Kat Powell – “Keep being funny”.
Kat Powell is a comedian from Bridge of Weir but spends her time zooming all over the place for work or gigging. Kat lives with her fiancé, Craig and doggo Sammy – a Staffy-Collie cross. We meet at a fancy secret location – my flat in deepest darkest West Dunbartonshire.
Kat is hot off the back of her sold out solo Glasgow Comedy Festival show “Why Am I Like This” (WAILT), a deep dive into the psyche of an “irredeemable emo kid and the maniacs who raised her.” The show is a cleverly choreographed mash up of her youthful religious guilt, insatiable lust, and a mouth that won’t shut, but who was to blame?
In two words: Kat’s mum.
Kat’s mum - Mrs Maureen Powell – is the inspiration for her show, but more poignant than that is the fact that mum Maureen is the reason Kat does comedy in the first place.
Maureen sadly passed away in 2023.Kat was by her mother’s side throughout her illness. At the very end, she was there too.
“The last words my mum said to me were: Keep being funny.”
“My mum was a hard woman to please so for her to say that I was funny was just crazy. And it still gets me now.
“For my entire life, I only ever heard her say my dad and my brother weren’t funny. I just assumed I wasn’t either. Finding out that I was — right at the end — changed everything.
“I do still get insecure (about being funny) but when the most important person in your world tells you are funny it is so fundamental that you cannot ignore it. She would be so impressed that I went and done it. She would hate what I say though!”
For Kat, this was powelful (see what I did there) validation and love from her mum in her last hours prompted Kat to think hard about those words and sometime later, led her to sign up for a popular comedy course; “I signed up for the Ultra Comedy course – and then sucked for a year!” Kat laughs when she says this but with a bit of pride in there too. Kat kept going.
Who are you on the stage then?
“Viv Gee told me that I have soft exterior but I say twisted stuff. Mentally I am quite dark, I have a goofy dad and an outrageous mum, a witty brother and I am Scottish, so it has been fun.
“I write for myself, but Alan (Jay) who is a good comedy pal is a great soundboard to help make those comedic connections. Sometimes it works and other times it doesn’t. It is ok to help each other.
“I formed a true friendship with Alan through stand -up. The first time I saw him I first met him at a competition. I’m thinking, oh yeah, I am in the top three people in the comp. I thought I was a shoo-in but then Alan went on, and he was – just incredible. That was stand-up to me.”
Do you have any other comedy influences?
“I would say Robin Williams, George Carlin and Joan Rivers – all American, but as Brits go, it was Russell Howard who made me think that I wanted to do stand-up.
“But I did nothing, for about 15 years. Back then, I used to think I was the funny friend but never saw myself as the funny one. So I did nothing. And then it was brought back to me when my mum died.
“When I started stand-up, I initially did a lot of political stuff, but when I found my voice, my material got stronger and more personal – I am empathetic and emotional so I think that impacted on my sets.
“In my show, for example I pretend to scream at an ant I find on my worktop. I use my acting skills and go mad – it is scary and is a risk, but good that you have taken that.”
Are you enjoying the comedy circuit?
“I find that the circuit recently has been a bit strange but now I have been in it a bit, I see the ebb and flow in performing. There was a scarcity of open mic nights but that seems to have changed with a lot more on offer.
“That said, for some promoters, we are not tokens to fill a spot for the promoters balance we are there in our own right; we need women, queer, ethnic diversity acts and that if you want a diverse, engaged audience, then you need a diverse cast.”
This echoes many conversations I have had with comics so it is not a new thing for Kat to chime in on a somewhat cliquey and exclusionary mostly white male circuit.
Where are you now with your comedy career and are you happy?
“My show is now a show, and it is working well. The crowd worked with the flow of the bits and it is in good shape. While I would love to do the Fringe for a month, I am getting married soon, and the possibility of having a family to follow, I have a busy fiancé and a dug (Sammy) so at this moment it wouldn’t work.
“I came off stage after my show and I said to my dad that that was stand-up and the best I felt, so yes, I am happy.”
Is touring the show a compromise against the concentrated month at Edinburgh?
“Yes definitely. I feel the show can speak to a lot of people. I will take it to the Women in Comedy Festival in Manchester again as I did last year. The goal ultimately is to get my name out there and build an audience.”
Do you have anything to promote at the moment?
“Yes, I am a graphic designer and video editor by day, so if anyone needs any social media posts, brochures, flyers or personal art – I can draw your dog – please get in touch via @canvasartcreative or just message at me at Kat Powell Comedy.
We need to finish – Kat is on a journey to Perth and needs to shoot. But not before another insight into her life is revealed.
“The image I look to is the Solar system. I have a solar system projector in my room with different projections. I had bad eyesight for a long time and could only see fuzziness until I got my specs, so the projector gives me that feeling of sleeping under the stars. Also, me and Craig are really into astrophysics and we can fall asleep listening to Neil DeGrasse Tyson,” she says. “Looking up now, I can clearly see the stars. I missed that for years.”
It feels fitting to end here with Kat— someone who lost their centre finding comfort in something infinite.
