The best medicine for Lockdown boredom? Laughter, of course. We had a chat with multi award-winning comedian and Broadside resident, Eleanor Conway, about bad dates, her upcoming virtual gig for Broadsiders, and why the North is SO much better than the South…
Hi Eleanor, tell us a bit about you…
I moved to Broadside from East London very recently. I’m a comedian that does filthy, hilarious shows about sex, addiction and dating. I used to be a music journalist and became a comic when I got sober in 2014. Since then I’ve sold out 3 tours worldwide with my shows ‘Walk of Shame 1 & 2’ and ‘You May Recognise Me From Tinder’. Credits include The Guardian, Woman’s Hour, Stylist, BBC 4 Extra. Basically, I’m good and I’m not shit.
What prompted the move to Manchester?
The fluffy answer is that The North West has a thriving arts scene and I wanted to be closer to my family here. The real answer is that I was losing my mind living in my studio flat with a wall bed and wanted to do something dramatic.
How are you finding life at Broadside?
In my old place, crack-heads used to walk into the lobby and steal my Amazon parcels, so frankly, it’s a win. I love it!
You’re running a virtual event for Broadsiders in a few weeks’ time, what can people expect?
The pandemic means comics can’t get into clubs at the moment, so this will be a road-test of new comic ideas from me and a couple of my comic mates. Some will be awesome, some meh, and some will be utter dog-poo, but that’s the fun of it!
Have you ever performed in any Mancunian venues?
The last tour show I did of You May Recognise Me From Tinder was at the Frog and Bucket in October 2019 – that’s when I realised I wanted to move to the Northern Quarter…and then everything shut.
Who are your favourite comedians and why?
Jim Jefferies is my favourite. Also Daye Chappelle, Chris Rock, Katherine Ryan. I like blunt, visceral, dark humour.
You have an online dating stream entitled ‘WORST.DATE.EVER’ – We’ve got to ask you about your worst date ever?
I was on a date with this boring bloke, (no offence to the boring blokes reading this, I’ve found comfort in the stability of boring men now). We order dinner and then he goes to the toilet and while he’s in there my mate texts me to see how it’s going. I text her back a brutal message telling her he was dull AF, boring etc, etc. He comes out of the loo and I quickly put my phone away. He stops walking. Takes his phone out of his pocket to read a message. He looks directly at me and turns ashen white. I’d sent the text to him instead. We ate dinner in silence.
Cliché question time, but we’ve got to ask! How have you been finding life in lockdown? Binge-watched anything we should know about?
Snowpiercer is awesome (Netflix series). Mainly because it’s got women with wrinkles in and I’m in desperate need of some Botox. I feel seen for once.
Any live shows in the pipeline?
TBC! I’m hopefully going to be announcing a live night very, very soon. Follow me on Instagram and I’ll post about it in due course…
Eleanor will be hosting a virtual gig exclusively for Broadsiders on Thursday 25th March from 7:30-9:00pm.
Join Eleanor and some of her funny friends as they road-test some new material and try and make you laugh. Tickets are just £5 per person or £7 per household and you can buy them here.
You’ll also be able to pre-order a selection of cocktails from Sammy’s Cocktail Bar delivered chilled, straight to your door before the event. You can choose from lychee, espresso and gin & pineapple flavoured martinis – just £20 for 4 cocktails!
Head over to their Instagram page and DM to place your order.
Come and wave goodbye to the beginning of the end of lockdown with comedy and cocktails…