Emmy Fyles and Joy Harvey do(n't) like boys

Written by: Nicholas Thompson
Published: Thursday 31st October 2024

We talk to comedians Emmy Fyles and Joy Harvey ahead of their Do(n't) Like Boys gig as part of the Croydonites Fringe Festival.

You have a great pedigree between you, ranging from classic stand-up to burlesque [Joy was the winner of the World Burlesque Games]. Will we be seeing anything from your combined repertoire in your show Do(n't) Like Boys?

Emmy: Hey Nicholas! Thanks for having us. All my previous solo shows have included a PowerPoint element, so I'll be bringing some of that magic to this one. I think it's important for any comedy show that your audience feel like they're at a work seminar.

Joy: Yes, thanks for having us, Nicholas! So I think that we definitely do bring a little bit of cabaret showmanship and pizzazz to the show. We definitely try to make it so it's not just a straight up back-to-back split bill.

We've got some games to try and get the audience feeling like they're involved in the show and a prize for the best audience member.

We like the title Do(n't) Like Boys - it seems like a double negative - is it purposely misleading? Should we like boys? Should we not like boys? If we come and see you will our position on the boy situation be thoroughly rectified?

Emmy: We should probably clarify at this point that the show title is Emmy & Joy Do(n't) Like Boys. The rhyme is important! The brackets in the word 'don't' are a cheeky wink to our audience - we might complain about the boys we've encountered, but we love 'em really. The tagline we've used for the show previously is 'Emmy and Joy don't know why they're single. By the end of the show, you will'.

Joy: The title of the show is meant to be a little bit misleading because, first of all, we're cheeky, and secondly it's not that we actually we don't like boys (and to clarify, in this context we do mean grown men), it's more that both of us are just pretty horrendous at dating and have quite a few stories about how hilariously badly that has gone for us.

We love boys. That's the thing. We like them, as Emmy said; we love them; they just don't like us. I mean, come and see the show and judge for yourself whether you think that our position on the boy situation is the correct one at the end of the show.

Your gig is on a Friday night in Croydon on a Halloween weekend. A time when people in costumes are famous for their good behaviour. What do you have up your sleeves to ensure your work gets the reverence it deserves?

Emmy: Such big words, Nicholas! Love it! As Joy mentioned above, we mostly plan to bribe our audience with prizes. Failing that, I suppose the months and months of diligent joke writing and development and gigging we did in preparation for the show should hopefully stand us in good stead!

Joy: Also, we love Halloween, we'll be bringing a lot of festive spirit with us (no costumes sadly), but our jokes will definitely be a treat!

There are a tremendous amount of talented creatives in the UK - but preconceived ideas of what something will be like can be more damaging than what something is actually like. How do you challenge those preconceptions and ensure that you get to tell the stories that you want to tell on stage?

Emmy: Well... we've all heard the boring rhetoric that 'all women talk about is periods' or, WORSE, 'women aren't funny' so I guess that's the kind of b*ll*cks preconception you deal with as a female comic. Definitely in the past I've made deliberate choices to not talk about trad 'female' issues but the older and more experienced I've become I just think 'sod it!'

Joy: Oh, we won't be talking about our periods. I think the key to breaking down preconceptions, especially on stage as a comedian, is to come on and tell a joke that the audience aren't expecting. Don't go for the obvious.

Would you like to talk about how you both became involved in Croydonites, the festival of new theatre?

Emmy: I've lived in Croydon for the last four years and have thrown myself into the creative scene since being here. I don't think people realise how much cool new comedy, theatre and music happens in the Cronx! I spotted the call out for Croydonites fringe performers on their insta, and now here we are just a few days from show day!

Joy: And Emmy told me about it, and we've both been so excited to be a part of it!

If you could offer some advice to new writers on collaborating and creating some new work what would it be?

Joy: For new writers that are wanting to collaborate and create stuff together. I think obviously one of the important things is to listen to each other. Me and Emmy tend to get stuff done with a bottle of prosecco, which helps as a reward for good work done. I'm not saying like be drunk a whole time, obviously! Have fun with it and be open to have your ideas interpreted in a way that you weren't expecting when they were in your head by the other person, because no one person has the same brain.

I think me and Emmy are lucky enough that we both find each other very funny and have a very similar sense of humour; even if we're not completely aligned with all our ideas, we have a generous flexibility with each other which makes the writing better.

If you have like the same brain, I feel like your creativity would be squashed, made smaller. I feel like different ways of thinking makes the gold. Also another good point is to not be too precious about the ideas that you come up with, because even if they don't get used in whatever you're doing now, you can always bank them in your brain and be like, 'hey, maybe that's something I can use for like another thing, another project I'm working on'. Being too fiercely precious about what you're what you're creating if you're collaborating will only kind of cause drama and I always say, 'drama's my job, not my hobby'.
We want to keep it on stage, not in our lives off stage.

Emmy: What Joy said.

The Chelsea Smile and the Croydon Facelift are both terms for a facial alteration named after a geographical London locations. Do you have any local slang you want to share?

Emmy: I'm not an OG Croydonite so I wouldn't want to culturally appropriate the local slang (also I'd sound like when a politician tries too hard to use 'youth speak' - grim).

Joy: I have nothing. I'm so sorry. Haha.

When you work in a partnership, either writing or performing, you're suddenly able to create a language that is unique to the pair of you. Do you have any examples of working as a cohesive collective rather than individuals? Have you created a strange alien shorthand?

Emmy: Joy and I realised quite early on that neither of us likes bringing negativity into a situation (I believe the phrase people on Instagram would use would be 'good vibes only' - ugh). It's bonkers how quickly we developed our own system of code words that mean we can allude to certain topics with a bit of a cheeky wink to one another as to what we really mean.

Joy: Yeah, just speaking in general we communicate exclusively in shorthand and giggles. Joking aside, there are definitely a few key phrases we share that communicate volumes using just a few words. I feel like that just happens when you work well together, you fall into a rhythm and a shorthand comes out of that naturally.

Are you aware of Croydon Spaceport? (Seriously look this up) If so, do you think that Croydon uniquely merits a location to launch the stars?

Emmy: Errrr...I was NOT aware of this, so thanks for bringing that to my attention. Just one more reason why Croydon is SUPER COOL (even if the story was totally made up). And yes, Croydon is deffo a star launch pad (if you mean 'stars' in the entertainment sense). Do your readers know the Brit school is in Croydon? Just look at their alumni... Adele, Amy Winehouse, DANE BOWERS... need I go on?

Joy: Wait, stop. This is news to me. A Spaceport?! That's pretty amazing. Okay, I just looked it up. That's actually a very funny story. People in the 60s had such a unique sense of humour when it comes to sci-fi. Look it up, people!

West Croydon boasts the London Overground but East Croydon boasts a tram. Which is best?

Emmy: The ginger line has its charms, but as a girl growing up in the north, dazzled by the bright lights of Blackpool by tram, I have to say the latter.

Joy: Definitely the overground, no comparison.

You now have the entire readership of British Comedy Guide at your disposal. Is there anything that we should know?

Joy: Yes, I mean, obviously we'd love everyone to come to our show, but if you can't make it and like what you've seen please do follow us on socials @joyhaharvey and @emmyfyles on all.

Emmy: Especially if you're a lovely single boy.

Emmy and Joy Do(n't) Like Boys is at The Venue on Middle Street in Croydon at 8:45pm on Friday 1st November. Tickets