Harriet Braine talks about 'niche comedy' interview

'Niche' is not a dirty word insists Harriet Braine, as she sets up her latest science experiment.

The comedian is making forays into very technical territory with her most recent projects but she is embracing the idea of the specialist subject and believes audiences are too.

Fittingly in Braine's case, technology has facilitated the increasing appetite for niche topics among comedy fans. Online streaming services, and the boom of podcasts in particular, mean those who want to get their sillies from science have much greater opportunity to do so.

"It's obviously something that people are voraciously looking for - there seems to be an infinite demand for irreverent looks at technical subjects," says Braine, who is preparing to record the third series of The DesignSpark Podcast, a madcap, melodic journey through the world of tech and engineering. "It's great because it's a very welcoming way to be introduced to subjects - and to also go a lot deeper. I think podcasts have been key to that. You can listen to hours and hours on a specific topic with an interesting enough host. The freeing up of formats has allowed more of that content."

Londoner Braine made her name in musical comedy with her award-winning Total Eclipse Of The Art solo show. But coming on board for the podcast - for which she has written songs about pioneers such as computer scientist Ada Lovelace and actor/inventor Hedy Lamarr - led her to take a new show, Les Admirables, to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last summer. It celebrated the history of women in science and she was admittedly a little surprised, but delighted, to discover it had such an appeal.

"Les Admirables grew out of the second series of the podcast," says Braine. "I had just been thinking about all these amazing scientists. A large number of them, really coincidentally, happened to be women and it really got me wanting to read more and write more about them.

"It resonated with a lot of people. I ended up talking to a lot of women in science or teaching fields who came to the show and wouldn't have come otherwise. It's one of those topics that really grabs people who are in that world because there's not a huge amount of comedy out there specifically for them.

"It didn't exclude everyone else, either, and a lot of people who didn't know anything about any of the women I talked about said, 'Now I appreciate something I didn't know before'."

But the specialism thing has never fazed her. Early on Braine, who went to art college in Edinburgh, was labelled "fairly niche" in a review by Stylist magazine and, loving the non-committal nature of that statement, has used it in her promotional material ever since. "I really like that quote," she says. "It was within a very nice review, I have to say, so I don't want to do them a disservice, but that's a little gem that they gave me early on.

"I really like going down a very specific avenue. I think it helps me write things that are interesting. It gives me an opportunity to be political in a very roundabout way. It's a good vehicle for what I want to express."

In the new series of The DesignSpark Podcast, Braine will vie with fellow comedian Bec Hill as they attempt to get to grips - in their own quirky way - with subjects including smart homes, quantum computing and space tourism under the tutelage of Professor Lucy Rogers, a former judge on cult BBC show Robot Wars.

In Hill, best known for her viral flipchart routines which she recently showcased on The Jonathan Ross Show, Braine feels she has found a like mind. "It struck me that she was also doing - not comedy similar to me - but comedy that seemed to have the same values, in that we try not to offend or use unnecessary crude things," says Braine.

"You can get an easy laugh by being really foul, especially when you are a diminutive well-spoken young lady, but I don't know how much I could do that before it became boring. She doesn't talk about herself much and I don't talk about myself much in our comedy. We look outside ourselves and play with interesting topics."

Playing nice with niche is the formula for Braine - and she is getting the right results.