Emily Atack: instant stand-up?

Emily Atack, who came second in this year's I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here, has decided to be a stand-up comedian.

As far as I know, she has no experience of stand-up comedy apart from watching other people do it and deciding it can't be all that difficult. Accordingly, she's setting off on a stand-up comedy tour in April 2019.

At any other time in British history, she would be absolutely guaranteed to die on her arse every night of the tour but, even without experience or proven talent and even though she's unable to make up for those shortcomings with ethnicity or disability, such is the country's current obsession with celebrity that, having almost won I'm A Celebrity and in the process come across as quite a nice girl, I have a feeling she might do quite well.

The fact that she looks attractive with make-up on and has big tits will do her no harm either.

I wish her all the luck in the world although she probably won't need it in a world where even next door's cat could carve out a career in stand-up comedy, especially if it had lost its meow.

Quote: Rood Eye @ 12th December 2018, 1:27 PM

Emily Atack, who came second in this year's I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here, has decided to be a stand-up comedian.

As far as I know, she has no experience of stand-up comedy apart from watching other people do it and deciding it can't be all that difficult. Accordingly, she's setting off on a stand-up comedy tour in April 2019.

The fact that she looks attractive with make-up on and has big tits will do her no harm either.

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Her Mum is impressionist Kate Robbins. And her cousin once removed Paul McQuirkly (sp?) might have some experience performing to an audience? Not sure about her tits being big.

Quote: Paul Wimsett @ 12th December 2018, 4:31 PM

Not sure about her tits being big.

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I haven't actually seen them myself but, in The Inbetweeners, she played a character known as Charlotte Big Jugs - and she's put on weight since those days.

Her knockers certainly do seem a lot bigger in The Inbetweeners and worthy of her nickname.

Quote: Rood Eye @ 12th December 2018, 1:27 PM

she looks attractive with make-up on

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But yeah, it's not the only case like this. He had a career before it, but Joel Dommett got a lot more popular after being in I'm A Celebrity. Recently a YouTuber was on Ricky Gervais's radio show talking about how he was going into stand-up. It looks like there's lots of different, new routes into it. To be fair, I don't think Gervais had been a stand-up before The Office.

There's never been a better time to start a career in stand-up comedy, simply because it's almost impossible to fail unless you're male, white, middle/upper class, able-bodied, able minded and talentless.

If, on the other hand, you are a member of any group of people that has traditionally been oppressed, today's audiences are more likely than ever before in history to give you the easiest possible time while you're up on that stage trying to be funny.

Clearly, talent is a huge advantage but even if your comedy talents are next door to non-existent, you stand a better chance of succeeding as a stand-up today than at any previous time in history because today's audiences are more reluctant than audiences in any previous age to let you know you're not as good as they hoped you were going to be.

I mean, nobody likes a bully - right?

And nobody wants to upset a woman, or a non-Caucasian, or a non-Christian or somebody who isn't able-bodied or able-minded or someone who's gay or someone who's had a very hard time in life - right?

Jack Whitehall must be absolutely bloody marvellous to get as far as he has.

Well done, Jack!

Surely this belongs in a Jack Whitehall thread?

Quote: Paul Wimsett @ 12th December 2018, 10:55 PM

Surely this belongs in a Jack Whitehall thread?

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That's actually a very good suggestion!

Having said that, Jack is already hugely successful and probably doesn't give a toss what I or most other people think of him. Emily, in stark contrast, is about to take her first teetering steps onto the comedy stage without a single atom of experience behind her and given that she has hitherto demonstrated not a single atom of comedic ability, it will be interesting to see whether audiences in this most forgiving of times are, by their forgiveness of her trespasses, going to encourage her to continue in stand-up when next year's tour comes to an end.

Thousands of would-be stand-up comedians all over Britain will be watching her progress and gauging their own chances of success by comparing their own talent with hers.

Some of those people might very well be reading this thread and be encouraged.

Well she was very naturally funny in the jungle, of course that may mean nothing onstage. Being related to Kate and Ted Robbins might have given her a bit of an inkling about comedy. Didn't Ricky Gervais pretty much go straight to big theatres with The Office? Things seem to have worked out pretty much OK for him

A couple of people have mentioned Ricky Gervais as someone who appears to have stepped onto the comedy stage with little or no previous experience of stand-up and done wonderfully well for himself but, before coming to the world's attention in The Office, he'd had some years of experience writing comedy and also appearing before audiences as himself on stage, on radio and on TV.

Apart from her stint in the jungle, I don't think Emily has any experience of appearing before an audience as herself, much less being sufficiently funny as herself for sufficiently long that a paying audience feels they've had their money's worth.

Despite her inexperience, however, she might do well in the modern day and age.

I hope she does.

The great thing about stand up is that open mike allows anyone to have a go. You find out instantly if you're any good. Ricky Gervais was innovative, he didn't relying on know rhythms and joke structures so much, he just has funny bones in my opinion. So probably didn't need a run up. Bit like Spike Milligan.

I read that Hancock had to learn comedy timing as his stand up was initially very poor, yet his timing in his sitcom was sublime. If she's announcing a tour in April, I'm guessing she's already tested some of her set. Has she written her own material ?

Quote: Firkin @ 13th December 2018, 4:02 PM

Has she written her own material ?

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I think the material is basically her own as the show is going to comprise anecdotes, impressions and her thoughts on turning thirty. If she's got any sense (which she probably has), it'll be polished up by people who know how to polish things that are traditionally very difficult to polish.

Today's society (particularly the younger end of it) is so obsessed with celebrity that it's not impossible fill a small theatre with people who genuinely believe that anybody "off the telly" must be worth going to see in a live show. On that basis, she's off to a flying start.

As I've said before, she's likeable - and that is a major (almost essential) asset for a would-be stand-up comedian. Her show might be a huge success but, as I've also said before, it's a big step into the unknown.

If her Mum's going to be there then it could be worth going.

I do think charging £20 is too much though, as much as I want her to succeed. When you think people like Kitson only charge £12!