Hatty Ashdown

Screaming with Laughter - Interview with Hatty Ashdown

If youre a new parent or your BFF now has a small baby in tow but you still want your comedy fix, then you should head down to Screaming with Laughter every third Saturday of the month - it's a lunchtime comedy club specially designed for new parents who can bring their babies with them. Screaming with Laughter at the Poplar Union is run by Hatty Ashdown, comedian, writer, radio presenter and mum, our editor Kate Stone managed to grab a chat with Hatty to talk about comedy, parenting and how becoming a mother or father can affect your career...

Hatty Ashdown interview

Writer, actor and comedian Hatty Ashdown's debut sitcom, Give Out Girls, takes inspiration from her years of doing promotional work between acting jobs.

It's not good news when a programme moves channels before it even airs but that's exactly what happened to sitcom Give Out Girls. Originally planned to be shown on Sky Living it was transferred to Comedy Central which, after watching episode one, was possibly a better fit. Set in the world of promotions Give Out Girls follows the fortunes of four ladies who work for the Hot Staff company. The only character that the sitcom really spends any time with is 29-year-old Marilyn (Kerry Howard); an unreliable schemer who tries her best to do as little work as possible. Thanks to the fantastic performance by the ever-reliable Howard, Marilyn was the only one of Give Out Girls' characters who didn't feel like a cliché. Marilyn's colleagues are the snide beautiful Kiwi Zoe (Mianda Hennessy), fun-loving Welsh girl Poppy (Cariad Lloyd) and the naive Gemma (former X-Factor contestant Diana Vickers). I'm not sure why Hatty Ashdown and Tony MacMurray thought the world of promotions was such a comic minefield because the scenes where the girls were out on the street didn't yield much laughter. In fact the majority of the jokes in Give Out Girls were incredibly tired and included a ridiculous sexual harassment charge as well as Marilyn mistaking a facial mole for an olive. As she proved in Him and Her, Kerry Howard is a fantastic comic actress and I felt she made a potential two-dimensional character into somebody vaguely realistic. Aside from Howard, only Tracey Ann-Oberman as the girls' powersuit wearing boss made an impression. Although Howard and Oberman tried their best, they couldn't save a sitcom that didn't make me laugh once. Based on the evidence in this episode, Kerry Howard deserves much better and I'm hoping her next project is a programme worthy of her considerable comic talent.

Comedian Hatty Ashdown plumbed her years as a promotions girl for the basis of this new sitcom. Him & Her's Kerry Howard is the hapless Marilyn, perpetually in the bad books of ex-EastEnder Tracy-Ann Oberman, playing her mucky boss Debbie. In an identikit town centre, the team - comprising Cariad Lloyd (the odd one), Miranda Hennessy (bitchy) and The X Factor's Diana Vickers (ditzy) - are sampling new booze Nectarino. Whoever does the best wins a job in Spain with Debbie's tragic underling Steve. It's not awful.

Hatty Ashdown to present Edinburgh Fringe podcasts

Comedian, writer, former PR sort and all-round ace person Hatty Ashdown is to present a new podcast focused on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014.

The Hatty Ashdown three minute interview

Hatty Ashdown is an actor, writer, presenter and stand-up comedian. She's the co- writer of up coming Big Talk sitcom Give Out Girls, to be broadcast later this year. She also loves MC'ing and recently had a successful run co-hosting talent show Star Search at the notorious Bethnal Green Working Men's Club. Martin Walker talks to the all-rounder about her début solo Edinburgh Fringe offering.

Edinburgh Fringe 2014 interview: Hatty Ashdown

In 2012 Hatty Ashdown told Edinburgh audiences all about her upbringing as a 'nan child' in Kent. Now's the time for the rest of the story, including tales of failed jobs, embarrassing siblings and bathroom fashion.

Fringe 2011 comedy: five free shows

Featuring Hatty Ashdown, Jody Kamali, Paul Foot, Norman Lovett and Gadd, Kirk and Winning.