Maisie Adam on the move: The effortlessly relatable comedian talks self-expression, the ‘brilliant’ Brighton comedy scene and the thrill of headlining the Dome.
Since winning So, You Think You’re Funny? in 2017, Brighton-based Maisie Adam has fast risen the ranks of the UK comedy circuit and last year emerged from her series of Taskmaster victorious. Discover caught up with the down-to-earth comedian as she readied herself for her upcoming UK tour Whatsherface?, which calls in at the Dome for the Brighton Comedy Festival on October 21.
Following a recent move across town to Hove, Maisie Adam is still surrounded by boxes. “We’re getting there,” she says. “Just putting stuff up on the walls helps.” The new home she shares with her husband Mike required some TLC, so the pair moved in with Maisie’s parents, Jill and Phil, for six months while they were doing it up. And it provided her with a wealth of material for her upcoming full-length show Whatsherface?, which began its extensive UK run on September 17.
“Living with your parents as two grown adults is a very specific experience,” she says. “Let’s just say it’s provided us with a lot of laughs but also a lot of learning curves. It inspired quite a bit of the show.”
It was her mum, Maisie says, who taught her to express herself through her style and embrace the mod scene. “I’ve been lucky enough to grow up with a mum who was a punk and still has that sense of identity. Having a mum who looked very different to all the other mums in the playground made me feel quite comfortable and confident to explore a sense of expression tied to the music that you’re into. That’s never felt like a big deal and I’m really happy about that. It consistently used to blow my mind when I had my Chelsea haircut. So many interviewers used to be like, ‘So, talk us through the haircut,’ and you’re like, ‘I just like the style. That’s it. It’s the same reason as you put on that top today. I don’t know what you want me to say.’”
“I’ve always just felt that it was a cool thing to explore and mod culture is so tied to giving a shit about how you look. There was a brilliant exhibition on it at the Brighton Museum a few months ago – that Mary Quant kind of style and the shapes of the tailoring I really like. I really like the music – I just like anything that you can dance to and that feels naturally quite cool.”
Brighton bound
Naturally, a move to Brighton eight years ago offered plenty of mod fodder. She grins as she talks about the Brighton Mod Weekender: “I love it. I always like to go down to the seafront and see all the scooters and stuff.”
Having access to shops like Brighton’s own Mod Father in the North Laine was also a big deal, having grown up in a rural village near Harrogate where clothes of that ilk were virtually non-existent and “everybody looked the same”. Brighton’s individuality is something she holds close: “Part of what I loved about Brighton was – and it does get celebrated all the time, but I think it’s so important – not a lot of people get to grow up and have that around them; a freedom to express yourself individually, however you like.”
Brighton also offered Maisie a “brilliant” comedy scene in which to embed herself. “I love the variety we’ve got,” she says, listing venues like Komedia and The Caroline of Brunswick, known for its stellar lineup of comedy previews in a deliciously dark upstairs room. “It just feels like you’re in this lovely big comedy bubble and it’s your little secret that night. It’s got the intimacy that you want from a comedy gig, but also a sense of occasion.”
Brighton comedy audiences, she says, also offer something different: “If you gig in London, it gets very similar very quickly, and I like that Brighton has always got something up its sleeve. I think there’s a reason that comedians are drawn down here.”
Effortlessly relatable
Maisie’s stand-up shows feel familiar in a comforting way, as she cheerfully relays anecdotes about thirtysomething life, finding the absurd in the everyday.
“I always try to write a show that can feel relatable, even if you’ve not had those specific experiences,” she says. “Lee Mack said it’s our job to make the ordinary extraordinary, so hopefully that’s what I’ve achieved.”
Headlining the Dome with Whatsherface? as part of the Brighton Comedy Festival lineup is something of a tour highlight for Maisie. “It’s such an impressive room to watch something in, let alone be there on stage with your own show. I’ve never done that before, so it’s going to be quite special,” she says. “It’s one of the biggest rooms on the tour – up there with Leeds and a couple of others – but what a room!
“I’ve seen so much stuff at the Dome over the years from music to comedy, all sorts,” she says, listing Self Esteem, Dionne Warwick, James Acaster and Sara Pascoe. “I’m buzzing to be part of that group of people who have stepped on that stage.”
Whasherface? | @Brighton Dome Wed Oct 21 19:30
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