Lucy Frederick discusses body positivity

Comedian, writer and actor Lucy Frederick chats about our bodies and why we should praise them.

Lucy has finally learnt to celebrate her body rather than just 'accept' it. This vulnerable yet uplifting show is her call to arms - let's join together and stop making ourselves smaller for the comfort of others. If you've ever tried to plan the perfect day, you'll be laughing with recognition, and even if you haven't, we promise you'll be wildly entertained following Lucy's journey to happily-ever-after.

We discussed weddings, Instagram and body positivity with her ahead of her run.

How fun is shopping for a wedding dress?

It's sort of fun. If you like big frocks (and you cannot lie). I laughed a lot when I was shopping for a dress but there wasn't really any of that 'spiritual connection that makes you weep' feeling that I was kind of expecting after watching hours of Say Yes To The Dress.

I had my dress made in the end because I found that the options were pretty limited for fat girls. There are LOADS of dresses out there, but they really did look pretty similar to each other as far as I was concerned. And all the conversations involve words like 'flattering', 'slimming' and 'silhouette' which are just nice ways of saying 'which dress makes you look the thinnest?'. But I'm not thin - I'm fat and no amount of elastic or corsetting is going to hide that. So I found this extraordinarily wonderful lady who made me a dress from a picture that I showed her. She was so kind and talented and in the end, I absolutely loved my wedding dress. I'm wearing it in the poster for my show in fact.

What's the best way to tell a rude sales assistant to push off?

I am extremely poor at this. I am much more likely to say 'oh cool thanks, sorry byeeee' than to tell anyone to push off. But I am getting better at boundaries and taking up space in a more figurative sense so I'd probably say 'No THANK YOU!' in as curt a voice as I could muster and then do some seriously passive aggressive tutting. Or write a stern Trip Advisor review.

Did you ever consider eloping and did you restrict the wedding speeches to a tight five?

I never considered eloping. I've had very few of these traditional social markers in my life and I don't have any family so I wanted a massive, juicy, bombastic wedding. I did meet lots of people who are exponents of the bijou or micro wedding, but they were honestly the most insufferable people - it's like they want to shame you out of wanting a big do with flowers and cake and dancing; and I've spent too long thinking that the things I want are silly or inconvenient so honestly, they can bugger right off.

The speeches were absolutely a tight five - long speeches at a wedding are self-indulgent and dull. Actually most of the speeches at our wedding were extremely moving rather than big laughs. We're not people who go in for sincerity very often, so it was genuinely beautiful that we did at that point.

If aliens judged humanity only by our Instagram content, would they invade or avoid?

If aliens judged humanity by my Instagram account they'd think that small Jack Russell Terriers featured more than perhaps they do. If they judged humanity by Instagram content as a whole I think they'd give earth a right swerve to be honest. It's just millions of people gathered around a proverbial microphone screaming to be heard.

You say body positivity isn't something that just happens, what can we do to start the journey to accepting ourselves?

I definitely feel that body positivity is something you have to continually work at. Doesn't matter what kind of body you have in fact - we live in a society that bombards us with reasons to feel crappy so it's a case of being constantly en guarde.

It's so boring but all the stuff that people tell us is healthy is actually the right thing to do; go for a walk, drink enough water, sleep enough, actively practice gratitude, look after your skin, breathe deeply blah blah. It's never the thing you want to do when you feel like a potato in a nighty but it is helpful. And every day, look in the mirror and tell yourself 'YOU WILL DO'. That helps too.