Anna Thomas

Written by: Si Hawkins
Published: Friday 15th April 2022

As we meander towards mid-April the British comedy world turns its attention to Wales, and the much-loved Machynlleth Comedy Festival, rounding out the month by bringing another lush line-up to a lovely market town in Montgomeryshire. This year's best show title? That'll be the new work in progress from Anna Thomas - and we'll let her tell it a little later on.

Before Mach Fest, last year's BBC New Comedy Award winner is back on the iPlayer. A few weeks ago she appeared in the pilot of What Just Happened? a gloriously Welsh BBC panel show, with quizmistress Kiri Pritchard-McLean, plus Priya Hall, Leroy Brito and Robin Morgan.

"It was so surreal and lovely doing What Just Happened?" says Thomas. "My face was flat-out aching by the end of filming it because I'd been laughing like a bog rat all show. Felt dead privileged to have had the chance to be a guest on it, sitting amongst such cracking Welsh comedy greats. It's going to sound well cheesy, right, but I left that evening proper bursting with pride and excitement for comedy in Wales."

It's the place to be. Speaking of cracking titles, Thomas has also begun a new audio adventure: "The podcast, I Don't Usually Find Women Funny But, is basically Harriet Dyer and me being vaguely feral and chatting about whatever we fancy for a certain period of time, one or so times a week," she says. "It's very silly by nature - we just wanted to provide a daft, nonsensical remedy to what can often feel like a very serious world.

"Harriet came up with the title, based on the age-old comment we, and so many other female comedians, get post-gig from well-meaning dingbats."

More after-show antics soon. But first: the bleat goes on.

First gig?

First gig was at the Manchester Frog and Bucket as part of Dave Williams' comedy course showcase. I can't work out in my head how many people were in - the downstairs bit of the room was full, so let's say more than 30 people, less than 1000 people. Who knows? I just know that my mam and a flock of friends were there, and thank goodness, it went alright-ish.

When I first started, I went on the defensive as I assumed I'd get loads of hecklers making sheep noises at me because I'm Welsh and this was in England, so lots of my set was just dead naff, rude sheep jokes. My poor mam having to watch that. Like I didn't really even want to do sheep jokes, I think I just wanted to beat anyone else to the punch.

What's the single favourite gig of your career?

There's been lots of ones I've felt dead lucky to do.

One notable mention was the Swansea heat of the BBC New Comedy Award. I only started doing comedy after I'd moved to England, and it's rare I get a chance to go back down to South Wales, as I live proper up-and-over in the North of England now.

I went to college and that around Swansea, but at that point I hadn't been back home in around eight years, so being back felt dead surreal and lovely, but also I was proper terrified it was going to go naff and that I'd taint the lovely memories that I have of Swansea with one of me dying on my big bum on National TV.

I didn't invite, or really tell, any friends or family it was happening as I was so worried it'd all go wrong and that I'd be bathed in a tsunami of shame, and that I'd be barred from entering Swansea ever again. Luckily, it all went alright and the crowd were dead lush and all was okay.

Plus, right, I got one of the nicest curries I've ever had straight after the gig, so I was proper in my element. Like I can taste it now - korma, rice, the lot. Peng times ten. Flat-out, if I had one of them flying drone camera things on me right now, I'd send it right over to that curry house to collect me a lovely pasanda and a keema naan.

Worst gig?

A gong show - think it was like my third or fourth gig in. Was one of those ones where three random audience members get a card each, and each one holds up their card if they're not enjoying your set. If all three cards are up, you get gonged off.

It was in England and an audience member at the front kept saying to their mate, loud enough that I could hear it, "I don't understand what she's saying? What's she even saying?". I panicked and said something annoying like "yeah I should have subtitles innit".

The audience looked baffled, I saw one card go up, panicked and said "thank you for having me" and went. The room was silent and the MC was like "you're meant to stay up there" but I was long gone, right into the abyss. No one's seen me since.

What's the best thing you've seen on a panel show, ever?

You've probably already had this answer, but as much as he flat-out terrifies me, I've got to go with Mr Blobby on the Big Fat Quiz of the 90s. Bare chaotic, daft and unpredictable.

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

This girl called Anna Thomas. Flat-out rat of a girl. I'd scrap her if she wasn't trained to fight by the people of the sewers. I heard she once folded Conor McGregor like a t-shirt on a River Island table.

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

I can't stop doing this one song about baboons where I sing "purple bums" to the tune of Purple Rain. Like, if I saw someone do it in a club, I probably wouldn't laugh either, right, like the joke is so stupid that it's bordering on annoying. Like what makes it even more annoying is that baboon bums aren't really all that purple, I think they might be blueish and pink and that, but I still can't stop doing the song.

It popped up one day when I was making coffee and just started singing to myself "purple bums" and I haven't looked back since, although judging audience reactions to that joke, maybe I should start doing some looking back. Honestly, if anyone reading this sees me at a gig and I start doing this joke, just allow it, alright. I'm in my purple bum era.

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

Keep getting people asking me if I'm actually Welsh, which is flat-out doing my nut in. One post-gig reaction I quite liked though was I once had someone come up to me and say that they weren't sure if I was meant to be on the stage or if I had just stormed on. Like they thought I'd just helped myself to the stage and that the venue's security just went to themselves "let's just see how this plays out".

Any other interesting plans for 2022?

Some bits and bobs and that! Very excited/ terrified - I'm doing my first ever 'work in progress' at Machynlleth Comedy Festival as part of a split show with the proper lush Toussaint Douglass on 30th April. It's called Berd Theory (Work in Progress) / Anna Doesn't Have a Show Title Yet But Really Wanted To Do Machynlleth So I Don't Know Put That Down I Guess (Work in Progress).

Toussaint's bit is going to be beautiful and witty and I'm going to be flying around like a trifle on a frisbee.

Also doing some tour support things later in the year that I don't know if I can talk about so let's leave it at that so that I sound all dark and mysterious. Could be tour support for the pigeon outside Wilko in Preston for all you know. Another mystery for XOXO Gossip Girl.