But she wasn't always this way. The on-off girlfriend of a successful comedian who spends weekends hundreds of miles away telling gags about their relationship, she realises his best stage material consists of recycled versions of her own restless, smart-arsed energy and decides she might be better off keeping her jokes for herself. Before long she makes her very first walk to the mark on stage in front of a bare brick wall, with just a spotlight and a PA system for cover...
As much about the thrill of performance as it is about what goes on when the microphone is switched off, Brenda Monk is Funny is a whip-smart, devastatingly candid snapshot of the reality, the brutality and fragility of the comedy industry from an exciting new voice in fiction. It's enough to give anyone butterflies...