Amanda Dwyer is a writer and comedian from Glasgow. Having started out writing comedy scripts and sitcoms, she moved into stand-up comedy. Having performed at the Glasgow Comedy Festival over the last few years, she brings her debut show ‘What You Thinking About?’ to the Fringe. We spoke to Amanda about the show, the showcase ‘Material, Girl’ she hosts with Susan Riddell, and the benefits performing has for her mental health.

First off, can you tell us about, ‘What You Thinking About?’

It’s basically my debut hour, and it’s a kind of culmination of jokes that I’ve been doing since I’ve started. My first ever five minutes is in the show, because I think it kind of starts the show off. It kind of sets the tone. I’m quite dry and deadpan, and it just felt right to keep using it. And I talk quite a bit about mental illness and just some life experiences. I talk about my sisters, my cousin and my partner, and my son. I say I talk about them. I just kind of make fun of them all.

I think the biggest thing about the show is I wanted to start joking about my OCD, because I’ve had really bad OCD, since I was a child, really. But I only kind of realized what it was a couple of years ago when I went to therapy and stuff like that. So it’s talking as well about how I navigate that now, and how bad it was for me back in 2018 when it reached a point where it had completely taken over my life. And so I’m just making fun of that, and I found it quite therapeutic to be honest.

And there’s a part where I talk quite a bit about intrusive thoughts, because most of my OCD is like Pure O [purely obsessional] where I just get really bad intrusive thoughts. So there’s a part where I always ask two people from the audience to write down the worst intrusive thought that they’ve had. And while they’re doing that, I go through mine and explain what mine are. Mine are always much worse than I think they ever imagine they’re going to be. And then once I’ve done mine, I always read out theirs, and it’s mostly a lot less horrifying than mine. And they always think when they’re writing them down, ‘Oh no, I can’t tell you this. I can’t tell you this!’ And then I read them. It seems really silly in comparison.

Were you always looking to get into comedy? Or has the stand-up been some self help with your mental health issues?

I’d say a bit of both. I’d say I did want to try it because I’d started writing comedy like scripts, sitcoms and stuff. That’s what I  first got into, and then I decided to just give stand-up a go. I did one of those ultra comedy courses that’s for, like, Cancer Research, and it went well, and I just thought, ‘I’m just going to keep doing it until I don’t enjoy it anymore.’ And now I’m doing it kind of semi-pro and I’m like, What on earth like? Sometimes I don’t really know how I ended up here. So I wouldn’t say it’s something I always wanted to do. But I do think that it does help a lot when I’m able to make jokes about things that I have found difficult and other people relate to them.

You mentioned that your original five minutes is still in the show. Can you look back and see like how you’ve developed as a comedian and a performer since you wrote that first five minutes?

I’s kind of funny, because I don’t think I’ve changed all that much. I think only my attitude towards it’s changed. I’m a lot more comfortable and confident and enjoying it much more. I’m not as terrified to get up and do it, but I’d say the first five minutes that I did, I’ve only slightly adjusted to make it better, hopefully. But I always knew that I wanted to be quite dry and quite deadpan, so I wouldn’t say my style of performing has changed at all, really, just maybe that I have. I’m a bit more comfortable doing it now and a bit more sure that this is the kind of comedian that I want to be.

Who are your comedy heroes or your inspirations?

I love Maria Bamford. I think she’s so funny. She does quite a bit of material about OCD and intrusive thoughts and that sort of thing. It’s really very different to what I do, but I love it. It’s so funny. I really used to love Amy Schumer as well. She was a big influence for me at the start but I’ve not really seen much of her in recent years. And I love Sarah Silverman. I think she’s brilliant. So they’re the stars, I guess, that I’ve kind of idolized.

But there’s people in the Scottish comedy scene that I used to go and see and I’ve always enjoyed. I love Rosco McClelland. I think he’s just so entertaining. And Elaine Malcolmson. She’s not someone I had seen before I got into stand-up, but once I did see her, I just loved her. She’s quite dry in deadpan as well. So I felt a bit stupid that I didn’t already know who she was, because I was worried that I would look like I was imitating her, if you know what I mean. But yeah, there’s a lot. I mean, I enjoy all kinds of comedy, but they’re my favorite kind go to people to watch.

You’re also hosting the showcase ‘Material, Girl‘ with Susan Riddell. Can you tell us about that? And can you give us a sneak peek of who some of the guests might be?

‘Material, Girl’, I started it myself, like two years ago for the Glasgow Comedy Festival. It started in McChuills, and I just thought, ‘I want to put on an all female lineup’, purely because at the time, I felt like I didn’t get the chance to gig with many other women. Sometimes there would be another woman on the lineup, but a lot of time there wouldn’t be. And I just felt like I didn’t know many women. So I decided to ask women to come to this gig. It went really well, and I thought, ‘I’m just going to make it a monthly thing,’ and it meant I would get to meet more more women in comedy and and it just kind of went from strength to strength.

And we’ve now moved to the the Glasgow Stand. So we do that once a month, last Sunday of every month. And we’re going to do it for the full Fringe run. And we’ve previously had Fern Brady on for our Glasgow Comedy Festival show last year. And we’ve had Susie McCabe and Josie Long and stuff. And for the Fringe this year, we’ve got Alexandra Haddow. We’ve got Zara Gladman, Kim Blythe, we’ve got Josie Long again. We’ve got Laura Davis and Marjolein Robertson. There’s just so many good, funny women in Scotland, and there’s quite a few coming up from down South that we’ve managed to rope in and do that show for us. So, yeah, we’ve got loads.

What are your hopes and expectations for August? What would be a successful Fringe for you?

For me, I think just having an audience every day, because I’m not a well-known performer by any means. So it would be nice just to have an audience every day and just have them laugh at my jokes. Really, I’m trying not to expect too much. I just honestly want to enjoy it. I know people say that it’s really tough going, and I think that’s probably why I’m only doing my show for half the run, really, because we’ve got ‘Material, Girl’ for the whole run, so I didn’t want to do both. So just to have people come in and see it would be great. And I guess it would be nice to just get some… not a following, but to have people come and enjoy the show and want to keep up to date with what I’m what I’m planning to do next. But I’m going to just go in with little to no expectations, so that anything’s, you know, a bonus.

And apart from the two shows, will you be performing elsewhere at the Fringe? Are you doing any showcases or anything like that?

I’m doing a couple shows at the Stand, a couple of the ‘Best of Scottish Comedy’, and I’m doing some of the ‘Roast Battles‘ at Monkey Barrel. And I think I’ve agreed to do a rap battle, and that’s against Chris Thorburn, who’s somebody I’ve previously roasted. So I’m going to have to turn my roast into some sort of rap. I’m allowed to speak the rap, apparently. So that’s good.

Are there any other acts at the Fringe that you would recommend audiences see that might not get as much attention as they should?

I would say Kate Hammer. She’s a friend of mine. She’s Canadian, but she’s lived in Scotland for a couple of years. And I think just because it’s not her home city, she doesn’t have a load of support here. She won’t have, I don’t know, the kind of connections that people who’ve lived in Glasgow or Edinburgh their whole lives would have. I think she’s so funny. She’s absolutely off her head. I’ve not seen her her preview yet, but just her as a person to watch, I just think she’s hilarious. So I would say Kate Hammer and Elaine Malcolmson I mean, I think she has got  fans and stuff. She’s regularly on Breaking the News. But I don’t know, you know how, how well known she is. I think she’s brilliant, and she’s got a really cool show this year. It’s about grief and having a pet reindeer, so I would recommend that as well.

‘What You Thinking About?‘ is at The Stand 4 from Wed 14 to Sun 25 Aug 2024