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Interviews - Olivia Lee - Part Two
Olivia Lee tells us just what the ecky thumb her Comedy Lab show is all about in the second part of our interview.
Please, for the benefit of the Comedy Lab audience, explain what the show is and what it's all about?
Right, it's a hidden camera show and we've immersed ourselves into the very girly world of glamour, shoes, boys and dating because we felt that hadn't really been done before. So, it's me playing a much crazier version of myself, very self-deprecating, and playing jokes on members of the public - mainly men - which are all very girlie and silly.
It's the whole glamorous world of being single in the city and we've parodied lots of TV shows that you might recognise. We've tried to make the hidden camera set-up like sketches with the public so it's a little ambitious!
It sounds like a sort of feminist version of a Dom Joly offering. Would that be fair to say?
Nothing like that! No, it's much tamer, much friendlier and actually not reminiscent of Balls of Steel at all in the sense that the jokes are on me and I'm being really nice to people for a change and friendly and warm.
It's similar to Trigger Happy TV in the sense that it's hidden camera but that is the only similarity really.
Everything we've shot is on five cameras and it looks very glossy. It doesn't look like a typical hidden-camera show.
In Olivia Lee's Less Naughty Bits you do some pretty mischievous stunts, like you go into a kitchen showroom and pretend that a worker there is your boyfriend...
Exactly, yeah. I exactly do that.
So, how do you get away with these things?
I don't know! I think you just smile really sweetly. Just look really innocent and kind, and people don't expect it. Then you surprise them with doing something outrageous. I think the shock of it makes people laugh usually, rather than want to smack me! I've not been smacked yet so... something to look forward to!
How did the characters in the show come about?
Well, we were just brainstorming and obviously I've got lots of characters that I have been doing for a while and we tried to see which ones would be best fitted to the show, so we've worked them in really.
How much of the show is improvised and how much is pre-written?
We loosely know what targets we want to hit within our scenario so we have an idea of a few comedic beats that we will plan before and then the rest is completely improvised because you never know what reaction you are going to get so you have to be able to improvise in the moment. You very much have to work in the moment.
Throughout your career (what with Balls of Steel, Punk'd and now Olivia Lee's Less Naughty Bits) you've been thrown into some pretty daunting situations - how do you pluck up the courage to pull them off?
I don't get embarrassed. I'm not shy about anything. I'm probably petrifying to men and women alike, but I just go for it and just have fun with it. If it's done in the best possible taste, then you usually get away with it. I've been quite fortunate up until now to get away with it.
Likewise, have you ever refused to take part in a situation that you've been asked to be involved in?
Maybe. I'm not revealing anymore!
Finally, any plans to return to Basil Brush?
If he'll have me, yes!
