EMMA DUNN chats to grumpy old comedian Jenny Eclair

JENNY Eclair is a grumpy old woman, and she doesn’t care who knows it.

From body odour in lifts to HRT for the menopause – you name it, she’ll rant about it.

The comedian, who has been co-writing the hit stage shows, Grumpy Old Women Live, for nearly 10 years, says complaining comes naturally.

“I’m very experienced. It does tend to blend into real life quite a lot,” she said.

“I was throwing my weight around at the BBC in Salford and I told them their lift smelt of BO. It’s all those smug cyclists cycling to work,” said Jenny, who was speaking on the phone from her bedroom at the Holiday Inn in Manchester.

Jenny is about to embark on the UK tour of the third ever Grumpy Old Women Live show, Fifty Shades of Beige, which will be at the Wyvern Theatre on April 24.

The tours of the other two Grumpy Old Women Live shows were so successful that they were performed across the globe, and the third show has already been sold to New Zealand.

“I didn’t know it would last this long and go so global,” she said.

“Middle aged women traditionally do buy quite a lot of theatre tickets. For them, Grumpy Old Women Live is like seeing themselves on stage. It’s a tailor made show for women who want a reassuring night out.”

And in true grumpy old women fashion, this year’s show will host a whole heap of complaints, observations and sketches.

“There are quite a few master classes in the show. We have one on nagging, a guide to hobbies, what to do with ageing parents, we look at technology and television and we also look at food,” said the 54-year-old.

“We divide the grumpy old woman’s day up into a pie chart made of pie. The biggest chunk is spent on worrying, and then grooming is another chunk.

“The second half is more about who we are, what we are and what we want to me. That’s more about sex, death and relationships.

“For me, I talk about HRT and the menopause, and how I needed some chemicals to help stop me from killing somebody.

“I go on a chocolate rant as well.”

The show also stars Susie Blake (Mrs Brown’s Boys, Coronation Street) and actress and singer Kate Robbins (Where The Heart Is, Casualty).

“Kate has a rant about missing her inner rock chick, and Susie has a rant about women’s magazines,” said Jenny.

Jenny has co-written all three Grumpy Old Women Live shows.

“There are quite big gaps between the shows so you kind of hope that you get a theme,” she said.

“In some respects, the second show, Chin Up Britain, was the easiest to write because we had the recession. We covered saving money, penny pinching ideas, and we also had the Olympics to talk about then.

“This year was harder but once we got the start idea with the pie chart it all started to fall into place.”

Jenny appeared in ITV celebrity diving show, Splash, earlier this year, but was eliminated in the first round.

“It was a hoot. I really enjoyed the live show but sometimes I got fed up doing the training. I was too much of a coward to go any further than five metres,” she said.

“It hurts when you get it wrong. I only got it wrong twice – once you’ve gone wrong you don’t want to do it again.”

 

  • Grumpy Old Women Live, Fifty Shades of Beige, will be at the Wyvern Theatre on April 24. For tickets, which cost £21, call 01793 524481 or visit www.swindontheatres.co.uk.