A feisty, fulsome and fearfully funny delve into the realities of stand-up comedy gigs - Julia Raeside takes no prisoners and for good reason!
- CWIP
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
For readers who haven’t (yet!) read ‘Don’t Make Me Laugh’ can you tell us about it in one sentence?
It’s one woman’s heady journey down into the rabbit hole of the UK comedy scene, where she finds lust, intrigue and female solidarity as a group of women prepare to unleash a #MeToo reckoning on the toxic men they work with.
As a brilliant journalist, what inspired you to jump into writing this witty novel? Was it a real situation that you wanted to capture? Or have you always wanted to write novels?
I always loved creative writing when I was younger, but it never entered my head to do that as a job. The careers advice at my school if you were a girl who was good at English was “teach”. But the novel did eventually come from my journalism. As I segued from arts journalism into investigating #MeToo stories, I kept hearing from women who were effectively gagged from speaking up about some truly terrible men. Our libel laws prevented them. After trying and failing to make the stories work as journalism, the frustration led me to start creating a fictional story where I could discuss some of this hidden behaviour. Now I’ve written one novel, it’s given me the taste for it again. I’m currently working on book two.
How did you find a way to depict predatory behaviour in a funny way in order to communicate the dark side of the comedy world with humour?
I think the humour has to come from character and situation, rather than just hurling gags at a pre-existing story, for it to feel authentic and truly funny. So I wanted the laughs in my book to feel like they naturally occurred because the characters are funny or using jokes in grim situations, like we all do. I can’t stand dramas - in fiction or on screen - that remain completely po-faced throughout because real life just isn’t like that.
Which witty novel inspired you the most growing up ?
So many, but the first one that really leapt to mind is Bridget Jones’ Diary. I read it in my early 20s, just after I’d moved to London and just gawped at Helen Fielding’s ability to mine humour from that character. We’re never laughing at her, always with her and often with a large side dollop of painful recognition. That combination of heart and humour is something she makes look so easy, like Fred & Ginger floating across a dance floor. It’s masterful.
Where do you write? Do you need silence, crave music or manage with people drilling outside your window/other? Any writing habits gratefully received.
I mostly write in my little office, painting pink because I think the people who used to own our house used this box room as child’s bedroom. It’s cheerful and comforting and like writing in a cosy womb, so I never felt like repainting it. I occasionally brave the outside and go to a cafe or local work space. But I’m too easily distracted by conversations around me. I have to blast pink noise in through my earphones to stop the outside world sneaking in. Hence mostly writing at home. I can do music sometimes if it’s instrumental. I loved listening to Bernard Herrmann’s soundtrack to Vertigo when I was writing a scene in the book that uses a piece of music from the score. Music is good for heights of emotion, I find. But otherwise, silence or as near as I can get to it in east London.
Finally, can you tell us why you think CWIP is important?
As I’ve just written a book about the power of female solidarity and what we can achieve when we stop competing and start collaborating, I can honestly say the nomination from CWIP has meant the world to me. Helen and her brilliant team work tirelessly to give this spotlight to funny female writers because - look around - where else is great comic writing by women truly celebrated? I hope CWIP continues to thrive and grow and give this amazing opportunity, particularly to unpublished writers who go on to amazing things after joining the CWIP family. It feels like being adopted by some wonderful matriarchy. Long may it continue.
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