Meeting a role model

Preparations for my charity night are well underway. My comedy sketch has been written and I have been, correction, really need to get practising. I have the lovely Jenna Kirk and Laura Edison (of Pint Size Productions) joining me as my school children.

As a lot of people know I love to impersonate Karen Dunbar. This is the fourth year of charity nights in aid of Asthma Scotland and Royal Hospital for Sick Children Glasgow (formally Yorkhill). Every year I have tried to get the attention of Karen Dunbar to see if she would come to the night or even send a message to me.

As a young girl I watched the Karen Dunbar show and Chewin’ the Fat, even before I understood any of the jokes. I admired Karen Dunbar because she was a strong female comedian and I realised that that was exactly what I wanted to do.

Despite only being new to the comedy scene I feel like it is extremely welcoming. I have written comedy sketches for years but I am new to the stand-up scene. Ten gigs in and I feel like my confidence is building. It is not easy to do another gig after having a bad one but I have realised that every audience is different and comedy is subjective. I know why some of the gigs have gone better than others. My nerves have taken over on several occasions and I haven’t enjoyed myself on stage. The audience can sense this and so are not comfortable themselves, therefore don’t laugh as much. However, I have managed to conquer my nerves on the last couple of gigs and they have gone down really well. After all, what’s the worst that can happen? Once you stop worrying and just take a chance, you can be surprised how things work out.

After my gigs and after watching gigs I talk the comedians and make connections. Everybody is really supportive of each other and willing to give advice to help you improve. It’s not as cut throat as I had previously imagined. I suppose that all comedians are individual and so everybody brings their own personality to the stage. I could tell that I was getting closer to the opportunity to meet my idol as I was starting to be friends with people who knew her.

Last Friday, I got the opportunity to meet Karen Dunbar. I had contacted her on twitter and told her that I would be attending her show and asked her if I would be able to get a picture with her afterwards. She shared and liked my post. After years of trying to get in touch with her, I was expecting to either get a photo or a restraining order. But she was lovely and said she had seen all the videos I have been posting.

It’s always great to meet a role model because you realise that they are just people too. They are people who inspire you to follow your dreams but also make you realise that you can do anything that you want to do.

If you would like to win two free tickets to my charity night on Friday 8th April then please email me on nataliewsweeney@hotmail.co.uk with your name and the answer to the following question:

Q – What inanimate object does Nat interview in her Nat’s Chat promo video?

Good luck! Entries close Wednesday 30th March