Clare Warde

Having just stepped off stage and now sat perched on a pavement in Edinburgh, Clare Warde talks about the ever-so-normal Karen Taylor, Hell's Angels and how office work would kill her.

So Clare, when did you realise you were funny?

I studied at Middlesex University and as a rite of passage you had to do this stand-up gig in the last year. After building myself up for it for ages, I did it and I really enjoyed it. Although saying that it took me three years to have another crack at comedy - I was just too chicken.

Can you remember your first gig?

Yeah, it was in the Purple Turtle and there were all these Hell's Angels in there. I was panicking. But I got up and told my first joke, and they laughed. I was like, wow, I can make Hell's Angels laugh. Looking back my material was horrific and I looked like a nut job, so they were probably laughing more at me, than at what I was saying.

Any bad experiences with audiences?

There was a club on Charing Cross road with about 40 people in it and I stood up and started and... silence. You could have heard a pin drop. But you sort of think, who gives a toss and you have this camaraderie with the other comics and anyway, you start to get a little hysterical which is funny in itself.

What makes you laugh?

Physical comedy. Walking down the road and bumping into a lamppost. It isn't sophisticated, but it is funny.

Who makes you laugh?

People like Paul Foot and Bridget Christie, and the We Are Klang. That sort of clown-esque comedy. When it goes wrong on stage, it's very funny... it's a hoot. There's a fine line - you want your audience to think you're in control, but the vulnerability that it can go wrong can make everything so much funnier. It's brilliant.

Tell us about Touch Me I'm Karen Taylor... was that fun to do?

I know it's boring to say, but really it was. Everyone was just so normal. It was my first real TV job and Karen was just brilliant. I guess because they're all comics, not 'actors', they all understand the stand-up background.

How did it compare to ITV2's Laura, Ben and Him?

That was really fun too. I loved it because I had a supporting role. I like that - reacting to people. It takes the pressure off and you just enjoy it.

How does telly compare with stand-up?

It's different. You just do your thing; everyone is concentrating on doing their own bits. Time is money and so you know you have to go to the studio and do it. And be able to do it over and over again, and then get out.

You're a Libra - are you indecisive about everything?

Errr... yes. Totally indecisive. But I have a way to combat this and it's clever! I just don't deviate. Take Pizza Express or something, I just have the same thing every time. I don't ever try anything different - that would just take too long.

Tell us about the show, what we can expect in Edinburgh?

I've known Jen Brister - who I do the show with - for 14 years and we just take the piss out of each other. The show's all about when we job shared as receptionists in this institution. I can't say which one. It was miserable - we once got inadvertently locked in, so started analysing our lives and the fact they were going nowhere. I'm neurotic and Jen is cynical so I would go round the office being nice to everyone and Jen would just swear. So the show draws on all of this.

We even talk about the female orgasm and likening it to the intricacies of building the Eiffel tower from matches. It's sketches within a show, it isn't female comedy either. We had a bunch of teenage boys in who loved it.

Do you and Jen ever squabble?

Yeah, we nit-pick. We see a chink of weakness in each other and we go for it. But that's because we love each other.

If you weren't in comedy, what would you be doing?

I used to think if I got asked this I could say PR or events but actually I know I couldn't hold down a proper job. I wouldn't be able to handle more than two hours in an office so I would have to say... florist.