Comedian Bridget Christie on her show about ‘everything and nothing’ and not being ‘arsed’ with dating

Comedian Bridget Christie has made a name for herself making feminism and politics funny, but also absurd and a little bit weird. 

The Gloucester-raised stand up has a back catalogue covering stand up, books, radio, TV and films. This includes her 2013 stand up show, A Bic For Her and BBC radio series Mind the Gap, both personal takes on feminism which marked her mainstream breakthrough.

Still continuing her personal exploration of feminism is Christie's BAFTA nominated, fantastical and utterly glorious sitcom, The Change. It’s the story of Linda, who after hitting 50 and entering menopause, buys a motorcycle and cashes in the hours spent working in unpaid domestic drudgery to ride off into her old stomping ground the Forest of Dean to rediscover herself. 

Most recently, however, Christie appeared as the unhinged counsellor Ruth in the second series of BBC sitcom Things You Should Have Done, shot in locations around Thanet.

Taking a break from TV, Christie comes to Canterbury this month with her latest stand up show Jacket Potato Pizza, named after a meal that a date once tried to pass off as not just a dish, but a merger of cultures. 

"[The name] comes from a date I went on in my 20s when a guy made me a 'jacket potato pizza' - a dry baked potato plonked into the middle of a dry pizza base -  and then told me it was 'fusion cuisine'", she says. "I didn’t see him again."

In a change of direction from past works, Jacket Potato Pizza is about "everything and nothing", Christie says, rather than a singular issue. "I deliberately wanted to write this show in a different way to previous ones where I had a particular thing I wanted to address, and to have the freedom to talk about a range of diverse subjects. 

"I've not really approached a show like this before and I really enjoyed working the stuff out in previews."

Subjects covered in the show range from the political landscape to where Christie is in her life, but don’t expect an in-depth bit on either or any of the topics - especially politics. 

"It's just so depressing and concerning," Christie says. "I will be talking about it briefly in the new show but not dwelling on it too much. I think we need to stay alert and engaged but not so much that we let it overwhelm us. 

"There is some hope with the New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Greens leader Zack Polanski here, but we need to remain vigilant," she adds. 

Putting a fresh slant on being single and dating - often another depressing topic for many - Christie, now solo following her separation from comic Steward Lee in 2021 after 14 years of marriage, will also talk about being, as she says,  a "voluntary celibate" in the show. 

"I talk a bit about not actively dating through choice," she says. "The dating world has changed greatly since I last dated and there is so much involved now with the apps that I genuinely cannot be arsed.

"I will meet someone in real life organically who piques my interest or I'll stay single, but I'm definitely not going to be downloading another bloody app and giving away even more of my data to some billionaire so that I can meet up with someone I've got nothing in common with and talk shit when I can be at home with a cat on me, drinking wine and watching Columbo." 

The show will also touch on life in an empty nest, a prospect on the horizon for Christie, a mum of two teenagers. 

"I am both excited for [my children] as they enter this new chapter of their lives and also devastated for myself as I come to terms with a future without them in my day-to-day life. When they're little you never see it coming. You never think about them leaving."

"I’m not quite there yet as I still have one at home for another few years," Christie continues. "But it will come soon enough. I talk about how I'm navigating all that in the show and it's been interesting hearing how audience members have coped with it - one bloke couldn’t wait for his to leave while others never stopped grieving, even years later."

Despite missing her family and pets, Christie welcomes her return to touring. 

"I love doing the shows and meeting the audience," she says. "I love the smaller venues in the more isolated towns. There's a real sense of community and love at those shows and I love chatting to the audience afterwards at the merch desk. 

"Once my daughter has left home," Christie continues, "I can see myself touring a lot and spending more time getting to know the country more."

Bridget Christie brings Jacket Potato Pizza to the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury on Sunday, February 15. Tickets £20.50.