American writer/storyteller/stand-up Sara Barron has written for Vanity Fair, published two essay collections, and has hosted the hit US storytelling show, The Moth. She now lives in the UK and is making her Edinburgh debut with For Worse, in which she skewers her husband, her child, WhatsApp, herself and, notably, a tweenage sex script she wrote way back in 1992. If you've heard her recent chat on Cariad Lloyd's Griefcast podcast you'll know she can talk for America, England and anywhere else that'll have her. She is very witty too. Not for nothing has Jon Ronson called her "the reigning queen of New York’s live storytelling scene".
Sara Barron: For Worse is at Just the Tonic at The Tron from August 2 - 26. Tickets here.
1. What is the last thing you do before you go onstage (apart from check your flies and/or check your knickers aren't sticking out of your skirt and check for spinach between your teeth)?
I’ll take a sip of water, and if I’m lucky enough to have access to a mirror, I’ll check whether or not my hair is in the mood to behave. If she’s not, I’ll try to calm her down.
2. What irritates you?
I don’t enjoy when people go on holiday and then – out of politeness – I say, “I haven’t seen you since the holiday! Tell me all about the holiday!” and they take my question at face value. They actually tell me about the holiday! There is nothing more boring. Also:
Hangnails
Injustice
Chronic lateness pitched as anything other accepted self-absorption
3. What is the most dangerous thing you have ever done?
In 2002 I had some unprotected sex in the East Village of New York with a man I knew not at all, who had pet iguanas (two) roaming free throughout his flat.
4. What is the most stupid thing you have ever done?
Recently, I’ve put a surprising amount of plastic in the microwave.
5. What has surprised you the most during your career in comedy?
How malleable my own taste is. I’ve learned I have to see someone a minimum of three times to take even a vague stab at beginning to develop an informed opinion.
Interview continues here.
