Alexandra Haddow

Written by: Si Hawkins
Published: Friday 17th January 2025

It was the first of times, it was the worst of times. And this time we welcome Alexandra Haddow, who has just begun her debut tour, with the show Third Party.

The themes: sex and politics, the latter arguably bolder given how volatile that landscape is these days. It launched during the Edinburgh Fringe, as the new UK government settled in, and we did this chat just before Christmas, when a different US president was on the, er, throne. Funny old year.

Keeping the gags fresh is a challenge then, but Haddow is bang up for the whole first-tour experience.

"Oh god yes! I'm excited to be going on the road reviewing hotel pillows all over the country, in between performing a constantly updating Third Party," confirms the London-based comic, whose CV boasts a bunch of diverse writing credits too. "I'm taking a lot of the specific jokes out of it and rewriting all over the shop. Rishi Sunak? Who the hell is that?"

"The only small drawback is all the self-promotion, which goes against every natural instinct I have so please buy tickets quick and then I can shut up about it and get back to looking at memes about the United Healthcare shooter."

Those were the days. Now, let's pop back a decade, and that debut appearance.

First gig?

As is the case with a lot of comics who start in London, my first gig was at Comedy Virgins at The Cavendish Arms in Stockwell. I think it was about 2014, I didn't tell anyone aside from my friend who had made me do it, and my best mate Nat.

Nat took a look at my notes before I went on (I say notes, it was a word-for-word script) and said 'Oh god you're not going to say that are you?!' I nearly fainted from fear. I was terrified I was going to throw up on stage.

I had one large wine before I went on to try and balance the fear and the nerves. I did it, it went OK, and then I didn't do another gig for two and a half years. I sort of thought 'OK I've ticked that off' and then the week after I didn't have a bringer and I bottled it [some gigs require new comics to bring a friend to boost the numbers].

I was sat in the pub and just walked out, I thought 'I can't do this.' And then years later I was so creatively bored at my job that I did another gig to feel alive again. And here we are.

Favourite show, ever?

Ealing Comedy Festival in 2022 has to be up there, lovely Simon who runs Headliners in Chiswick runs it and I was with him when he said he'd booked Dylan Moran for it, I told him how much of a fan I was of him. A week later he called me up and asked if I wanted to MC it.

It was myself, Justin Moorhouse, Neil Delamere, and Dylan Moran headlining. The whole gig was electric from start to finish. I went out on stage and made the joke that I was the only one on that night that nobody knew, and then the first guy I talked to in the crowd said he'd come to see me because he followed me on Twitter. I was buzzing for days after that gig.

Worst gig?

A toss up between a mad one in Aldershot back in the day where it was in the corner of a pub, with no mic, no lighting, and the audience all knew each other and were just heckling each other.

The organiser got up and asked them to stop, and then heckled my friend Jamie (Allerton) when he was on next! It was a Tuesday and me and the other acts got offered coke by a woman as soon as we got off stage. We literally legged it into a cab to the station and I've never been back since.

Either that one or a daytime compilation show at the Fringe a couple of years ago where I was compering to silence and it was supposed to all be clean material, I thought maybe they felt patronised as there were no kids in the audience so I did a joke about circumcision which also died, and then I saw my name on the show notes on the showrunner's laptop and someone had grassed me up for doing a naughty joke.

Which one person influenced your comedy life most significantly?

Probably my friend James Farmer, a writer and comedian himself, who tricked me into doing that first gig at The Cav. Is that influence? I guess it is. He is my comedy influencer. I was doing a little warm up spot on The Last Leg recently and he's a writer on the show now so it sort of felt like I'd come full circle and it was nice to have him there so I wasn't absolutely bricking it beforehand.

And who's the most disagreeable person you've come across in the business?

Haha - quite a well known comedian who whenever I say that I can't stand him, I've yet to have anyone disagree with me. Oh and of course 21Soho for not paying people.

Is there one routine/gag you loved, that audiences inexplicably didn't?

Oh loads! I used to have a bit about how I couldn't believe that as an adult you can just have anything you want for your tea and nobody can stop you. It never worked. And now that I've written that out I sort of see why.

Have you had any good first-tour tips, from fellow comics?

Get train alerts on your phone for when the fares become available so you get them as cheap as possible. It's boring but it'll save you a fortune. Other than that I'm ashamed to say I've started bringing my own teabags for when I stay in hotels because I think the last time any UK hotel got a teabag delivery, according to the taste, was 1987.

On a creative note, don't be afraid to change the show as you go along, and make it bigger and better and more you, that's what your audiences have come for.

Any reviews, heckles or post-gig reactions stick in the mind?

Oooooo heckles, the first gig of the year a couple of years ago where I could tell the crowd were very low energy so I went out very high energy to try and pep them up and a middle aged man shouted 'Slow, down' at me ten seconds in. I was so angry I didn't have a good comeback for it and he derailed the whole gig by chatting whenever I was on until him and his mates got thrown out halfway through.

I got a review from Chortle this year at the Fringe marking me down for doing a joke about Idris Elba being fit because he is 'too obvious a choice.' That's the joke pal.

How do you feel about where your career is at, right now?

I feel good! Honestly I'm just grateful I don't have to work 40 hours a week doing something I don't care about. I love being a comedian, it's a huge privilege to be able to go on tour, be asked to write interesting stuff and essentially be a professional div. I'd never have dreamed this would be my job, let alone that I'd be playing venues like Leicester Square Theatre, so please come otherwise you'll make me sad and you wouldn't want that.

Alexandra Haddow: Third Party is touring now. Tickets