ART EXHIBITIONS, DEMONS AND PODCASTS... IT'S ANNIE MCGRATH!

APRIL 19, 2021 ISSUE

Finalist in the 2018 Funny Women Awards and featured on Audible, BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio 4 Extra.

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At the start of 2020, Annie McGrath was touring around the UK with Lou Sanders and performing at various gigs as her support act. However, a gigantic and hugely unpredictable virus struck the globe - pressing pause on everyone’s lives... and the comedy industry was certainly not an exception. Giggling four nights at work had been yanked and confiscated during the pandemic, leaving Annie to explore other means of entertainment and creativity. Instead of popping up on our screens on Channel 4 or the BBC, this comedian’s newfound joys in life were confined to the same four walls (and social distancing of course).

Annie McGrath is a woman of many talents but she is mainly recognised as a comedian - as well as dipping her toes in acting, podcasting and presenting. But since Covid-19 ferociously ripped apart our social lives and day-to-day routines, Annie confessed to me that “My schedule for the past year has almost been more consistent”. Despite tackling both the comedy industry crumbling and being furloughed from her part-time ‘day job’, McGrath was determined to keep her life busy. How could anybody who was used to working in showbiz ever keep sane whilst working from home? Well, fortunately for us, Annie was open to sharing how she kept herself sane throughout 2020.

Her usual habitat resides in festivals, live gigs and guest starring in television shows - most of which were stripped from humanity since March last year. You might have seen Annie whilst you were sat down tuning in to Channel 4’s Sparks comedy series or even Sky Sports’ Soccer AM. Since her beloved pre-pandemic life, Annie’s work has been restricted to creating comedy scripts and auditioning for roles over Zoom. McGrath revealed that her usual day is “spent changing into different outfits in my bedroom, talking to myself, and trying not to go insane”. With arms flung wide open, Annie has also welcomed art into her life this past year. If you were curious, this includes; drawing, card-making, screen painting and acrylic painting.

By launching an independent website dedicated to her colourful and abstract art pieces (https://www.amcgrath.art/), Annie’s talent helped relieve some of the financial stress she’d faced due to the pandemic. She explained to me that part of her success with new clients and commissions was that “People were having to stay at home, so there seemed to be an appetite for buying art”. 2020 was a cold and cruel year but it also marked the beginning of appreciating and supporting small businesses across the nation. During our conversation, Annie explained how schemes like the Artist’s Support Pledge (https://artistsupportpledge.com/) supported her newly found creative outlet. McGrath’s work didn’t just stop there either, as the comedian was able to secure a number of acting and presenting jobs in between the God forsaken lockdowns.

Whilst chatting away to Annie, it was clear that her podcast series is something held very close to her heart. ‘Secret Artists with Annie McGrath’ currently has forty-seven episodes, where Annie chats to a different comedian each week whilst making some form of art together. With the first official episode dating back to November 2019, Annie has secured some pretty impressive names on her show e.g. Lou Sanders, Tom Allen and Nina Conti. She told me that creating ‘Secret Artists’ was “very relaxing and I think you see a different side to people when they’re in the process of creating, more of an openness and vulnerability”. However, Annie’s dreams for the podcast were unable to outrun Covid-19. For example, the second series of ‘Secret Artists’ was aimed to be recorded at Machynlleth Comedy Festival, Latitude, and the Edinburgh Fringe… but had to suffice with Zoom instead.

Mental health matters to most people you’ll meet in your lifetime. As we grow older, the importance of prioritising our mental well-being significantly grows alongside the stresses of adulthood. Art is the Best Medicine was an exhibition of artwork submitted by different comedians, created by Annie to raise money for Mental Health UK. The exhibition took place from 13 - 20 December 2019 in London and had entries from Jack Whitehall, Harry Hill and Vic Reeves (to name a few). When asked what her proudest achievement was so far in her career, Annie gleefully answered with this exhibition. She said “It was exciting seeing the artists’ work and chatting to each person about their ideas and process”. As well as curating the show, Annie was responsible for the press and marketing sides of the exhibition. Art is the Best Medicine definitely succeeded in grabbing the media’s attention, as Annie was featured in The Guardian, The Big Issue and Evening Standard. Since the exhibition, Annie has returned as a judge for one of Mental Health UK’s photography competitions.

Imagine you’re a home care nurse who comes to the realisation that the old lady you’re helping isn’t really who she says she is. The Blue Door is a BAFTA-nominated short horror film and starred Gemma Whelan (Game of Thrones, The End of the F***ing World), which was released in August 2018. Now I bet you’re wondering how any of this relates to comedian and artist, Annie McGrath. Funnily enough, Annie was the old lady’s demon (apologies for the spoiler). Annie explained how different and fun this experience was for her career - glammed up in layers of prosthetic skin, white contact lenses and having a special demon wig. She admitted crawling around on all fours was “fairly challenging because I couldn’t see where I was going as the contact lenses obscured my vision”. I did try and cheekily get an answer out of whether Annie preferred acting or comedy but she explained that there are pros and cons to both. The two are extremely different; as on one side stand-up is “liberating creatively” and then on the other, acting is “rewarding bringing your own characterisation to someone else’s writing”.

And as our conversation came to an end, I couldn’t help but ask whether we were going to hear more from Annie in 2021. She responded “Not much that I’m allowed to share yet unfortunately! Although, we are about to release the next series of Secret Artists, so that will be available to download soon!”.