Preview: Jenny Eclair

May 12 2008 by Matt Thomas, Western Mail

JENNY ECLAIR is having a mid-life crisis. Since she’s been a Grumpy Old Woman for the last couple of years now, that shouldn’t really come as much of a surprise.

But instead of taking off with a toy boy or going under the knife, she’s decided to exorcise her angst by taking it on the road.

This is definitely a more constructive way of dealing with the feeling that you’re on the wrong side of 40. And judging by the title of the tour, she’s hoping it will be a profitable one too.

The Because I Forgot to Get a Pension tour brings the Perrier Award-winning comedienne to Wales as part of a specially- extended run.

Promising jokes about front bottoms and a bit of swearing, alongside routines on the role of the en-suite bathroom as a passion killer and the male obsession with flatulence, it’s business as usual for Jenny.

Claiming to be “47 but looking older on account of not having a long-running TV show in the bag”, Jenny made her name as a foul-mouthed alternative comedienne, becoming the first woman to bag a Perrier Award.

She started out writing punk poetry and performing in a band called Cathy La Crème and the Rum Babies.

After a change to stand-up comedy, Jenny adopted the name Eclair after pretending to be French while in Blackpool.

Over the last decade she has become more of an establishment figure, appearing on Radio 4 panel quizzes and hosting weekend talkshows.

She has also found the time to produce three well-received novels, have a daughter, sit on the judging panel for the 2006 Orange Prize for Fiction and oversee the construction of her award-winning south London home.

Jenny was instrumental in bringing Grumpy Old Women to the stage, writing the scripts with Dillie Keane and Linda Robson that led to a 40-date sell-out tour.

Back on the road with her solo show, Jenny warns that under 16s will be “terribly embarrassed” but “can’t stress enough that men, accompanied or on the loose, are most welcome.”

The tour will be arriving at Llandudno’s Venue Cymru on Tuesday, May 27.Call 01492 329 155 for tickets.

By Matt Thomas