Lucy Porter is all loved up, which is maybe a little inconvenient, considering her latest show is "a diatribe against romantic love".

The petite comedienne who is on tour explains that her Love-In was originally written while she was still single and "pretty cynical" when it came to all things romantic.

"But then of course I ended up meeting someone," she says ironically.

Still the show must go on so the 35-year-old has adapted her material to suit everyone, from hardened love cynics and self-confessed love addicts to gushy romantics.

Lucy, who currently lives in Primrose Hill, north London, tells me: "I'm trying to be all things to all men - and women, of course.

"It's a show for everyone, but I demonstrate why I think most people are still ambivalent about love and why being in a bad relationship is certainly a lot worse than being in no relationship at all."

Lucy promises plenty of audience participation - "only with willing participants, of course" - as well as the meaning of true love as espoused by everyone from "Dante to the Dalai Lama, from Gandhi to Cagney and Lacey."

Fans of the chatty performer might also learn some quirky things about Lucy during her Love-In revelations.

"For starters, people can find out how I came to accidentally love Stalin," muses Lucy. "They'll also get to meet my imaginary dog, learn how to build a fantastic den and hear a selection of the songs I love to sing around the house.

"I suppose in many ways it's a happy, hippy show. I want people to come out feeling better about themselves and have a laugh about love."

Lucy, who has won several awards for her feel-good humour, first set out on the path to comedy after graduating from Manchester University with a degree in English.

She originally set her sights on becoming a "hard-nosed journalist", but soon landed a job with the Mrs Merton Show as a researcher.

The regular guest on BBC Radio 4's The Personality Test explains: "It was really great fun working on that show. I never wanted to be a performer, but I was getting frustrated that I was writing all this stuff and no-one knew anything about me."

So Lucy began writing her own stand-up material and finally performed her first gig.

"And that was it, I was addicted," says Lucy. "There's nothing like that buzz you get from performing to a live crowd."

The bubbly comedienne adds: "I love comedy because there's such an immediacy about it and such a rush when you make people laugh. Anything else is a poor substitute for a job. Even now I think it's a very nice way to make a living."

Lucy Porter's Love-In is at Finchley Arts Depot on Friday, May 30. Details: 020 8369 5454 or www.artsdepot.co.uk

3:01pm Friday 16th May 2008

Print

Email this