Lou is bringing her show No Kissing in The Bingo Hall to a ‘homecoming’ gig at The Granville in Ramsgate on September 19th

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Lou Sanders is one of the hottest properties in UK comedy right now. Having starred in Amazon’s Last One Laughing, Lou is bringing her show No Kissing in The Bingo Hall to a ‘homecoming’ gig at The Granville in Ramsgate on September 19th with Chump’s Comedy. Raised in Broadstairs, her return to live in the area prompted us to have a wee chat.

You’ve just got back from the other side of the world, haven’t you?

Yeah, Costa Rica,

Was that just a holiday?

Yeah, after the tour, my friend came to stay with me for six weeks at Christmas with her family. She lives in Costa Rica, so she said come stay with me and bring some friends. And I did. That sounds like I’m on holiday all the time, doesn’t it? But I tell you, I haven’t had one for a while.

You’ve got so much going on at the moment and have done for the past wee while. Is it difficult to juggle it, or is it like a pleasure?

Before I was on TV much, when my more successful friends would moan about being busy, I thought ‘Shut up!’. I got really annoyed. I was like ‘My god, you’re doing what I want to do’, but I didn’t say that. I just thought it inside. Then, just before I went away, I had a very busy week and I had to write different things and plan different things and remember things - I find it hard to remember things. But then I did them all and I felt so happy that I’d had a busy week. This is what I like about my career, is that it’s up and down. Sometimes you can lie in bed for the whole day and then you’ll have the most intense week of your life. I think that’s what I enjoy.

Do you get that sort of guilt anxiety when you’re not having a busy week?

Yeah, I do, actually. And that’s where the holiday came at a good time because, as I couldn’t have worked harder before the holidays, then I was like I can really enjoy this. But I did do a bit of work on holiday. I think when you’re self-employed, the work gets addictive. You know, I do love doing my work, so it doesn’t feel like work.

The reason we’re talking is because you’re coming to the The Granville Theatre in Ramsgate in September with Chumps Comedy and your show No Kissing in The Bingo Hall. What’s all that about?

The first half is very loose. I get some people up on a sofa and it’s like a chat show. And then the second half is like a written show about ageing. And trying to have a laugh.

How’s that gone because working with real-life humans can be dangerous?

Really good, actually. Yeah, there’s only a couple of shows in the whole tour that I thought I didn’t really like. Norwich was one of them, and I got to go back and have a better gig because I did three in Norwich in the end. So now I’m back on good terms with Norwich. But no, the sofa bits have always been quite fun.

So what happens?

I just ask some questions about their life. And people are very funny, actually. And they don’t have to be funny. It’s just interesting, isn’t it? Like talking to people? Everyone’s got a story. One of the gigs I didn’t love, that the energy wasn’t quite right for, there was a girl who came on and I think she worked in a shop or something. And I said “Oh, right, you do anything else?”. And she said “Yeah, I’m also a dominatrix”. And I was like “I think we’ll be discussing that one, actually”.

What’s the significance of the mannequin in the promo shoot?

None at all. You just take what’s available in the studio.

I was reading into that way too much then.

I love that you thought I’ve thought about it that much, but I suppose it goes with ‘image’. And I’m talking about ageing, vanity image, trying to be joyful, you know, not getting negative.

This year, there’s TV, the tour, festivals… is there anything that you really prefer?

This is a cheesy answer, but it is true. I like the mix of it all, when you go from one thing to another. What I’m really interested in is pushing your boundaries. Everything you should do is about experiencing that thing and then becoming better at it.

So in acting, I walked on set and I was, like, by the way, I don’t think I’m very good at acting and I never know my lines and I haven’t acted for about three years. And then it was really fun. And I like that it’s scarier to do than something that I’ve done loads of times. Like QI or something, you’re like ‘Oh, we’ll just have a lovely time because there’s nothing to prep’, which is fantastic because you don’t have to write anything or learn anything.

But it’s good to be able to do it all, especially when things go fallow in one area. Then you’re like ‘Don’t worry, I can, you know, do a voiceover or whatever’. I’ve never done a voiceover in my life, actually.

We saw you in Last One Laughing (LOL) this year, which was a massive hit. It genuinely seemed all you guys had a laugh and quite good camaraderie.

Yeah, it was a good bunch. I think I’d worked with all of them, apart from maybe Bob, but then he said he’d come to see my stand-up one day. And I didn’t know that. I was like ‘Was it any good?’.

There seem to be a lot of comedians gathering in or coming from Kent. Like Joe Wilkinson, obviously, being from Gillingham, and Bob living in west Kent, yourself in Thanet and Harriet Kemsley from Canterbury.

Yeah, that’s mad. I’d never thought about that!

Do you get recognised more now, being down here, having been on Amazon Prime, which is obviously quite massive?

Yeah, I think so because the marketing budget they had for that was insane. Actually, me and Chi [Lucia Keskin] were walking around yesterday and then this guy was like ‘Oh, oh!’. And started, like, pointing at me, but he didn’t know who I was or where he knew me from, but he asked for a picture anyway.

Did you see a significant change in popularity of your tour tickets?

Yeah, I think that LOL did help ticket sales. And then hopefully the people that came enjoyed the show, so they’ll come when I do another show in two years’ time or whatever. But you have to just be completely visible the whole time. You know that my friends do really well in their sales because of Taskmaster. There’s only a couple of shows that really boost it.

Do you feel like that was a peak moment?

I see it as like a booster on the Wi-Fi or something, you know, but it’s a fickle game.

They’re doing series two now, so it was lovely, but you still have to think ‘What about my tour show in two years’ time?’. It’s like when you’re freelance, you’re constantly ‘Yeah, that was nice. Thank you. But what’s next?’. But you do need to stop and have a bit of gratitude and I’m so grateful for that show.

Do you feel pressure to make sure you’re on telly again in the next few months?

I don’t feel pressure in that sense, but you need to pay your mortgage, don’t you? Capitalism, it’s terrible. We need a new system. I flip between thinking I could live out of a van, and then I’m really grateful for my house with a garden.

What was behind the decision to move back to Thanet?

I was looking around at houses and I said to this agent “I need a garden for my boys”. And she said “Well, how old are they?”. And I said “Two”. And she said “Twins?”. And I said “No, cats”. I wanted a garden for my cats and I wanted to live by the sea, really. And my mum is getting older, obviously, as we all are, and so it’s nice to live near her.

Is it weird coming and playing a ‘hometown’ show?

Yeah, it really is. Most of the gigs have gone really well and I’ve been very pleased. They’ve been really, really fun. There’s only been two that I don’t like. But if you do that on your doorstep, you know, it’s a bit awkward if you then see them in Aldi. Who am I kidding? I shop at Waitrose.

Now you have returned to live here, is it a funny thing to see how it has transformed?

Yeah. I was saying to someone the other day Margate is now in the sweet spot. I wanted to live here five years ago and my boyfriend at the time was, like, absolutely no way. But I think it’s been in the sweet spot for a while, where there’s lots of free parking but you can get a vegan roast dinner. If it went too corporate, or tipped over that edge, I might have to move on.

You can’t move away from Thanet again now. You’re a Thanet person.

One day I would like to have a smallholding and look after injured animals and grow loads of produce and stuff. I’ve started in my garden growing veg and that’s, like, step one.

Are you vegan?

Yeah, I’ve been vegan for, um, quite a long time. But the other day I turned up to a shoot and there was nothing vegan, so I just had vegetarian food. So I’m not like the best vegan in the world, but I really do try and I hate not eating vegan food because then you feel claggy afterwards.

It’s the oat milk I really struggle with.

Oh, boo hoo! Yeah, think of the bloody cows! The other day, I went for a run and a swim with my friend and we went to the tidal pool and there were kids collecting crabs. There was a crab in this bucket and it looked really distressed, and no one was looking. So I said “I’m gonna have to free the crab”. And she was like “Please don’t, the kids will be upset”. But the crab was upset. I did free the crab and she sort of ran off embarrassed, but I felt really good about freeing the crab. And then we went for a little swim. I came back - the same crab is in the bucket, they’ve re-caught the crab.

Did you it free again?

No, I couldn’t because people were looking at me then. But then I thought ‘OK, that crab’s a bit dumb for getting caught again’. Come on. And then I had to chat with a boy who’s probably about eight and I said “So are you going to put it back?”. He went “Yeah”. I said “Well, the sooner the better because it’s very distressed. It might have a heart attack. You know they’re sentient beings, don’t you?”. And he went “Yeah”. And I said “OK, good chat”.

I’m just going to Google if crabs can have heart attacks - that’s just how we’re going to end the interview.

Crabs don’t experience heart attacks in the same ways that humans do, but they can suffer from heart failure, particularly when exposed to extreme heat, oxygen deprivation etc. So you did probably save the crab.

I think all animals are sentient beings, really, maybe not molluscs or something, maybe not. I’ll find out.

Well, this has taken a turn, hasn’t it?

Is that a really boring interview? I feel like that’s quite boring. I feel like I’ve been quite boring.

I don’t think talking about saving crabs and heart attacks is boring. We could go down the other route of asking ‘Oh, how did you start out? And what was your first gig?’.

I fucking hate all that because it’s, like, I’ve said it all 200 times.

That’s why ‘cene magazine is award-winning, Lou.

Well, thank you for the opportunity.

No problem.