For years, comedian Harriet Dyer had no idea that she was hard of hearing. It was only during the pandemic, when everybody was wearing a mask, that she realised just how much she’d been relying on reading lips in order to properly understand people.
“Well, I grew up in a family where there was always subtitles on the TV. But whenever we’d carshare to go on holidays or anything like that I’d always find I couldn’t hear what people were saying. And my step kids were always calling me ‘Grandma’ because I could never hear them. Then during covid, when everybody was wearing masks, I found I didn’t know what anyone was saying so I’d be relying on lipreading more than I thought. So I thought. Ah, yes! Hearing! That must be it! So I went to Specsavers, cos they do hearing, too, and even the woman at Specsavers was wearing a mask and I couldn’t hear her and even she started getting arsey with me about my hearing. I was like ‘but I’m here for a hearing test!”
It is immediately apparent upon meeting Harriet why she has found success as a comedian. Firstly, because she’s funny. Secondly, because she seemingly radiates positive energy.
Harriet’s new show Easily Distra…finds her at her whimsical best, and as the title suggests, it may well be a more loosely constructed show than some of her previous efforts, but certainly no less fun.
“It’s a bit chaotic. I’ve done big story shows that are all interconnected in the past, but I’ve called this show Easily Distracted so it gives me an excuse to go off on tangents. It’s more of a collection of silliness really. Which I think is good, because everything’s so serious these days and I think we need more silliness in the world.”
Is it this desire to inject silliness into the world which drives her to be a comedian?
“I just sort of fell into comedy really. When I was in Uni, nobody wanted to do any projects with me because I was always drinking and I was a bit chaotic. Anyway, I ended up at this thing and they said ‘are you here for the stand up assessment?’ And I was like ’What? No!’ But someone said I should get up and tell the story of how I nearly died twice, which is a lot funnier than it sounds. So anyway, I did and it went really well and I made people laugh. And then I liked that these people who hadn’t really liked me before were alright with me afterwards because I’d made them laugh.”
And how has Harriet’s creative process changed over the years?
“I used to type everything up beforehand, but that doesn’t really work. I tend to write ideas in my notes folder. I get a lot of ideas whilst I’m driving, so I’ll be frantically saying ‘Siri!’… But yeah, more recently I’ve been coming up with more stuff on stage. So it depends. It’s difficult because when I first started out I had loads of stories to tell, but now I’ve kind of used up a lot of things that have happened to me.
It’s funny because a woman came up to me and asked me how I came up with something I’d said on stage, and I was like ‘well it happened to me and then I just said it.’ All my stories have some truth to them. Sometimes if they don’t have a natural punchline, I’ll give them a surreal twist. But I like them to have some truth to them.”
Harriet is also a champion of mental health awareness and believes in fighting the stigma that can stem from having mental health issues. She has written extensively about her own neurodiversity in her autobiography, Bipolar Comedian. But does this neurodiversity come in handy as a comedian?
“I think so, yeah. Although, one thing about it is that I struggle to finish things. I’ll be writing something and before I know it I’ve got 30 tabs open and I’m making a roast dinner. But I’ve always read a lot and I think I’ve got a really good imagination. Then again, who’s to say that’s the neurodiversity or if that’s just how I’d be anyway. God knows what I’d do if I wasn’t a comedian though. I’d just have all these mad ideas fizzing around in my head all the time.”
I also wondered if Harriet’s working class background has impacted her career?
“I do think it’s difficult being working class in the arts. When I had lots of different jobs it was hard to then get on a train and go to Hull to do a gig. But then I managed to find a job which was only on weekends and it paid enough that I could have the rest of the week free. So I could do gigs during the week. But obviously if you come from money then you’re able to just sit and write and not have to worry about things like that. I’ve heard about someone in the industry who’s only pretending to be working class. I know someone who thought that working class meant that your parents had jobs. So yeah, I empathise with people who are trying to break in to comedy from a working class background.”
With her recent appearances on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and Live at the Apollo Harriet has firmly established herself as one of the brightest stars in the current comedy landscape, but comedy has been anything but an overnight success story for Harriet. What’s it like to look back on everything she’s accomplished over the years now that her hard work has started to get more recognition?
“I started comedy in 2015. But I’ve only started being able to survive off it in the last five years. People think I’m new, but then people who are on the circuit are like ‘This broad’s been around for years.’ I was scrambling about for five years, and then I’ve had five years where things have been going well. And it’s good because when you get the opportunities, because I’ve been around for a while, I’ve got a backlog of material to draw on and I feel like I’m more prepared than someone who is new to it. So yeah, I’m happy actually. It’s nice when you do something like this and really think about the things you’ve done and you realise that you’re happy with how things are going. Sometimes you’re just too busy living your life to really stop and think about everything you’ve done. I think everyone should do that…unless you’ve had a horrible life. Don’t do it then.”
Harriet Dyer is touring Easily Distra… across the UK from September. Tickets are on sale now.
words Danny Lamb
