Harriet Kemsley Takes Edinburgh Show On The Road
Honeysuckle Island is a magical, mystical place in the imagination of an 11-year-old girl who grows up to be successful stand-up comic Harriet Kemsley.
In the midst of gloomy mourning for the Queen her show is a beacon of light and laughter as she launches a national tour that kicked off last week.
Timing is everything in comedy so it was a brave move to go ahead with her gig at the Soho Theatre and put all the pomp and pageantry on hold.
We muscled our way through sodden crowds awaiting the London lying in state to join a jollier throng ready to embrace Harriet’s assured performance, which was a sell out run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Childbirth, contraception, sex, teenage angst, body image all come under her comedic microscope. Vaginas receive special attention.
Her pre-teen self designed Honeysuckle Island. It had waterfalls and zip-lines, wild animals and, bizarrely, a cellulite machine. And, thankfully, no paedophiles.
Now, with the benefit of age, marriage and motherhood, Harriet is taking a long hard squint at the beauty industry through her two remaining false eye lashes. She channels her personal experiences into a hilarious show, sharing anecdotes and jokes on the vicious cycle of beauty enhancement.
While she is beset with insecurities about her body her husband suffers no doubts. She reveals: ‘He has such body confidence. He shouldn’t!’
Harriet get the loudest laughs about her take on motherhood. Her daughter Mabel (a very popular name for dogs and like beauty brand Maybelline) was conceived the day her cat died.
Her first babysitter had poor English. Beset by maternal worry as she embarked on a hen night out Harriet phoned home to check up on Mabel. ‘Is she OK, is she sleeping??’
The reply: ‘Her eyes shut. She don’t move. She angel now,’ did little to reassure. ‘I cried all over the inflatable penis.’ recalls Harriet.
Harriet began her stand-up career in 2011, and within months, won the Funny’s Funny contest. Harriet’s other accolades include the Leicester Mercury New Act of the Year Finalist, Up The Creek New Act of the Year and Leicester Square New Act of the Year Finalist.
Harriet’s television appearances include performing on Live at the Apollo (BBC1, BBC2), as a panellist on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (Channel 4), Hypothetical (Dave), Roast Battle (Comedy Central), Guessable (Comedy Central), As Yet Untitled (Dave), Comedy Central at The Comedy Store and her own show with her husband Bobby & Harriet Get Married (Viceland & Comedy Central). She also hosts a podcast, ‘Why Is Harriet Crying?’ with fellow comedian Sunil Patel. As an actress, she has appeared on both film and TV, including the film Bonobo, and on Channel 4’s Damned and BBC’s Doctor Foster. She also provided the voice of Nashandra, the final boss of the video game Dark Souls II.
Find Harriet on social media for all her latest news and tour dates:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/harrietkemsley
Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/harrietkemsley
TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMLbrKFA1/
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/harrietkemsleycomedy
