“I’m used to making mistakes!” Harriet Kemsley on how to stop worrying about being cringe

It’s ok to make mistakes! Comedian Harriet Kemsley says her dyspraxia meant she learnt very early on not to take herself too seriously. In this chat with Fearne, live from The Happy Place Festival, Harriet explains how to get through the cringe part where you’re really rubbish at something new, and why it builds resilience for all parts of your life. Harriet also chats about the chaos that comes with co-parenting and dating after divorce, and has the final word on that eye-roll stereotype that men don’t like funny women... If you liked this episode of Happy Place, you might also like: Florence Given https://pod.fo/e/27d879 Joanne McNally https://pod.fo/e/294cdf Joel Dommett https://pod.fo/e/2eb8d0 Child on the line is a three-part documentary podcast series celebrating the Volunteer Counsellors of Childline, and the brave children & young people who contact the helpline service. Listen here: https://www.childonthelinepodcast.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Hi, I'm Natalie Dormer and I'm proud to be an ambassador for Childline. This year, Childline turns 40. To mark it, I've made Child on the Line, a three-part documentary podcast. We hear why children needed a helpline in 1986, how it was built against the odds and the challenges children face today, from abuse and mental health to social media and AI. Search Child on the Line and listen wherever you get your podcasts.

• 0:29Fearne Cotton?

  Hello, a massive welcome to Happy Place with me, Fern Cotton. This is the show that banishes any sense of shame. Today, we're at the Happy Place Festival with Harriet Kemsley.

• 0:39Speaker 02

  In my life, like when I've had shame, if I can then make it into a joke, you have a power over it when you manage to make it funny. It's like, almost like you've kind of, unless you're doing it from a place of pain, it sometimes can feel like you've got to the other side of it. And you can really tell if you've got to the other side of it because people laugh at the joke, and if they don't laugh, it's because they're worried about you. The more you share it, it's like you give a little bit of shame to everybody else. You share the embarrassment out and then it filters and you're not just alone feeling overwhelmed by it.

• 1:07Fearne Cotton?

  Right, this is the first of a bunch of chats that we had at the Happy Place Festival in Gunnersbury that you're going to get to hear over the next few weeks. Now, we were at Gunnersbury Park for the first time this year and it was just amazing. I'm so grateful, I'm still buzzing from the whole thing, it was just, it was just feel-good vibes. All you lot that came were just so bloody lovely and the sun was shining. I mean, I don't want to say it, but if anything, it was too hot. But I'm not going to moan about that because I would rather it be blue skies and gorgeous sunshine than pissing with rain. So, everyone was grinning from ear to ear, I hugged a lot of people, I heard a lot of people's stories. It was just, it was magic, it was pure magic. I feel so...

• 1:53Fearne Cotton?

  Unbelievably lucky, honestly. I just bloody loved it. And the tent that we did these podcasts in was hot. And my thighs were just like, I was like slipping off the chair. It was ridiculous. It was like doing a podcast in a sauna. But we got through it and it was just amazing. And I was so excited to have Harriet on the podcast because I was the hugest fan, am the hugest fan of Last One Laughing, which was an amazing TV show that was on Prime. Everyone kept telling me to watch it. And when that happens, normally I think, oh, bugger off. I don't want to watch something that everyone else is watching. It's annoying to hear about it. But I am so glad I did. I've never laughed so much in my life. At times I was sort of wheezing and had to press pause.

• 2:38Fearne Cotton?

  It's so brilliant. And I didn't actually know too much about Harriet before seeing her on Last One Laughing. But she was just so brilliant on it. So obviously I had to fangirl over Harriet a bit. But we also got into loads of other stuff like co-parenting after divorce. She's very open about her divorce. The incredible power of having female mates to cheerlead you. She's really good friends with Lou Saunders, who was also on Last One Laughing. He's a brilliant comedian. And how to get through that horrible cringe part where you're really bad at something that you've never done before, which I'm not sure many of us are particularly up for normally.

• 3:18Speaker 03

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• 3:49Speaker 04

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• 4:20Speaker 04

  It's time. It's the most wonderful time of the year.

• 4:24Speaker 05

  Halloween!

• 4:28Speaker 05

  And you guys know we don't do Halloween by halves. Full costume, full prosthetics, full commitment. I'm a rat.

• 4:34Speaker 06

  And I'm the chef. It's our Ratatouille special. Ben, we're grabbing our broomsticks for the witches.

• 4:41Speaker 05

  We've got a spooky hotline caller.

• 4:43Speaker 06

  An update from our woman who was in love with the ghost of Prince Albert.

• 4:46Speaker 05

  And your tarot card die levers.

• 4:48Speaker 06

  Listen to our Halloween specials, search for The Girls Bathroom.

• 4:58Fearne Cotton?

  Now, this episode with Harriet is obviously coming to you live from the Happy Place Festival in Gunnersbury Park. Do you want to join us at Tatten Park in just a few weeks' time? We're going to be there at the end of August with more live podcasts, just like this one, as well as so much goodness, like beautiful sound baths and arts and crafts and some live music. Both our Saturday and weekend ticket are now sold out, but there are limited tickets remaining for Sunday, the 31st of August. So nab your tickets now at happyplacefestival.com and I cannot wait to see you there. Right, let's do it. Here's the show.

• 5:55Speaker 02

  Hello. Hi, how are you doing? It's nice to see you. I did a little loop back there.

• 6:02Speaker 02

  It's a bit much, yeah. Our sweat has just met. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I'm good, thank you. It's very nice to be here. Hello.

• 6:11Fearne Cotton?

  It's so great to have you here. I was talking to Josh Widdecombe about you yesterday.

• 6:16Speaker 02

  Oh, God.

• 6:17Fearne Cotton?

  Do you know who he likened you to?

• 6:19Speaker 02

  I dread to think Mr Bean.

• 6:22Fearne Cotton?

  Lana Del Rey. Yes. He said Harriet is very much like Lana. She's her own woman.

• 6:29Speaker 02

  That is not what he says in person. I would say that's really nice.

• 6:34Fearne Cotton?

  It's a great compliment.

• 6:35Speaker 02

  Yeah, that is a great compliment. I'll take that.

• 6:37Fearne Cotton?

  Take it.

• 6:38Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 6:38Fearne Cotton?

  As I said, you were on my favourite show, Last One Laughing. I loved every minute of watching that. Was it a delight to film?

• 6:45Speaker 02

  It was so fun. I mean, it was kind of overwhelming at the beginning because it was like all my comedy heroes. And also, like, I don't know how to speak and not laugh. Like, it's just not a thing I've ever done before. And so I think the first hour is me just trying to run away from people. And like Richard Ayew is literally like chasing me. And so it was a weird kind of like adapting to try and do that because it was, but it was so fun.

• 7:09Fearne Cotton?

  Had you met any, you're obviously friends with Lou, but had you met any of them before?

• 7:12Speaker 02

  Yeah, Lou's a really good friend of mine. But and the others I'd kind of met, like I'd done Richard's show before, but he doesn't give much away.

• 7:20Fearne Cotton?

  No.

• 7:20Speaker 02

  So you could have met Richard before, but you still don't really know what's happening.

• 7:24Fearne Cotton?

  No.

• 7:25Speaker 02

  But yeah, like I didn't know like Bob Mortimer or anything.

• 7:28Fearne Cotton?

  He's a legend.

• 7:28Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 7:29Fearne Cotton?

  And how can you not laugh at Bob Mortimer? It's almost impossible.

• 7:32Speaker 02

  I know, it's like illegal, kind of.

• 7:33Fearne Cotton?

  It's illegal. You went out in fine style, singing Minnie Riperton. It was the best thing ever.

• 7:41Speaker 02

  It was so stressful because they start, like, they started, like Jimmy was like, you have to sing. And then it worked its way around and I was having a mini panic attack because it's my worst nightmare is like to sing on, on TV.

• 7:53Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 7:54Speaker 02

  And I was like, this is, this is what's happening. And then I just lost my mind.

• 7:58Fearne Cotton?

  It's so good. I love singing, but I hate singing in front of people. I can't think of anything worse.

• 8:04Speaker 02

  So you just do it privately?

• 8:05Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah, really go for it in the car, when I'm pottering around the kitchen, like, oh, belt out a tune. But if there's people near me, absolutely, like, if you told me to sing now, there's absolutely no way.

• 8:16Speaker 02

  See, I, when I was eight, um, I once sang in the, in the car to the radio and I finished and my dad went, well, you know, you're not going to be a singer. And that, that stuck, you know, yeah. Yeah. So I think that's the first time I've sung, no.

• 8:29Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah, just a little bit of trauma for your childhood there, the end of your pop career. Um, it was so, so brilliant. I just loved it. As you said, Lou is a mate of yours. She is incredible. I've interviewed her once and I just absolutely love her. You just went to Glastonbury together?

• 8:44Speaker 02

  We did, yeah, we went to Glastonbury. It was, um, we hired a camper van, um, which we tried to get someone to lend us one. And surprisingly, no one would. Um, absolutely nobody. We kept asking people and they were like, uh, no, not for you two.

• 9:00Fearne Cotton?

  Right.

• 9:01Speaker 02

  So we borrowed one from this man called Ian in Salisbury. And I think when he turned up, he was like, oh no, I'm not seeing that van again. Um, and so.

• 9:10Fearne Cotton?

  Well, one of you was driving the van.

• 9:12Speaker 02

  Yeah, Lou drove. The thing is, yeah, we're both bad drivers, but Lou is just confident, but she shouldn't be.

• 9:20Speaker 02

  Well, she did amazingly. She did so well, but it was like, we had to learn like a GCSE in camper vans, basically. Like, there's so much to learn. Like, the prep was just insane.

• 9:28Fearne Cotton?

  Like, what did you learn from that process?

• 9:30Speaker 02

  I just, I learned, um, not to do it.

• 9:32Fearne Cotton?

  Right.

• 9:32Speaker 02

  That's what I learned. Yeah, just don't do it. Just, just is kind of just worth getting a tent, I think. No, it was, it was kind of lovely. We had our own little beds. And we really got into like van life. Yeah. We were kind of imagining ourselves kind of.

• 9:45Fearne Cotton?

  Thelma and Louise?

• 9:45Speaker 02

  Yeah, travelling the globe in our van. Yeah.

• 9:48Fearne Cotton?

  I think of.

• 9:50Fearne Cotton?

  I think a van is better. The problem for me with tents is the brightness in the morning.

• 9:54Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 9:55Fearne Cotton?

  Four in the morning, you're awake.

• 9:56Speaker 02

  This is the issue. I went to Benicasim with a friend years ago when we were like 21 and she's American, so she's quite complainy. And every morning that we'd be woken up at like 5am by the tent, you'd just go, and it was just the air would have left the tent and then we'd have to leave. And then there's just no air conditioning in Spain and she just couldn't understand it. And so there was no shelter from the sun. And so we'd just go and stand in the sea. Like, I've just got this picture of her looking so sad in the sea. And then we'd go and drink and the pattern would repeat.

• 10:26Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah, it's very much a cyclical scenario that, isn't it? But van life, a-okay.

• 10:31Speaker 02

  Van life, yeah, me and Lou, we're gonna hit the road. No one wants that.

• 10:36Fearne Cotton?

  I do. I'm massively here for that. You've had quite the year this year. Would you say the most hectic yet?

• 10:43Speaker 02

  Definitely the most hectic yet. Yeah, it's all been a bit confusing. Like, I'm quite slow to like cotton on to things. So yeah, it's all been a bit confusing, but very nice.

• 10:52Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah. I mean, you've had, yeah, you've had obviously Last One Laughing, you've been touring, doing all of these big shows. Does it feel overwhelming at any point?

• 11:01Speaker 02

  Yeah, a little bit. I think I've been doing stand-up for such a long time now that it's quite funny when people are like, "Oh, you're the new up and comer?" And you're like, "I've been doing this for 15 years." You know, you can't really get away with that anymore. But yeah, it's really lovely. I just feel very grateful, yeah.

• 11:20Fearne Cotton?

  And you're a single mum. How are you juggling sort of kid life with late night gigs and everything going on?

• 11:27Speaker 02

  It is, I would say, fucking chaos.

• 11:29Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 11:30Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's complete chaos. I have a row of babysitters that are amazing, that some of them we've had like right from the start. But every night, it's different. And her dad is a comic as well, so we both often are out in the evenings. And so it's, so even though, I mean, I wouldn't necessarily recommend this, but we have to see each other like multiple times a week. And so we just have to park any personal issues with each other and then just like pass it back and forth. And it means we're very involved and we try and take it where we can and but yeah, the the juggle of it is is insane.

• 12:07Fearne Cotton?

  Because also, being a stand-up, you're working at night.

• 12:10Speaker 02

  And they don't have nursery at night.

• 12:12Fearne Cotton?

  No, that's a shame.

• 12:14Speaker 02

  That is a real shame. Someone's really, yeah, really made a mistake there.

• 12:18Fearne Cotton?

  Right.

• 12:20Speaker 02

  But yeah, my parents are really good and they take her like one weekend a month and so she gets to go and have fun with them. And so they're really supportive and I've got some amazing friends and my sister is great, just stepping in last minute when I've inevitably made a mistake at some point.

• 12:34Fearne Cotton?

  Hmm. And are you good at winding down after a show? Because again, you're on stage, you can feel quite buzzed up by that, but you know, you've got to get to sleep because your kid's going to wake up at probably six in the morning. Are you good at getting to sleep straight away?

• 12:47Speaker 02

  I think now it's more of a necessity, like it used to be that you could kind of stay up. But Mabel's very cute and she kind of wakes up every morning where she goes, mommy, it's morning time. And it's so sweet, but it's just like, let's go.

• 13:01Fearne Cotton?

  Let's go.

• 13:01Speaker 02

  You know, so there's no, there's no, it's like you've got to get to sleep as soon as possible. I think it's hard sometimes when you've been driving for a long time. That's when you do a show and then you drive and then you have to try and switch off and you're like, don't drive into anything, you know, but you're like, I'm back. You know, so your brain's still there.

• 13:18Fearne Cotton?

  It's full on. I mean, you and your ex-husband have been pretty open about divorce. You went on a podcast where you individually talked about the process of divorce and how you're getting through it. Does that feel cathartic, like a helpful thing to be open about it?

• 13:31Speaker 02

  I think, I don't know if we would do that now, but I think it was.

• 13:36Fearne Cotton?

  Is that regret?

• 13:37Speaker 02

  No, it wasn't a regret. It just, when things are clipped up and then put online and all your old friends are seeing it. And that's not necessarily something that you you need necessarily. And so, and so, yeah, I think we both are very open and we both have talked about things the whole time. It's kind of with stand-up, it's kind of how we process stuff.

• 14:00Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 14:00Speaker 02

  But. Yeah, it's not, um, it's not completely straightforward.

• 14:05Fearne Cotton?

  No, of course not.

• 14:06Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 14:06Fearne Cotton?

  And I guess that is, you know, I, if I, if shit hits the fan in my life, I usually end up writing a book about it. And it does feel quite cathartic and also like, oh, there's a book, there's a book that's come out of it. For you, imagining material, you're getting material out of it.

• 14:20Speaker 02

  That's it. I had, um, the year that we divorced was, um, one of the maddest years of my life. And things would happen that would be really bad at the moment, but I'd be like, this is gonna be really fun for other people later. It feels bad right now, but this is, uh, this is for the people, you know, that come to see my shows. Yeah, yeah, they're gonna enjoy laughing at my pain, uh, because this is absurd, yeah.

• 14:41Fearne Cotton?

  No, I think it's a really healthy thing to be chatting about it and also finding the humour in it. Do you, being a stand-up and obviously naturally leaning into humour, have you always had the ability to turn tricky things on their head slightly or to see the funny side?

• 14:56Speaker 02

  I find it really helpful. I think in my life, like when I've had shame, if I can then make it into a joke, you have a power over it. When you manage to make it funny, it's like, almost like you've kind of, unless you're doing it from a place of pain, it, it sometimes can feel like you've got to the other side of it. Um, and I mean, and you can really tell if you've got to the other side of it because people laugh at the joke. And if they don't laugh, it's because they're worried about you.

• 15:21Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 15:21Speaker 02

  You really can tell quite quickly, um, if, if it's, if, if you're through it or not. But yeah, I find it really helpful. I am, I'm dyspraxic and when I was younger, there was a lot of chaos falling over, breaking things. And I think dyspraxics are very good at, um, having a sense of humour and laughing at yourself. And I find it a very, a very helpful thing, I think, to not take yourself too seriously.

• 15:42Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah, I think you're so right, especially with shame, because shame breeds in silence. And if you've got something, you know, ruminating or something you're really worried about, the minute you tell someone, it does just dissipate slightly. Or takes the edge off it, or something that felt maybe mortifying becomes embarrassing, like one degree better.

• 16:00Speaker 02

  The more you share it, it's like you give a little bit of shame to everybody else.

• 16:03Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah, you have my shame. You have it.

• 16:06Speaker 02

  You share the embarrassment out and then it filters and you're not just alone, um, feeling, um, feeling overwhelmed.

• 16:12Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah, without a doubt. You had a show, a big show in London called Everything Always Works Out For Me. Now, this is based on a quote that you and your friends heard. And what did you think when you heard that quote straight away?

• 16:23Speaker 02

  It was something me and my friend Melissa heard. It was on TikTok. Like, I think a lot of teenagers were saying it. They'd be like, "Everything always works out for me." And then they'd be like, "It did, because I got free chips." But we were trying to look at it as a kind of a bigger thing. And it's something me and Lou always say as well. We always try and say, "Everything always works out for me." And when we were in Glastonbury, her phone had broken on the way to Glastonbury. And then we got to Glastonbury and she was like, "I'm gonna go out in Glastonbury and buy an iPhone." And everyone was like, "No, obviously, that's not gonna happen." And everyone was like, "No one's gonna have an iPhone for sale at Glastonbury."

• 17:00Fearne Cotton?

  No.

• 17:01Speaker 02

  And so we left the other bit. And then we walked all around Glastonbury. We couldn't find anything. And then we walked back again. And we were like, "Oh." And then we ran into, someone was walking towards us in my cap, saying, "Everything always works out for me," from my tour show. It was our friend Pete. And he happened to be wearing it. He'd bought it a year before. He appeared out of nowhere, walked towards us, wearing this hat. And then he said, "Oh, where have you been?" We were like, "Oh, we're just looking for an iPhone, but we can't find one." Like, we shouldn't have been looking at Glastonbury. He was like, "My wife Hazel has a spare iPhone."

• 17:27Fearne Cotton?

  What?

• 17:28Speaker 02

  And he had an iPhone. So, "Everything always works out for me," walked towards us.

• 17:31Fearne Cotton?

  That is amazing!

• 17:32Speaker 02

  We have to repeat it, yes.

• 17:34Fearne Cotton?

  We do. Because sometimes, when you hear those affirmation things, obviously, I hear a lot of this stuff. And I interview a lot of people that are like, you know, there's people here doing workshops today on positive affirmation and mindset. And when you're in a good mood, you're like, "Yeah, I'm gonna take over the world. Everything is gonna work out for me." When things are going badly, that is the most annoying thing to hear, like, in the world. That's the last thing you wanna hear. It's the pits.

• 17:58Speaker 02

  Yeah, you wanna try and be positive. But me and Lou always say, whenever we're going anywhere, we go, "Well, if we can't pull here, we can't pull anywhere." But then we don't.

• 18:07Speaker 02

  Sometimes, being positive backfires, yeah.

• 18:11Fearne Cotton?

  So, are you going out as single ladies together?

• 18:13Speaker 02

  No, we've just been on some holidays and stuff. And then, yeah, we always say that. And then we just go to bed early.

• 18:22Fearne Cotton?

  Dating like life, have you been sort of on apps or going on speed dating, is that a thing? Or is that a 90s thing? I'm very out of loop.

• 18:28Speaker 02

  No, we did. Me and, so I have a podcast, it's called Single Ladies in Your Area. Because we missed, me and my friend Amy, Amy Glatter, she's a comedian, she's very funny. We both came out of these kind of decade-long relationships and we'd missed dating apps.

• 18:42Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 18:42Speaker 02

  So in the first episode, Amy set up her Hinge profile, like on the podcast. And then we did go to a speed dating event. But the problem was it became like a slow dating event. I'm not sure what happened, but the first one was 45 minutes.

• 18:55Fearne Cotton?

  Wow.

• 18:56Speaker 02

  That's too long.

• 18:57Fearne Cotton?

  Does that mean it's going well?

• 18:58Speaker 02

  No, it wasn't going well in any way. But it went on and on, it was so long. So we tried speed dating, that was slow dating. But yeah, we're trying lots of different things. And I think for the first year after the divorce, I just kind of, my whole body was just like confused, I think. And I kind of shut down. And I think I also kind of saw myself as like, my identity was like married woman. So it was like, I am prude married woman, you know, like an old Victorian lady. And then it just felt so weird to kind of go out there again and be like, oh no, remember who you were before. Let's not go as far as we were in our early twenties, but let's write it in a bit. But remember who you are, you can still have fun, even though you have a child.

• 19:42Fearne Cotton?

  And how is that, I mean, I've heard you talk about this a bit on the podcast. But being a comedian, being funny, how does that work out in the sort of early days of dating?

• 19:50Speaker 02

  Well, there's this, yeah, there is this rhetoric that like, men don't really like funny women. That it's like a thing that they're off put by. And I'm trying to change the rhetoric by saying that they do, they don't. But I'm trying to change it, but then I keep saying it in these interviews and it really backfires because it becomes the headline. I did this interview with them, with The Independent. And then I was like, you know, they were like, what do you think about dating? Do men like funny women? You know, it can be a thing. And I was like, actually, only insecure men don't like funny women. And my sis, and then I was like, oh, that's going to be the headline. And then my sister read the article and she was like, Harry, it wasn't the headline, it's not in it. And I was like, no, no, no, look at the front page of The Independent. There's a picture of me looking really smug going, only insecure men don't like funny women.

• 20:35Speaker 02

  It's completely humiliating.

• 20:38Fearne Cotton?

  And we've just talked about it again.

• 20:40Speaker 02

  Oh, no, you've done it again, yeah.

• 20:42Fearne Cotton?

  You've done it again, babe. So when things aren't working out brilliantly for you, are you good at coping?

• 20:47Speaker 02

  Um, I, I think so. I think so. I'm quite good at laughing at things, I think. And they do go wrong quite often. So I have experience, I guess, in that way. Um, I get, I think so.

• 21:02Fearne Cotton?

  What about on stage? If things aren't going well on stage, how do you cope?

• 21:05Speaker 02

  Well, it's, the best way to cope is to try and find it funny and then try and connect with them. Because if you're having a fun time, they will. The worst thing is pretending that it's not going badly.

• 21:17Fearne Cotton?

  Oh, right.

• 21:18Speaker 02

  Because then everyone, everyone can see.

• 21:20Fearne Cotton?

  Hmm, that's not fun.

• 21:22Speaker 02

  Yeah, and then you just start speaking quicker and quicker and just kind of being like, let's just get this over with. And everybody's like, yeah.

• 21:29Fearne Cotton?

  It's so hard. You know, we've had many stand-up comedians on the podcast and it's something I'm always so intrigued about. Because it is a tough job, you know, especially when you're starting out and you've got to deal with almost instant rejection of people not really knowing who you are in those early days of doing stand-up. Trying new material for the first time, not knowing if it's going to land or not. And that is a horrible feeling when, especially when you're telling a joke, you want laughter at the end of it. If there isn't any, that, that's bleak.

• 21:57Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's a pretty brutal, people call it an art form, I don't know if it is. Um, but it's a pretty brutal, it's like one of the only things where there's immediate feedback. And so you know if something doesn't work because people don't laugh.

• 22:07Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 22:08Speaker 02

  Um, which is, you know, helpful in some ways.

• 22:11Fearne Cotton?

  Do you think you have to have a thick skin or you cultivate one? No, you do.

• 22:14Speaker 02

  Yeah, I, I think, I know people that have done it, that have found it very hard to deal with the setbacks. I think for me, being dyspraxic helped in that I was used to making mistakes. Um, and I think you just have to be used to getting rejected, which I think then stands you in good stead for dating. I think having a thick skin and not taking things personally is A useful thing for life.

• 22:39Fearne Cotton?

  Are there any areas of your life where that doesn't apply? Because sometimes I could be pretty resilient at work and if I'm, you know, up for a job and it didn't happen or whatever, I can sort of deal with it. But then in my actual life, that doesn't always translate as clearly. Would you say there's bits, you know, parts of your life where you're not as thick skinned or rejection feels a bit stingier?

• 22:59Speaker 02

  I guess with parenting, like making mistakes, that's like, you never want to make a mistake with parenting. And that's been a thing that you definitely, you're more raw, I think, to it.

• 23:11Fearne Cotton?

  But we all do like every day.

• 23:13Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's what's, that's what's tough.

• 23:15Fearne Cotton?

  I do at least like four mistakes every day.

• 23:17Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 23:17Fearne Cotton?

  I mean, as I was just saying before you came out, I let my kids watch Last One Laughing. Is that, I don't know if that's even appropriate. There was some pretty racy things that happened and bad language, but I was like, they're gonna love this.

• 23:27Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 23:28Fearne Cotton?

  And they did. So fun.

• 23:30Speaker 02

  I've heard of, I've heard of children watching it. One said that their child tried to recreate the ping pong ball thing.

• 23:36Fearne Cotton?

  Amazing.

• 23:36Speaker 02

  Which is not that's not.

• 23:37Fearne Cotton?

  So if you haven't seen that, Harriet, could you explain what that is?

• 23:41Speaker 02

  Okay, I set myself up there. I did this, this striptease, I think maybe the least sexy striptease, where I took off a compression sock and some bandages and some plasters. And then I mimed.

• 24:02Fearne Cotton?

  What are the words to describe it?

• 24:04Speaker 02

  Yeah, looking at everyone in the face. I mimed being able to do a popular trick with ping balls coming out of what the Daily Mail has called my nether regions.

• 24:13Fearne Cotton?

  There you go.

• 24:16Fearne Cotton?

  It was so good. It was so good because it was so unexpected. I didn't see it coming. I really didn't. It was great. I've heard you say before that your style of comedy, it's not something that you can make up. You're just, you're, oh, it's a butterfly. It's like we're in a fairy tale. Oh my god.

• 24:32Speaker 02

  Yeah, wow.

• 24:32Fearne Cotton?

  You're just, you're just obviously you. And you have a tendency to overshare in that setting. Is that something you worry about?

• 24:40Speaker 02

  I think definitely now, having Mabel, I'm much more conscious about what I say. Like, I would never want to say anything negative about her. That's something that I, I don't want to have anything in print that then she grows up and she looks on the internet and she's like, my mum said what? I think that would feel bad. And so that's something I'm very conscious about. But I, I just, I just, it's just something I can't help doing.

• 25:04Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 25:04Speaker 02

  It's like a compulsion.

• 25:05Fearne Cotton?

  I'm the same. I overshare when I'm nervous or I'm with someone that's giving me nothing.

• 25:10Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 25:11Fearne Cotton?

  And I then give them too much and then I go to bed and I can't sleep. So I just am in a worry cycle about all the things I said.

• 25:18Speaker 02

  I get that. I think it's just like, I find it, I can, it's a way of connecting. Like I think, I, I find small talk very difficult. I never really know what to say.

• 25:26Fearne Cotton?

  I hate it.

• 25:27Speaker 02

  Yeah, I hate it too. So I'd rather just really go deep.

• 25:30Fearne Cotton?

  Straight away. Yeah, I'm the same. The worst thing is if you go to a wedding and they do the, "I'm gonna mix you up with people you don't know."

• 25:37Speaker 02

  Oh god.

• 25:37Fearne Cotton?

  Because that's gonna be fun.

• 25:38Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 25:38Fearne Cotton?

  And you can make friends with my friends. I don't want to.

• 25:40Speaker 02

  (laughing).

• 25:41Fearne Cotton?

  I've got friends. I, I don't want your friends and I, I, can I go and sit with my friend Ally down there? Because I'll be comfortable down there. It's the worst thing. And then you have to do bullshit small talk for, and weddings are so long. They go on for like a day. And you have to, and it, and I'm the same as you. I'll cut to the bleakest thing that's ever happened to me. Rather than ask them, "Are you going on holiday?" It's the bit.

• 26:04Speaker 02

  They don't like it.

• 26:06Fearne Cotton?

  No.

• 26:06Speaker 02

  They don't like it.

• 26:07Fearne Cotton?

  Maybe that's what we're secretly hoping for, that they'll then just leave.

• 26:10Speaker 02

  Yeah, maybe that's it. It really brings down the wedding, um, I guess.

• 26:14Fearne Cotton?

  It really does. Small talk is the absolute hit.

• 27:05Speaker 04

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• 27:36Speaker 07

  Help I Sexed My Boss is the podcast where manners meets mayhem. I'm William Hanson.

• 27:40Speaker 04

  I'm Jordan North.

• 27:41Speaker 07

  And together we take on the hilarious challenges of modern life.

• 27:45Speaker 06

  William's the arbiter of etiquette.

• 27:47Speaker 07

  And Jordan's the chaotic yin to my perfectly polished yang.

• 27:51Speaker 06

  So if you want laugh out loud stories and brutally honest moments,

• 27:54Speaker 07

  then you'll love Help I Sexed My Boss. Watch and listen every Tuesday and Friday. On YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. Just search Sexed It.

• 28:03Fearne Cotton?

  Be warned, it's a bit rude.

• 28:09Fearne Cotton?

  Doing stand-up is obviously quite a niche career. And it's not something that perhaps you get in your school careers advising session. They say, you should do stand-up. And I've heard you say before that your parents actually kind of prompted you to do it.

• 28:23Speaker 02

  Yeah, I've never met another stand-up still whose parents have suggested it.

• 28:27Fearne Cotton?

  No.

• 28:27Speaker 02

  Everyone else is like, I want my child to be a lawyer or a doctor. And mine are like, I guess stand-up, we've run out of other options. And so, yeah, it was very sweet. They were watching, I thought I wanted to do like acting, like serious acting. But I was getting kind of more and more kind of like comedy roles. And then, and I'd started to do bits of writing and my parents were watching Live at the Apollo one night. And I spoke to my mum the next day and she was like, we think you should try stand-up comedy. And I was like, that's mad. Like no one I knew did stand-up. It wasn't a thing I grew up watching or seeing anyone I knew doing. She was like, no, I think we should do it. And I went out and I just kind of did it secretly for months because it felt so embarrassing to say that I thought that I was funny. And so that's something I do really recommend.

• 29:10Speaker 02

  I think people kind of tell people when they're going to do it. And that's a lot of pressure, I think, just do it. Secretly.

• 29:15Fearne Cotton?

  But how do you go from, your parents have said you should try stand up to then you're on a stage? Like, what's the process of?

• 29:21Speaker 02

  I literally Googled stand up London and this, um, this night came up that you could just apply for. And so I applied for it in like two months and I was like, well, I bet I've got to write a five minute set. Which I didn't really know how to do. But then I started watching, like I, um, started watching some comedy online. I'd seen, um, a few people because I was, um, uh, working front of house at the Lyric in Hammersmith. And they'd started to do a, um, a stand up night every Sun, uh, every Sunday, once a month. Um, every, once a month on a Sunday, you know what I mean? Wait a second, it was once a month on a Sunday.

• 29:57Fearne Cotton?

  That's the one.

• 29:57Speaker 02

  Yeah, last Sunday of the month, um, it was catchy. So, uh, and Sarah Millican had been on and Richard Herring and, um, Tony Law. And I was like, oh, these are, I could kind of start to see people that were maybe a little bit like me, I guess. Um, and, um, yeah, then I, um, I just did it. And as soon as I did it, I was like, this is it, this is the thing.

• 30:17Fearne Cotton?

  Such a terrifying thing to do though.

• 30:19Speaker 02

  I felt sick, I felt sick for days.

• 30:21Fearne Cotton?

  I bet, but you still did it. I think that's always like the interesting point where you've had this idea, it's so terrifying. I reckon 99% of people at that point go, I'll just won't do it or I'll do it next year. And then it never happens. Is that just, would you say in your personality to throw yourself in the deep end and just give things a try?

• 30:40Speaker 02

  Yeah, what is wrong with me? Um, yeah, I think that it, no, it, it definitely is. I always, I've had this, um, motto, I don't know why, since I was young, which is just to do the thing that scares you the most. Um, and it really scared me and, but I think it is a thing I say, like a lot of people say to me, oh, I'd like to try, try stand up. And I say, you just have to book it in and then it's in. It's something about having like a, I'm very kind of, um, accountable to others. And so I did it and then someone offered me a gig from that. And then you get offered another gig and then before you know it, it's too late.

• 31:11Fearne Cotton?

  You're in it, you're doing it.

• 31:12Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 31:13Fearne Cotton?

  I mean, what was that first gig like? You're waiting backstage, you're waiting to go on, you're feeling sick.

• 31:19Speaker 02

  It was, it was just insane. I've never known fear like it. It just was mad. And then I, so for months, I was doing this job where I had to be at my desk at 6am every day and typing up the news. It was like, I got replaced by robots pretty quickly. But you had to type up the news and then, but you were listening to all these like terrible like news things. And then I started stand up at that point. And so I was just like going a bit insane, just listening to bad news and not getting much sleep because I had to be at my desk. And because I didn't tell anyone. I then, when I did eventually tell people I worked with, they were like, oh, we thought you had like a really bad drug problem or something. Because you were just going around talking to yourself. I was just repeating my set.

• 32:01Speaker 02

  And so it was this period of my life when I started stand up that it just, at one point, like my kidneys hurt. I was like, this can't be.

• 32:09Fearne Cotton?

  This can't be good, no.

• 32:10Speaker 02

  This can't be good, yeah.

• 32:11Fearne Cotton?

  But I'm still going to do it anyway.

• 32:12Speaker 02

  But I'm still doing it, yeah.

• 32:13Fearne Cotton?

  I think the thing that puts most people off, like when I've had chats like this, or even just chatting to mates, when you've got an idea, you want to, I don't know, you want to write a book, or you want to change career, you want to try something new. The thing that stops us doing it is the fear of failure. Because that risk is, it's a real risk. It's there. What's your relationship with that like, with knowing that you could fail, it might not work out?

• 32:35Speaker 02

  I think that is, again, it's a good thing with dyspraxia is that you're used to failing so much. It becomes like a thing you're good at. Me and my friend Melissa talked about this as well, though. It's another thing is just like, you have to go through the cringe. Like whenever you start anything, you're bad at it and it's so embarrassing. And to put yourself out there is just so humbling in so many ways. I mean, and so you start stand up and friends come and watch you some nights and it doesn't go well. And they're like. Wow, she's really doing this, you know. Sometimes it goes well and it's just at the beginning, you know, you're not good. You have to, you have to be bad for a bit.

• 33:12Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah, without a doubt. I think that's also a real modern day problem is that we think we're meant to be good at the things straight away. And actually, most things take years and years. I was awful at interviewing for, obviously, I was like 15. I don't know what on earth, I was like interviewing Bewitched, talking utter shite. Or Five, all of the bands of the time. And it takes like hundreds of hours to get good at something and you've just got to stick these things out.

• 33:37Speaker 02

  Yeah, I think what is helpful is I have really low expectations for myself. Always thrilled to be anywhere. This is nice. Thanks for having me, you know, that.

• 33:47Fearne Cotton?

  Have you got a gig that went so badly, you can't forget about it?

• 33:51Speaker 02

  Yep. The, my, possibly the, my least favourite, I did, I talked about it a little bit on Last One Loving, was one in Middlesbrough. I think it was Middlesbrough Town Hall and the audience got into an argument with each other in the middle as to whether they liked me or not.

• 34:06Fearne Cotton?

  Wow.

• 34:06Speaker 02

  And so it was nice that some people were sticking up for me. And the people that did like me, they did win. And so they were like, carry on, keep going. But then I continued and it was like, we don't like you enough, you know, to actually go with this. And then the show finished and I've never been chatted up more in my life. I think this is proof, you know, about men not liking funny women. They were like, oh, look at this poor idiot. I can't get her.

• 34:34Speaker 02

  You have a good gig and then you're like, hello? No one's around. But Middlesbrough, bombing in Middlesbrough, that's where you can fall.

• 34:42Fearne Cotton?

  I mean, are you traumatised, will you go back to Middlesbrough?

• 34:45Speaker 02

  I actually have not been back to Middlesbrough. I guess I need to face it one day.

• 34:50Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah, face your, you like facing your fears.

• 34:52Speaker 02

  There we go.

• 34:52Fearne Cotton?

  Good thing for you.

• 34:53Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 34:54Fearne Cotton?

  Also, the other thing that's really humbling is being a parent. And often you could do something great at work where you feel so chuffed about yourself. Come home and you're instantly humbled and grounded. Does that happen often?

• 35:07Speaker 02

  Oh, it happens, it happens all the time. I think it's incredibly healthy.

• 35:12Speaker 02

  Friends of mine are like, oh, but what do you think about if Mabel listens to this or watches this when she's older? I'm like, she's not gonna care. Like, why? You're not gonna watch your mum.

• 35:21Fearne Cotton?

  No.

• 35:21Speaker 02

  She's not interested in that. And I think it's very healthy. I think especially doing something like this where it's so self indulgent. And you're talking about yourself and you're, I think it's very, it's very good to be brought back down to earth.

• 35:36Fearne Cotton?

  I agree.

• 35:36Speaker 02

  Five times a day.

• 35:37Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah, oh yeah, at least. My, my best one was when my son was about, well, he was maybe eighteen months old or something. I had done this really lovely documentary about Coldplay. They were making that album Ghost Stories. And it was all really gorgeous and quite grand. They're going to these lovely studios and waxing lyrical about all these unusual instruments they were using. And I was really loving it. And I'd interviewed Chris Martin at the end of the day, got home on an absolute high, like just loving the whole day that I've had. And it was bath time when I get in, so I was putting my son in the bath. And as I picked him up, he just shit all over the floor. It was just a tsunami of shit that I had to deal with. And it was like, I'm home. And yeah, I interviewed Chris Martin, but this is my actual life.

• 36:22Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 36:23Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 36:24Speaker 02

  It's mad.

• 36:25Fearne Cotton?

  It is. It's absolutely mad. It's just completely bonkers. What keeps you feeling calm and centered in a job that is hectic hour wise? And also just the relentless nature of now, you know, I think comedy is changing in so many ways because there's not only you doing stand up. There's now social media. It's this huge part of it where you need to be creating your own content and making stuff that draws people into your world.

• 36:51Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's, yeah, there's just, there's a lot of different jobs within it, I think now. But I think that is just what life has kind of become for a lot of people. Like, there's just everything, there's just more that you have to do. I think, I think friends that, I think that's also a good thing about coming through divorce, you know? Like, you realise what good friends you have. And I think I've found like a really good, like, community of women, you know? And that's, that's the most. Amazing thing, um, and it's also making sure that I'm spending enough time with Mabel.

• 37:27Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 37:27Speaker 02

  That's something that you have to kind of make sure that you're doing when things are a bit crazy. It's like, that's something I'm learning is trying to prioritise a little bit and be like, it's, I find it so hard to say no to things. Because you just feel like everything's gonna go away.

• 37:41Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 37:41Speaker 02

  Um, and so that is a, that is a real fear that I have, but you have to, you have to, otherwise.

• 37:46Fearne Cotton?

  I don't think that ever goes. I mean, I, I've absolutely got that. I panic all the time that I just won't have a job next year.

• 37:52Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 37:52Fearne Cotton?

  I don't think that ever leaves you. It's just a constant sort of worry. And it is quite a weird, flimsy job to be in. It's not like, oh, we're, you've got a contract and you're working here for the next four, five years. It's like, you just hope people keep liking what you're doing.

• 38:06Speaker 02

  That is it. I, I do know a lot of men though, that I'm not sure if that applies.

• 38:10Fearne Cotton?

  Right, yeah.

• 38:12Speaker 02

  Yeah, of course, of course people want to.

• 38:14Fearne Cotton?

  Gonna be here forever.

• 38:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, of course.

• 38:15Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah.

• 38:16Speaker 02

  So I, I do think it, it can be a slightly more female skewing.

• 38:20Fearne Cotton?

  I mean, well, the world of comedy is incredibly male-heavy, like there, there are, it's disproportionately male in stand-up world. And, and, you know, we can look back and go, yes, you know, French and Saunders were there and they were doing their thing back in the day, but they were the anomalies. There was really not much else going on. Did you find that when you were certainly on the stand-up circuit, that that bothered you?

• 38:40Speaker 02

  Yeah, definitely. I think, I think it has shifted a bit, but it hasn't shifted enough. But when I started, you would, I hardly ever gigged with other women. It was like they'd put one woman on reluctantly. Because, because they knew they should. Um, but then you never gigged with other women. So, so often the weekends, I'd just be with older men who were all mates. And then I'd just be there and it is kind of lonely, you know, and now the women in comedy, we've got such a good network. There were, um, everyone's kind of really got each other's back. Because I think as well, when you start, you're, you're told that you're each other's kind of enemies. If there's one spot on everything, on every show, then there's only one of you that can get it.

• 39:21Speaker 02

  And that feels horrible. And actually, it's much better if we're a group and it's really nice if we can be together, um. So yeah, I think, I think it has, and also when I, when I used to go on stage, when you're just on with a bunch of men that are quite similar, then when you walk out, I, it was like, I guess like a subconscious thing, but I remember when I, I would walk out on stage sometimes, men would just get up and go to the toilet, because they'd be like, oh, this is the toilet break.

• 39:45Fearne Cotton?

  Wow.

• 39:46Speaker 02

  But it wouldn't even be like a conscious thing, they'd just be like, oh, this isn't going to apply to me, I'll just go to the toilet now. And so you, you're given more of a chance, I think, most places, hopefully.

• 39:59Fearne Cotton?

  Or, but do you then therefore feel like you've got to prove yourself more?

• 40:03Speaker 02

  Yeah, absolutely, because you feel like you can't, you are the, you are the one that has to show them that they should like women, and it's got so much better, but it used to be people coming up to you and saying, oh, you know, like, I am, I don't usually find, um, women funny, but I think. And, and you're like, that is, that is mad, you've never had a funny sister or friend or aunt, like, this is madness, like, the funniest people I know are women, like, this is craziness. Um, and it's often women that would be saying that, it's, it's like hard to get your head around, and I, I think it is happening less. Again, I'm manifesting that, it's happening less.

• 40:38Fearne Cotton?

  It's happening less, but I guess whatever, you know, we all grew up watching a lot of male comedians on TV and sitcoms, or if you were, you know, lucky enough to go to watch a stand-up show, so I guess it's just that's what you're used to, you're used to seeing a man in that role, and now, as you say, we've got this amazing wave of female comics who are doing their thing and just blowing that theory out of the water.

• 40:58Speaker 02

  And hopefully young girls will see that, and then they'll know that that's a thing available to them, I think it's a, a thing where if you grow up watching it, then you're like, oh, that is a, a thing that I could do, whereas it wasn't anything I ever thought that I could do.

• 41:10Fearne Cotton?

  No, of course, oh, it's such a brilliant thing, I love it. So you've got, what's coming up for the rest of the year for you, have you got, you're touring?

• 41:18Speaker 02

  Yeah, I need to, I need, I'm gonna do another show, so I need to do that. And trying to do lots of writing and random bits and yeah, the podcast, so yeah.

• 41:29Fearne Cotton?

  Podcasting is so great. You talking there about female comedians all coming together and other people might pit you against each other or compare you, but actually you've got this really lovely little group that all support each other. I think podcasting's like that. I've made so many mates, like Elizabeth Day and Jamie Lang and Jake Humphrey and Rongan Chatterjee and everyone, you know, anyone could listen to any one of those and you could pick, pit them against each other. But actually it's such a lovely little supportive world where everyone champions each other and it's really lovely.

• 42:01Speaker 02

  I think it's true. I don't know if it's a thing that it's because people, you kind of do it yourself. It's like a thing that you kind of, you're not, you don't need anyone else for it. You can just do it yourself. I don't know if that's a, a reason.

• 42:13Fearne Cotton?

  Well, you can just do, you make up the rules.

• 42:15Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 42:16Fearne Cotton?

  And just say whatever you want. Which is good and bad at times. Well, it's so brilliant. And you've got your daughter here today. You gonna go and check out the kids' area?

• 42:24Speaker 02

  Yeah, we're loving the kids' area. Yeah, she got face painted. It's all go.

• 42:29Fearne Cotton?

  Are you gonna do like a sound bath or something?

• 42:31Speaker 02

  Oh, that would be nice.

• 42:32Fearne Cotton?

  Done one before?

• 42:33Speaker 02

  I, I did, I did do one actually in, in LA and I just got really cross, which I don't know is the right, is the right reaction, but I found it very stressful. So I think that mean, that's probably a sign I need more sound bath.

• 42:46Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah, what was it? Just anger came up?

• 42:48Speaker 02

  Yeah, I was just like, oh god, why is that gonging happening all the time? But that's the, that's the whole thing, isn't it?

• 42:53Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah, that's, that's the whole thing. That's kind, that's why you're there. Well, it's not for everyone. We say this all the time, you know, you might try yoga and think, I absolutely hate this, or you might do a sound bath and think it's a load of old shit. Do you pick the thing that you like doing? That's the whole point, isn't it? I don't like when, like, I don't even like the words wellness or wellbeing, but when it's prescriptive, it's so annoying because you think, oh, I'm meant to be loving this. And when then you don't, you feel like there's a problem with you. You've got to find the thing you like.

• 43:19Speaker 02

  I completely agree. Like yoga, I could never quite get into, but reformer pilates, I love for some reason. I think it's because you're lying down and there's just something that you just move your arms. And legs, I just find it so like it is hard, but there's just something about just being able to lie down like that you're encouraged that that's what you have to do.

• 43:36Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah, you're forced to almost.

• 43:37Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 43:38Fearne Cotton?

  Find your thing, make wellness whatever you want it to be. Well, Harriet, I'm going to end by asking you a question. Actually, did I ask Clarence this morning? I meant to ask everyone. I always forget. There's irony involved because the question is, where is your happy place? We ask everybody this.

• 43:52Speaker 02

  I have like, I have like three.

• 43:54Fearne Cotton?

  You can do three.

• 43:55Speaker 02

  So one is on stage when it's going well and I feel like I'm on myself and now like you're in a flight. One is, I love snowboarding. It's when you're in the mountains and it's snowing, there's just like a kind of flow state, which I think is a bit like stand up when you're kind of in it, like it's this flow state. And then the other one has to be like at home with Mabel and my dog.

• 44:17Fearne Cotton?

  How long do you reckon it took you to get into flow state with your stand up? Because I think that again requires not just natural ability, but hours and hours of practice to feel comfy. Because I, when I do stuff like this, I feel absolutely at home, super, super comfortable. I might have a healthy amount of nerves before I do it, but when I'm in it, I feel really, really relaxed. Whereas there's other things, like if you told me to do stand up, I would feel the most unrelaxed or sing, I would feel terrified. How long did it take you to get to that point?

• 44:46Speaker 02

  I think it just, it just depends. It's not a thing that you have every single gig. And when you get into that flow state, it's amazing. And they were, I'd have flashes of it at the beginning and I'd be like, oh, this is it. And then you'd do one show and you wouldn't quite get it. And so it's, the great thing with stand up that I love is it is a journey. It's a thing you can do for the rest of your life and just keep getting better at. And that's, there's always something that you're working on and you're trying to improve. And that is one of the reasons I think that I, I love it so much. You're never as good as you want to be.

• 45:20Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah, I love that about this. It's just like you just, you can hopefully just keep getting better and better. There's sort of a limitless thing. It's so great. Are there comedians that you look to that you think, oh my God, they are, they're it, they're nailing it. I want that.

• 45:33Speaker 02

  I think Maria Bamford is somebody, I don't know if you've ever seen her, she's an American comic and she's so completely, she's like, kind of very like raw on stage and she's, but she's completely kind of her own thing and her jokes are so funny, they're kind of dark but they're brilliant and she's so funny and unique. So I love her and I love Nate Bargatze, this American comic who's a bit kind of like, he's kind of like a regular guy but he's a bit like offbeat and yeah, he's really funny and he's killing it in America right now.

• 46:03Fearne Cotton?

  Okay, we'll check them out. And my final, final question is, have you ever been hotter than this in your entire life?

• 46:09Speaker 02

  Never. I have sweat in places I didn't know I had. It's madness.

• 46:14Fearne Cotton?

  I don't know if I'm even here anymore.

• 46:17Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 46:17Fearne Cotton?

  Slightly died.

• 46:19Speaker 02

  Yeah, is everyone okay?

• 46:20Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah. They've got fans, they're fine. We haven't, we've got nothing, not even a light breeze. But look, we can go and just, I might go home, get naked and stand in front of a fan, if that's all right with you, if that's okay with you. Harriet, you're an absolute joy, I love you and thank you so much for being at the Happy Place Festival.

• 46:38Speaker 02

  This is so fun, thank you.

• 46:39Fearne Cotton?

  Give that back, Harriet Kemsley! I hope my bum is wet.

• 46:45Speaker 02

  Stay away.

• 46:48Fearne Cotton?

  Oh, I love that. Harriet is just such a good energy to be around. I just loved having her at the festival. She was so chilled, she was so chilled when she arrived, so chilled on stage. It was just brilliant having a chat with her. I've got to go and see her do stand-up, I really do. Oh, and by the way, I mentioned the chat that I just had with Clara at the festival too. You'll be able to hear that next week. Oh, it was so lovely, this chat. Clara is such a legend and you're going to absolutely adore that conversation. That is coming up next week. While I've got you, let me quickly tell you about the book that we're going to be reading in the Happy Place Book Club in August. It's called Namaste Motherfuckers! A Modern Manifesto for Keeping Cool When You're a Hot Mess, which I've never needed more.

• 47:33Fearne Cotton?

  And it's by the brilliant comedian Callie Beaton. Really excited to read it with you lot. So come and join us on Instagram at Happy Place Book Club. We're going to have some great discussions there. And actually, I'm going to be interviewing Callie at the next Happy Place Festival at Tatten Park. So if you're coming along to that, that is going to be a lot of fun. Right, until next time. A massive thanks again to-

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• 48:57Fearne Cotton?

  Hello, this is Susie Ruffel.

• 48:58Speaker 06

  And Maisie Adams.

• 48:59Fearne Cotton?

  And together we host Big Kick Energy. Hey Mais, what is it?

• 49:02Speaker 06

  Only the best podcast ever.

• 49:04Fearne Cotton?

  Yes!

• 49:04Speaker 06

  A comedy entertainment podcast with a focus on all things women's football, all things hilarious, all things friendship. It's a laugh is what it is, Ruffel.

• 49:14Fearne Cotton?

  Yeah, and a fair bit of gossiping too.

• 49:16Speaker 06

  Oh, and a lovely bit of gossip. Chow down on the gossip.

• 49:18Fearne Cotton?

  Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom. You can listen wherever you get your podcasts, just need to search Big Kick Energy.

• 49:24Speaker 06

  Grab a knife and fork and tuck it in, baby.

• 49:29Fearne Cotton?

  Harriet, to the producers of this episode, Anushka Tate and Basil Oxtoby, and to you, you are absolutely brilliant.