1. BIG ISSUE NORTH 25 - 31 JULY10
Thecomedianandventriloquistontakingthe
plungetogooffscript–andlivinghandtomouth.
Interview:Stuart Holmes
I had thought acting was my true
aspiration but it didn’t really suit me. I
enjoyed the dressing room fun and the
pub after the show more than my own
work as an actress. I think acting is a
true craft, and people who are excellent
at it put a lot of work into it, but I
arrived with a very dilettante attitude.
I think the art form of ventriloquism
appealed to me so much because it
solved a problem from my childhood.
I remember feeling quiet and wishing I
wasn’t. I was shy and scared of getting
things wrong, so it’s no surprise that
I found a liberating mouthpiece with
Monkey that wasn’t me – I didn’t get
into trouble or have to worry about
accountability.
When it came to choosing my first
puppet there was just something about
Monkey’s face that appealed to me. I
don’t find him particularly cute or angry
– he’s wonderfully blank so you can
project all emotions onto him. I like that
he’s not a ventriloquist’s mannequin. I
like that he fits into a handbag and onto
my hand perfectly. It’s not actually even
that he’s a monkey – he could be any
animal. It’s just the look in his eyes and
the personality which comes through
in his face. Every time I’ve asked for
a bespoke puppet I’ve ended up with
something that I can’t talk to, so Monkey
was a happy accident – all of the puppets
that have ever worked for me have been
happy accidents. I am the worst person to
choose what I want. I much prefer chance
to play its part.
I recently found an old Super 8 video
which my cousin had transposed onto
VHS. It had sat on a shelf for years at
my parents’ house. I started watching
really old footage of my childhood which
I hadn’t seen before. Suddenly, I saw
myself coming out of the house as a child
and did a double take – I couldn’t believe
that I had a monkey puppet on my hand!
I didn’t remember having a toy like that
as a child. It really did feel like someone
had unwoven the fabric of time and
reinserted him there. It was astonishing
and put hairs on the back of my neck.
Ken Campbell was the bowstring
of the arrow that catapulted me into
ventriloquism, but he wasn’t alongside
me all the time. He basically said “Try
this, Nina”, so I did, and it suddenly felt
like I was holding the right
pen. I started to discover
a dialogue very quickly. I
had never thought I could
write because completing a
monologue always felt like
self-promotion to me and I
was uneasy with that. I also
had difficulty in making
my statement because I was
forever unsure, whereas I
think that you have to be
malleable. I’ve always shied
away from having strong
opinions, but there was a
duality within the writing
process that really appealed
to me. I didn’t have to make
my bed and lie in it.
When I appeared in Let Me Out by Ken
in 2001, my act was very fresh out of the
box, but there were brief moments whilst
I was rehearsing, or promoting my show,
where I was going off script slightly and
thought: “I’m ready to take this and start
running with it myself.” I can remember
NINACONTI
THE WAY I WORK
You can have had a bad day but you can’t
bring it on stage, even if you think you will
For more people talking aboutThe Way IWork,
go to the Features section of bigissuenorth.com
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2. 1125 - 31 JULY BIG ISSUE NORTH
going on Nicholas Parsons’
talk show during the
Edinburgh Festival that year
without a script. I just took
Monkey, started performing,
and it worked well.
The self-awareness within
my early act was probably self-
consciousness and trying to look
cool whilst doing an art form that
is perceived to not be cool. I now think
that this self-awareness has grown into
something more genuine as I’ve gained
knowledge about myself and other people
but, back then, I would just insult myself
before anyone else could.
When I worked with Christopher
Guest we improvised, but what he does
didn’t seem like improv comedy. He
just gets people to talk through a scene,
and the people he works with aren’t
necessarily known for their improv, so it
really opened that door with great ease.
You think: “Oh, is that all it is? It’s just
talking and I can do that.” You’re not
expected to riff an incredible stream of
consciousness. It was just chatting, which
made it seem really easy, so even though I
do a long show every night with no script
now, I don’t think of it as improv.
I did a show called Talk To The Hand,
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3. BIG ISSUE NORTH 25 - 31 JULY12
which was my first involving members
of the audience. I used to fear asking too
much of people and be really nervous.
I felt this huge weight of responsibility,
but I don’t feel that at all now – it feels
easy, but it’s been a very gradual process.
I think it’s really bad if I have an idea
that I try to enforce on someone. It’s
never as funny as being empty-headed
and narrating in the moment. Hopefully
I’m feeling completely like the person on
stage and channelling what they would
say. If there’s anything in my head about
where things are going next then alarm
bells start to ring. You don’t want to hear
that voice as it gets in the way.
I find performing comedy therapeutic
because you can have had a really bad
day, or have received some bad news, but
you can’t bring it on stage, even if you
think you will. You can’t continue to feel
hot in a cold swimming pool. There’s
just something that happens whilst
performing – be it the adrenaline rush or
the immediacy – that wipes everything
clean.
My family life is very elastic and
I’m lucky in that way. It’s quite easy
to blend my work with my home
life – ideas can happen anywhere. I
manage to drop off and pick up my
two children most days at the school.
My youngest child is young enough
that I can just take him to work if I
need to. He’s actually keen to be
on stage and wants to do a show. I
would love to do a show with him
but that feels like bad parenting! I can
feel disapproval from all corners, but
he wants to, and I want to, so why
can’t we?
I just want my children to find their
way and I think my job is to not get in the
way of that. If you really follow what you
find fun, I like to think that can end up
being the thing that makes you money. I
don’t know if that’s the case – it’s quite
an optimistic outlook – but I hope there’s
some truth in it. I feel very lucky about
that all the time. n
Nina Conti plays on the Pavilion Stage
at Lytham Festival on 1 August (lytham-
festival.com). This precedes a national
tour, including Buxton on 21 October,
Blackburn on 22 October, Salford on
23 October, York on 24 October, Stoke on
Trent on 5 November and Newcastle on
19 November (ninaconti.net)
All of the puppets that have ever worked
for me have been happy accidents
BIN1142_10,11,12 (nina conti).indd 12 21/07/2016 18:15