell me about the best gig of your career.
I did Hooray Cabaret recently at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club. When I reached the stage, the audience were jeering so much that I couldn’t hear the speech to lip synch. I just stood there, gurning as Theresa. They really hated her. It was ace.