Kate-Lois Elliott is a rising triple-threat star – a comedian, actor and writer nominated for a British Writers’ Guild Award in 2022 for Best Online Comedy (How to be Maggie: With Maggie P) with growing recognition for her stand-up following a run at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
She is also one half of Diversify Podcast, whose guests have included Ria Lina, Kai Samra, Maisie Adam and Tez Ilyas.
Her first comedy show, Gentrif*cked, told the story of village life, thirty-something existential crises, and finding purpose. However, she now takes a deeper look into her own family life and the search for belonging.
“The Fringe was a great experience, I went in thinking I knew what to expect but it was an intense time with ups and downs. I was happy with the show. It really introduced the theme of finding your purpose, which also relates to my next show called How to Belong Without Joining a Cult. This time, I’ve gone deeper and found a more personal connection to the topics discussed.”
Kate adds: “Having done acting and stand-up, I’ve always wanted to strike a balance between storytelling and humour. I came from a theatre background and upon first entering stand-up, I thought I needed to bring a laugh-a-minute, but now I’m equally interested in the story I’m telling and moments of sincerity are a big part of that.”
It’s fair to say Kate has gone in at the deep end with her personal line of sight to bring a new comedy show to life. Her mother and grandparents grew up as part of a religious group and having lived in the aftermath of that, Kate finds her starting point in unpicking the dual perspectives she was exposed to as a child in her family’s search for belonging.
“As with any selective group or organisation that forms its own way of life, power structures and hierarchies can easily become toxic. This can have a really detrimental impact on the well-being of individuals and their close relationships. The external influence of this group on my family was huge and it wasn’t until I was older that I came to realise this.”
“I’ve always been a person who is happy to take an outside view of things. At school, I didn’t feel the need to fit into any particular group, so was often the person pointing out when group mentality was causing problems, even though that often got me in trouble. I feel like that’s something I’ve inherited from my mum, who was able to stay true to herself at a very intense time in her life. However, despite all that, I still succumb to the pressure of wanting to belong!”
“I suppose when I think about it, I’m interested in how public personas play out privately in terms of feelings, attitudes, and behaviours. How to be Maggie: With Maggie P looks at what we present on social media contrasting with the reality of a person being anxious and in need of validation.”
“As a comedian, there are other aspects of social media that can be demoralising such as ‘comparisonitis’. I work with a lot of brilliant female comics who are up against decades of exclusion from the industry. We’re often made to feel like there isn’t room for all of us, but we know there is. I’ve always had trusted comedian friends who I know will be honest with me, and I think that really helps with the ups and downs.”
Kate also co-hosts a podcast called Diversify where she allows people to take on a number of topics, “we wanted to create a safe place where the hosts would ask stupid questions so that the listeners didn’t have to”, a resource that is light that can address nuance and big issues in a way that people feel comfortable to learn from.
Kate-Lois Elliott’s new show, How to Belong Without Joining a Cult starts previewing in January 2024. To find out more visit https://www.kateloiselliott.com/how-to-belong. Watch her latest comedy video series The Real Witches with Funny Women Winner Chloe Partridge-Reeve here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-glGVU-4Vyw&t=1s
