She’s THE West End Mum – you know the one who had us all rolling around in our bay windows during lockdown? But poor ‘Aileen’ is also a philanthropist, and now she’s embarking on a crowdfunding appeal for her son Cameron’s gap year. A must see at the Edinburgh Fringe.
By Tracy Mukherjee
There was precious little to laugh about during, what seemed like the 10 YEARS of lockdown. And as we all scrolled social media for some signs of life out there in our society, we happened upon the familiar electronic beats of the Pet Shop Boys. A West Ender called Aileen’s Kelvinside rap took us through the struggles of a West-End-Mum (Do-Do-Do-Do). Such was the popularity of the hilarious, yet painfully accurate parody that, just like Covid19, it went viral.
Behind Aileen’s clipped tones and middle-class woes is Doctor of Zoology and rising star of comedy, Zara Gladman.
Back in the Day
In 2010 Zara was in the midst of writing her PhD when a call came out for scientists to take part in a comedy project. As the theme of the stand-up had to be on the participants specialist subject, Zara found herself on stage dressed as Lady Gaga singing about invasive American crayfish. ‘I was procrastinating a little bit during the write up for my PhD. I’ve always been a comedy fan, but up until that point I’d never considered doing stand-up. I think I was partly just looking for distraction.’
It’s clear from talking to Zara that much as she might not have considered comedy, she has funny bones. Growing up she was influenced by the Smack the Pony team, Limmy, Spaced and Catastrophe. ‘I like comedy that says something about real life, relatable and observational. But I like stuff that’s a bit weird and surreal as well.’
A fan of musical comedy, she cites David O’Doherty as one of her favourites. We can see then, that using music in her comedy came quite naturally. With ‘West End Mum’, Zara smiles as she recounts how her affectionate take comes from a place of love. ‘I live in the West End, I work in the West End, I’m immersed in the West End. I love it. The character was just an amalgamation of different people that I came across that I’ve listened too. The West End is a bit of a bubble in so much as the things people moan about, given the world we live in…you just need to sit in a pub, sit in a café, sit in a restaurant and listen.’
We all know she is right of course. The West End is a goldmine for comedy material. Just prick your ears up in the playground.
From Screen to Stage
Zara made her way from Tik Tok and Insta to the stage last year, taking part in the Glasgow International Comedy Festival. How was that? ‘Exciting, scary. You build your own following online, but I didn’t know who was going to turn up… women biased, but a fairly diverse audience. And they were amazing! They were so up for it, so much fun. It was such a special first show for me.’ Such was the success of her sell-out show at Oran Mor, that she had to add more performances.
Did Zara feel the pressure of transferring her comedy from online to live stand-up? ‘I think I was well aware of the pressure of doing live performance versus a few one-minute sketches online. I think I could feel a lot of scepticism in online comics making the jump to stage. And in a lot of ways that’s fair – it’s a very different skill set. But it comes back to is it funny or not.’
Having dipped her toe in the water at last year’s GICF, this year? The Edinburgh Fringe! ‘I want to keep growing as a performer. The Fringe is the ultimate challenge. I’m interested in trying to expand Aileen’s world. The character does translate to other countries. There are Aileen’s everywhere! It’s like Victor and Barry – they went to Australia. I find them inspirational.’
So what can the Fringe expect from Aileen?
‘Well Aileen has a son, Cameron who is 17. He is hoping to take his unique talents worldwide. He recently got five As in his Highers, he is Grade eight in the bassoon. She believes that it’s really important for him to make his way across the world to share his expertise and educate communities. By buying a ticket to the Edinburgh Fringe you are funding Cameron’s journey.’
It seems both Cameron and Zara’s journeys are just beginning. And we West Enders are right behind our West End Mum!
Zara Gladman’s brand new comedy sketch show starts this Monday 12th July on BBC Scotland at 9.40 pm.
And don’t miss helping out Cameron, a must see at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Aileen:Cameron’s Gap Year Fundraiser
Tues 29th July – Sunday 10th August
Monkey Barrel Comedy – The Hive
Edinburgh Fringe
w:edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/zara-gladman-is-aileen-cameron-s-gap-year-fundraiser
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