 Miss London
Earlier on this week, we caught up with a promising young comedian by the name of Miss London. This 20 year old Gemini is taking the UK comedy scene by storm! With only a years experience under her belt, this half Puerto Rican half Jamaican talented young lady has been crowned Miss Funny Women 2009, travelled the UK on tour, and performed at countless Comedy shows around London. And this is just her warming up!
Currently a 3rd year undergrad studying Media, her original ambitions laid in becoming a Forensic Scientist; this was before she had realised her natural talent of humour. A talent which she describes as “cool” because she was never the popular girl in school: Believe it or not.
“I was the nerd .Big hair and I was really smart…I won student of the year three years in a row!”
Encouraged by friends and acquaintances to take her natural flare further, she spontaneously performed her first show at Roehampton University after being asked to dance but ended up performing some of her stand up material as well. As she stepped onto the stage, she described her view as “a sea of weaves”, and even though she was terrified she tells us “as soon as I heard the first laugh I was fine. I thought whatever, let me just carry on: and I just kept making them laugh. As soon as I came off that stage, I felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders”. Since that first show she hasn’t looked back since. Pulling from real life experiences Miss London finds a way to relate to the crowd and touch on subjects that may be uncomfortable to deal with but are true and extremely funny, not just basing her act on the common topics like “sex”. As a female she worked twice as hard to ensure she received the same recognition as the guys. When she stepped on the stage London made it her personal mission to let the crowd know “I’m going to be funny”.
She is forever improving and reaching new levels as she describes herself as “her worst critic” in the sense that to her, every show is a bad show because she can always see room for improvement. Other UK comedians such as KOJO have supported Miss London in her journey and she looks back at KOJO comedy Funhouse as a great experience. Working with other comedians with six years experience really helped her to step up her game knowing she could command the stage just as well as the other guys saying, “It made me better”. Performing at events such as KOJO comedy Funhouse started getting her the recognition she deserved and realised she is just as good as Slim and KOJO.
Miss London gets a lot of love on stage and has defiantly claimed her place as a comic, but action off the stage isn’t always as hot as her act. Her on-stage persona means that funnily enough she can’t get the kind of guy she wants to approach her. This might be due to the fact that on stage Miss London doesn’t need a man, because they are often the butt of her real life jokes – meaning that she often ends up getting guys who chat her up using her own lines! She even has guys approaching her hoping she can get them out the “hood” she jokes that having a man would ruin her act “if I did have a man I wouldn’t have any jokes about guys”.
So come on now guys, if you do want a shot with Miss Funny woman of the year just be yourself and use your own chat up lines at least!!! You guys could come better than that.
This critical perspective that she has of herself is what allows her to dream big. With plans to take the UK by storm, as well as the US, jokingly she see a future where she can go to Chris Browns house to chill when’s she bored and have Beyonce sing at her funeral whilst Usher cries at her wedding!
She finds her inspiration from the likes of comic Richard Blackwood and US comedienne Monique. She admires their struggle and how despite their personal issues these comedians still work hard to pursue their dreams, regardless of how bad life gets they still push to do what they love and they are still themselves because what they do hasn’t changed who they are.
Due to her exposure through winning Miss Funny Woman UK (as the youngest participant), her new title has given her a great push. She has landed two major shows scheduled to air in March 2010 on BBC3; One titled ‘Laughter Shock’ and the other ‘Big Babies’ so look out for her on a TV screen near you very soon. Even she admits that in 2010 you’ll get sick and tired of seeing her face because she’ll be everywhere!
In terms of her fellow up and coming comedians, Miss London gives some very wise advice...
“Do you” she says as she encourages others to not listen to negative advice. If you think you are funny try it”.
To be prepared with good material and a lot of confidence as well trying your hardest to make people laugh is the advice she offers her fellow up and coming comics. Don’t listen to people that tell you that you can’t do it, because if she listened to people that said she wasn’t good enough she wouldn’t be where she is now!
She accredits networking sites such as facebook and twitter for a large amount of her current success, she also encourages the use of YouTube to get you name and face out. You need to also get out and network by being at the right parties and at the right events. Miss London told us that if she didn’t have facebook she wouldn’t have bookings, therefore stressing the importance of both these sites for any up and coming entertainer in any field. So if that includes you, you better sign up guys!
There is a lot more in store for Miss London with great aspirations she working towards crossing over and going global as she sees herself as doing more than staying on just the black circuit. She has hopes of branching out to performing at the Apollo, saying “I want to be able to say I’ve done that and I’m proud of myself for doing that”. London wants to lay down tracks so others can follow and really put the UK on the map. She’s also working on projects which she wasn’t able to discuss so watch this space because she’s not letting anyone or anything get in her way. She’s on a roll!
Inspirational Quote of the Week:
“Don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can’t be, do you to the best of your ability”- Miss London
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