Oh hello. Me again, Lulu. Actor, comic and serial online stalker of your dad’s holiday pictures from Skiathos 2019.
I’ve been asked for my insight into how you sexy readers can write stronger jokes or understand stand up a little better. Full disclosure — I’m still on a learning journey (bit of a wanky thing to say, soz) meself, but I’ll help where I can...
First off — I would say, if you’re thinking of trying comedy, or actively trying at whatever varying degree of success you’re finding — congrats, you’re already a f*cking winner.
Most people are too scared to tell someone they jumped the queue in Primark, so the fact you’re standing in front of an audience, even an audience of one man and a dog — or ten male comics in their twenties ready to test out a new three mins on the nuances of wanking — makes you a brave little soldier.
I don’t want to hear the same perspective on the Aldi middle isle being a lawless place, or not being able to get past the GP receptionist to get an appointment — been there done that, heard it with a side of mother-in-law jokes.
Your local comedy night needs YOU. In reality you can joke about all of the aforementioned — but the magic between a good comic and a great one is their relationship to the world they’re assessing. At first glance, jokes feel like they’re about content or the premise — but in reality, most comedy premises are interchangeable.
And yet, one will feel fresh, specific and alive — whilst the other feels like something you’ve read on the back of a Penguin wrapper.
The difference isn’t the topic, but the point of view. What is your emotional lens that the world passes through?
You can ‘borrow’ a joke’s subject; you can even lend its structure — but you can’t steal the way someone choses to be wrong about the world. That’s all yours baybeeeee!
As such — try to make it all about you (even when it isn’t) and then write a list about “why you actually care,” or even why you don’t.
This forces opinion, and opinions that are unique to you is what drives surprise from the audience: aka laughing themselves blind. You’ll have your own assumptions about the world, current affairs, domestic life ‚— even the Aldi middle aisle if you must, so try to write a list about those assumptions as though true.
Life is secretly...
No one ever admits that... (etc etc)
Often, POV lives and breathes life into a performance space through the unspoken ones, not the topic itself.
Hope that’s a helpful view — like I say, I’m still learning too, but this is something that’s helped me ‘boil’ through my notes to find some proper bits in there that come from me, and me only!
Lulu Simons brings the important topics to the stage and page — like the Spice Girls, and your dad’s holiday pics.
A proud Welsh, working class stand-up, writer, and performer; her latest show, “Council Estate Gap Year”, debuted to sell out audiences two years in succession for:
Women in Comedy Festival and the inaugural Rik Mayall Festival; earning outstanding reviews.
Passionate about platforming underrepresented people in comedy; Lulu has also taken proactive steps to foster greater diversity by founding TOKEN. Comedy Collective, aimed at supporting and amplifying underrepresented voices on the circuit.
Winner of Best Newcomer, 2025 Women In Comedy Festival.
“A must-see comic — an absolute joy” Culture Warrington (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Canal Street Online: “Lulu reminded us of Victoria Wood in her observational comedy and great comic timing”
She’s a daft, exciting and ambitious talent.
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