Adele Cliff is at the Edinburgh Fringe with her second show Undershare. With her sharp one-liners regularly appearing in top jokes of the Fringe lists we talked to Adele about joke writing, why ‘dad jokes’ are unhelpful and the importance of a waterproof and sleep at the Fringe…
Funny Women: Tell us about your show Undershare.
Adele Cliff: My show is all about openness and sharing and why I’m frankly terrible at it and also lions, veganism, Jay Z, my parents, all the fun things! It’s a show I really liked writing and I’m really loving performing it.
FW: You write so many one-liner jokes. How long does it take you to construct an hour of gag-filled comedy?
AC: It takes a while but it’s really about lots of tweaking, I have a few subjects I know I’m planning to cover and a general outline – which I also change as I go – and I slot in jokes as and when I come up with them throughout the previewing process. The nice thing about one-liner jokes is that you can pull them out and replace them without disrupting the flow of the show too much.
FW: You don’t get many women one-liner comics, any idea why that is?
AC: The fact we often refer to them as ‘dad jokes’ probably doesn’t help but it’s a fairly small group of comedians who do one-liners regardless of gender. I think there are a lot more female comedians who could refer to themselves as one-liner acts if they wanted to, the gag rates in so many people’s shows are super high.
FW: You’ve been to the Fringe a few times now, any tips for comics going up for the first time?
AC: Try and be realistic about what you want to get out of the festival and focus on that. See other people’s shows, bring a good waterproof and try to sleep enough. Where possible try and speak to more experienced acts before you go up about your show/venue/time and what other things you’ll be trying to do. I’m always happy to share the tiny pieces of wisdom I’ve gained and most other people are too. Most importantly, remember it’s meant to make you a better comedian and hopefully be fun.
FW: Which women are you hoping to see at the Fringe this year?
AC: I’ll never catch them all but…
Bec Hill, Catherine Bohart, Laura Lexx, Rachel Creeger, Sarah Keyworth, Laura Davis, Louise Atkinson, Helen Bauer, Liza Treyger, London Hughes, Janine Harouni, Sophie Duker, Micky Overman, Katie Pritchard, Isa Bonachera, Maddie Campion, Esther Manito and so many more.
Female comedians are absolutely on fire at the moment
Adele Cliff: Undershare is at Just the Tonic at The Tron at 15:40 until 25th August. For tickets and more information click here!
