Susan Calman
A Scottish storyteller who wraps heavy anxieties in polite, old-school stagecraft.
1 special · 2015
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Susan Calman performs with the welcoming energy of a traditional theatre host. She addresses the crowd as “Ladies and Gentlemen,” pacing the stage in a tailored waistcoat and engaging the front rows in actual conversation rather than aggressive banter. Her rhythm is deliberate and cheerful. When she touches on a heavy subject—like a depressive episode or a run-in with homophobia—she will let the room go completely quiet for a beat. Just as the tension peaks, she defuses it with a breezy reassurance and pivots immediately to a joke about her cats or eating dessert in her underwear.
Specials
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A Scottish comedian learns to like herself despite the internet.
Go Faster Stripe · 86 min
On stage
She occupies a specific space in British broadcasting, hovering between daytime television comfort and the sharp elbows of BBC Radio 4 panel shows. Calman herself frequently jokes that her live audience is entirely composed of older radio listeners and lesbians.
Her standup leans on self-deprecation and her perspective as a perennial outsider. She is an observational storyteller who prefers to keep her act buoyant. While she mentions her mental health struggles, she rarely lingers on the bleak details, choosing instead to mine comedy from her lack of physical fitness, her height, and her domestic life with her wife. She aims to leave the crowd feeling optimistic rather than exhausted.
Before starting comedy in her thirties, Calman spent seven years working as a corporate lawyer. That professional background occasionally surfaces in the precision of her arguments, even when she is building a meticulous case for why she prefers to stay indoors.
Turning points
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Transition from Corporate Law to Stand-Up Comedy
After seven years practicing corporate law in freedom of information and data protection, Calman quit her firm Dundas & Wilson in 2006 to pursue comedy full-time, making multiple national newcomer finals that year.
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Scottish BAFTA Award for Blowout
Following a sold-out Edinburgh Fringe run of the sketch show Ugly Kid, it was commissioned as the Channel 4 pilot Blowout, earning Calman and the cast a Scottish BAFTA.
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2017–2018
Breakthrough on BBC Strictly Come Dancing
Calman competed on series 15 of Strictly Come Dancing with Kevin Clifton, reaching week ten and achieving broad mainstream television stardom before winning the 2018 live tour.
At a glance
Podcasts
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Mrs Brightside - A cheerful look at depression · host
A podcast offering a cheerful take on depression and mental health featuring frank discussions with varied guest comedians and personalities.
Also on screen
- How Not to Live Your Life
- 2011–2013
- Fresh Meat
- Dead Boss
- School of Silence
- Home From Home