Sarah Roberts

Written by: Si Hawkins
Published: Friday 7th February 2025

It was the first of times, it was the worst of times.

This time we welcome Sarah Roberts, who is heading out on tour with her debut show Silkworm, an impressively confessional affair that was thoroughly road-tested at last year's Edinburgh Fringe. Six months on, is she still as happy with it?

"I'm really proud of my debut show and I loved performing my favourite jokes everyday during the Fringe," Roberts responds. "And I can't wait to do it again on tour. But I'll be tweaking the show a bit and making the ending bigger and more ridiculous."

"I think I played it a little safe during the Fringe, and my goal for the tour is to be sillier and bigger. I just want to have fun, is that such a crime?"

Not yet. And what else is the London-based comic planning for 2025?

"I've got lots of writing on the go this year, so outside of the tour I'll be putting my head down and doing that. Big things coming! (Hopefully)."

Exciting times. Now, back in time, to a familiar formative place.

First gig?

It was at Comedy Virgins at [London's] Cavendish Arms of course, sometime in Summer 2019. I went with a friend, had two beers before, and said something (I think?) that was vaguely a joke about Tinder being the Just Eat of dating apps.

It went well, surprisingly. I won a tiny trophy for best of the night. I snogged someone in the garden afterwards and then went lording around Stockwell. I thought I was Mick Jagger.

I was working as a writer at a photography magazine at the time, and I handed in my notice the next day. Big mistake. Do not recommend!

Favourite show, ever?

I love doing The Paddock at The Bill Murray, I've met so many incredible comedians there and it's pushed me to try a lot of new stuff. It's hard to say which time has been my favourite, so can I say all Paddocks?

Worst gig?

I think I've blocked a lot of them out. But I did a gig in Mortlake once at a pub, and I read the map wrong on the way and walked through a crematorium in the dark and it was truly terrifying. I got to the gig in a state of fight or flight.

The 'audience' were all eating dinner and did not know a gig was happening, nor did they want one. All of us performed at families who sat in silence eating their chips, giving us dirty looks, and there was a man celebrating his 80th birthday in the corner. During the break, after I went on, a bartender asked him if he was having a nice birthday, and he said "I would be if it wasn't for these awful comedians. I hate them."

Which one person influenced your comedy life most significantly?

Too many to list, but I'd be lost without Rosalie Minnitt and Dom McGovern. The real success is the friends we make along the way :)

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

I won't give him the pleasure of seeing his name here. But I'd encourage everyone to read The Chain by Chimene Suleyman.

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

I have a joke about having a crush that never works for the whole room. Every time I do it, about three girls laugh hysterically and everyone else looks deeply concerned.

I won't do the joke justice here (nor in real life judging by its track record), but it goes something like this: I love having a crush. I just wish it wasn't so hard to tell if you want to have sex with someone or if you want to go back in time and be reincarnated as the twin they ate in the womb so they can absorb you. Those shouldn't be such similar feelings.

Interestingly, writing it down I can see why maybe it doesn't work.

Have you worked on the follow-up show yet? Is this the first fruit of a worm-related trilogy?

I've started working on my next show! It's called Scary Movie 7, and my dear friend Rosalie Minnitt is directing it. It's not worm-related I'm afraid and it's going to be a lot more visual than my first show. I can't wait to try some more experimental stuff! I'll be taking it to festivals in 2026. Although you can see an early preview at The Bill Murray or Pleasance this Spring.

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

I once walked on stage at Comedy Cabin and a very drunk man stood up, knocked over his chair, and shouted, "Fuck this woman!" And walked out. Before I'd even said anything. I was thrown. He tried to come back after I got off stage to watch the rest of the show.

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

I'm trying not to overthink my career and to just focus on making stuff and having fun. I think you can get really stuck in your head otherwise. Sometimes you've gotta remind yourself you're in comedy, not Game of Thrones.

My new year's resolution was to take risks and bomb more on stage. I used to be so scared of it! So I'm just really focusing on bombing more right now.

Sarah Roberts: Silkworm tours the UK from April 10th. Tickets