Ahead of bringing her musical comedy romp, ‘Comma Sutra’, to the Edinburgh Fringe, comedian, actor and polyglottal language nerd, Louisa Fitzhardinge, tells Female First what inspired her to write her show.
Comma Sutra by Lachlan Woods
I’ve been a word nerd ever since, as a child, I was forced to learn to spell ‘Louisa Fitzhardinge’. 15 different letters of the alphabet? Check. All of the vowels, including four in my first name alone? Check. A sneaky silent ‘e’? Check. As I grew up and started learning languages, words became even more fascinating to me. German, with its gender system that makes you refer to a girl as ‘it’, and an onion as ‘she’! Australian sign language, with the sign for ‘vagina’ being exactly the same as the sign for ‘samosa’, just upside-down! Unfortunately, though, there is very little in the way of content for people who love words. Where are the love songs about that instant connection you feel after seeing someone in a café reading the same book as you? Or being turned on by someone’s correct use of a semicolon? As a dedicated nerd, I had very little experience of grinding up against people in clubs (I’d rather grind up against a hot water bottle in bed while drinking a nice cup of tea and devouring the latest Ferrante novel, thank you very much) so a lot of popular music fell flat for me. I decided to write a love song for grammar nerds to fill that gap, and ended up with what is probably the most risqué pun-based song in existence, ‘Grammar Makes Me Hot’. I ended up writing a ten-minute musical comedy show featuring that song; the resulting show won an award at an Australian cabaret festival and I was gently encouraged (read: contractually obligated) to make it into a full-length grammar spectacular. Part of the show explores the gaffes I’ve made while attempting to speak other languages, and there was always ample fodder to draw on for that. In my hometown of Melbourne, we have a café that exclusively hires Deaf people, and I would often head there to practise my skills while learning sign language. On one occasion, I convinced a waiter that I wanted to give him a $20 tip, when in fact I needed change for parking. On another, I tried to pay for something by asking, ‘do you need more shoes?’, much to the cashier’s bafflement. I’m extremely fortunate to be able to tour this show around the world. It’s a comedy show, but it also tends to bring people together who love words, and that is a glorious thing. From people staying back after the show to tell me their favourite word or most heinous pun, to the joy of seeing a roomful of nerds singing along to a grammatical anthem, performing Comma Sutra is an absolute delight. It’s almost as satisfying as wiping a stray apostrophe off a chalkboard.
Louisa Fitzhardinge performs ‘Comma Sutra’ at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 31st July – 26th August (not 13th). Tickets and more information: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/louisa-fitzhardinge-comma-sutra
Tagged in Edinburgh Festival Fringe