A pair of obnoxious Geordie mums are volunteering at a parkrun. A scout leader is sharing rather too much about his collapsing marriage. And somewhere, a taxi driver called Alan is talking absolute rubbish.
Welcome back to the world of Your Aunt Fanny.
The North East sketch comedy troupe are returning to Live Theatre, Newcastle, with Crease, their first new hour-long sketch show in several years.
While some familiar faces will be making an appearance, there’s also a whole new collection of outrageous characters, unlikely scenarios and gloriously inappropriate behaviour to look forward to.
The return to Live Theatre brings things full circle for Your Aunt Fanny. It's where the seven members first came together as teenagers, when Live Youth Theatre's Paul James spotted the potential for a sketch comedy troupe among the young performers.
The group eventually went their separate ways but remained close friends, reuniting in 2018 to write and perform their own material as an independent company.
Nearly a decade later, all seven original members – Brogan Gilbert, Emma Crowley-Bennett, Izzy Sorby, Jackie Edwards, Katie Powell, Lydia Kavanagh and Matilda Neill – are still involved, despite the competing demands of jobs, mortgages and families.
“It’s almost like working with siblings sometimes,” says Katie, explaining that everyone is comfortable being brutally honest about an idea that isn’t working.
Izzy agrees. Nobody gets to write a sketch, declare it finished and expect the others to perform it without question.
“Everyone has to look at it. Everyone has to sign off on it,” she says.
That collective approach has produced two touring sketch shows – Minge Unhinged, a title the troupe loved but which proved tricky to mention on the radio, and Muff Said, which went on to play London’s Soho Theatre.
There have also been Christmas specials, a podcast, a first-look deal with television production company Hat Trick and development work with the BBC and Channel 4.
They also appeared at this year’s Sunday for Sammy concerts, taking their comedy to an arena audience rather different from their usual crowd.
Not that Your Aunt Fanny’s audience is quite as exclusively female as the name might suggest. Alongside their loyal following of women are men, grandparents and younger comedy fans.
“Our shows poke fun at everyone,” says Izzy. “We’re not just laughing at men. We’re not just laughing at women. We’re not just laughing at young people. We’re not just laughing at old people. We’re laughing at everyone.”
Much of Crease has been developed through the group’s Time of the Month residency at The Stand comedy club on Newcastle’s High Bridge.
Established in 2024, the nights provide a friendly testing ground for new sketches, alongside opportunities for other female comedians to try out material.
Rather than writing an entire show against a looming deadline, the Fannies have been able to select and refine material that has already been performed in front of audiences.
It’s meant fewer last-minute panics, although assembling an hour of comedy still involves plenty of discussions about running orders, costume changes and whether somebody has spent too much of the evening playing a man.
There are returning favourites, including the aforementioned Alan the taxi driver, played by Izzy, and a teenage troublemaker whose long-suffering teacher has undergone a rather topical transformation since her previous appearance.
The two unpleasant Geordie mums who once begrudgingly distributed food-bank supplies are now bringing their unique approach to volunteering at a parkrun.
Among the newer creations is Phil, a scout leader whose enthusiasm for fire safety is matched only by his willingness to unload his personal problems onto the children in his care.
There’s also a sketch inspired by a real-life incident at a yoga class, where Katie witnessed a couple kissing goodbye simply because their instructor had asked them to stand a little further apart.
The resulting scene involves a lengthy, cinematic farewell.
Katie says some sketches begin with nothing more complicated than a desire to be silly. Others emerge from the group discovering that something has made them collectively furious.
“It’s like seven women having the same experience and talking about it together and making something out of it,” says Katie.
Katie is convinced there’s value in what they do, whether it’s making people laugh or giving voice to something that has made them angry. What frustrates her is how difficult it is to persuade arts funders of that.
“Nobody wants to give us any money ever,” she says, arguing that sketch comedy rarely ticks the boxes funders are looking for.
“You should be funding daft,” she declares. It’s hard to argue.
In the meantime, there are bills to pay. Katie works in arts fundraising at The Glasshouse, while Izzy, formerly manager of The Stand, now works in software support.
But despite the challenges of making comedy alongside their day jobs, neither can imagine life without Your Aunt Fanny.
For Izzy, there’s nothing better than getting everyone together and performing a full-length show.
Katie, meanwhile, believes their theatrical roots make Live Theatre the natural place to do it.
The group won’t have long to recover after Crease, either. Their Christmas production, You’re Not Me Ma, a soap-opera spoof set in Newcastle’s Grainger Market, is heading to Northern Stage in December.
For now, though, the priority is getting the sketches in the right order, the characters in the right costumes and the audience laughing their socks off.
Crease is at Live Theatre, Newcastle, from Thursday, October 29 to Saturday, October 31, at 7.30pm.
Meet the Fannies… and their favourite characters
Brogan Gilbert – the little radgie lads
“My favourite character to play is one of the soppy little lads. I love how daft they are, and embodying a dorky little radgie is so much fun.”
Emma Crowley-Bennett – the little radgie lads
“I love playing the little radgie lads with Brogan because they’re really canny and cute and I get to say ‘desk nonce’.”
Izzy Sorby – Alan the taxi driver
“My favourite to play is Alan the taxi driver, he is so outrageous and ridiculous, and always gets well received by an audience. Muff Said made me fall in love with him.”
Jackie Edwards – Phil the scout leader
“The character I love playing the most is Phil the scout leader. I love how he’s both menacing and incredibly earnest. I really enjoy leaving the audience hanging between words when he gives one of his intense pauses.”
Katie Powell – the little radgie lass
“I love playing the little radgie lass in her detention because she’s the opposite of the swot I was at school. Some of her lines are verbatim from a horrible temp job I had in a school pastoral office this year.”
Lydia Kavanagh – Billy Elliott’s dad
“My fave character to play is Billy Elliott’s Dad. I get to shout a quote from the film in a Scottish accent. It’s also just pure pure daft to get to say one of your characters is Billy Elliott’s Dad.”
Matilda Neill is on maternity leave and won’t perform in these shows… but will be back!