Abnormally Funny People celebrates 20 years at the Fringe
For two decades Abnormally Funny People has been the Fringe show in which disabled comics can be as dark, political or daft as they want. Kate Copstick celebrates a groundbreaking revue with stars past and present
In August 2005, five Abnormally Funny People and one token Normal grabbed laughter by its more sensitive parts and took it places it had, hitherto, infrequently visited. There is a ‘disabled access’ joke here, but I will not make it.
When Steve Best and Simon Minty came up with the idea, Best was the one with the contacts for gigging on the circuit. And became the token Normal.
Almost immediately, Sky TV came on board and financed a 2005 Edinburgh run plus documentary coverage.
UK stand up already had its funny abnormals: Laurence Clark had an Edinburgh triumph in 2003 and Francesca Martinez had already wobbled (her word) to fame. But this was a whole spectrum of disabilities sharing a stage for laughs.
I was lucky enough to review the original lineup and there was – if you will pardon the expression – not a lame duck among them.
Liz Carr (now Bafta-winning and red carpet-rolling), in particular, was darkly political. “I was a replacement – a crip comedy substitute.” she says. “Laurence Clark had to pull out of the show so Simon Minty approached me and asked if I'd do it.” She was, I recall, never exactly out for the sympathy vote.
“I sort of adapted sketch comedy material I had from a previous life and there I was with my dark humour, sarcasm and strange, freaky look and most of that ten minutes was silent. I thank Simon, Steve, Tanyalee Davis, and Steve Day for spending time with me to help find a way for me to keep the edge I love and the politics that matter to me but to be able to actually entertain and make people laugh rather than hitting them over the head with a placard or terrifying them as an audience.”
Twinkle-toed Chris McCausland, now also a fully-fledged member of the Bafta-winning glitterati, also thanks those other comics in the original line up for their help. “Working with the other guys made it possible for me to be more comfortable with the idea of disability on stage and in performance, because of the level of comfort that they had with themselves.”
Liz Carr was well aware of the impact of the cast. “There is so much comedy to be had from the lives and experiences of disabled people and back then, a disabled comedian was a rare thing so Abnormally Funny People was about changing that – a showcase of the variety of experience and comedy.”
She enjoyed her own newfound comedy powers with Abnormally Funny People. “I discovered how much I love an audience, playing with them and saying things that make them gasp, not for pure shock but just because it's truthful, it's funny, it's something they can't let themselves say or even think but I will say it. Love it. And I love applause.”
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You can be sure that the financial elephant that is £5 million in Labour’s disability benefit cuts will not go undiscussed in the room, even though Minty, who has taken “a step back” to become more of a producer, calls the show “a celebration”.
Carr, a passionate campaigner against assisted suicide, is no less political now. “Honestly, I think if I said what I'd like to say on stage these days I'd absolutely get cancelled. Times are different.”
Steve Day – whose opening line was (and is) so irreplaceably good that, 20 years later, he still uses it – had been gigging for six years before he became Abnormally Funny.
“It felt like the right time, but I was convinced I wasn't disabled enough, that I'd stick out as being a bit of an interloper.” Dangerous times to minimise a disability nowadays.
The show did pretty well, on and off-stage. “People turned up and laughed at our jokes so yes it was a success from the start.” says Day. “We all stayed in the same flat, and that built a kind of team spirit that made the show more than a collection of individuals. Mind you, sharing with a blind bloke and a load of dwarves was fun. One thing I remember: I didn't have a mirror in my room to use my hair clippers but there was one in the hallway. I agonised over taking it into my room as it felt selfish until I remembered that the only person tall enough to see into the mirror was actually blind.”
Day is enthusiastic about partying all the way down memory lane.
“I'm really looking forward to seeing Tanyalee,” – Davis now stands astride the motivational speaking word like a 3'3” colossus – “and her telling me all about her six gazillion TikTok followers and how she was once on The John Bishop show and Liz Carr from The Liz Carr Show aka Silent Witness and knowing Liz is exactly the same beautifully sardonic friend no matter how award winning she is. Liz is possibly the funniest person I've ever met, but don't tell her that.”
The Abnormals have 16 comics in a rotating line up in their “celebratory” month. Over the years the core Abnormals have had Laurence Clark, Tim Renkow, Lost Voice Guy, Don Biswas and Rosie Jones join them. Who knows which of them will come to play in Edinburgh? Abnormals (who have their share) aside, the 2025 Fringe is packed to its Blue Badges with the proudly neurodiverse.
“I thought I was a bit of a lead swinger,” says Day, “so I can hardly chastise anyone else jumping on the bandwagon that is this racket, I mean industry, of disability entertainment. There's money to be made in assuaging some blue chip Vulture Capitalists attempt to crip-wash their reputations by putting us on during their Inclusivity Week that is otherwise dying on its arse from tedium.”
You’ve gotta love a passionate Abnormal telling them like it is. And they will.
Abnormally Funny People, Pleasance Courtyard, 4.50pm, until 24 August.
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