COMEDIAN, actress and writer Bridget Christie will answer all the big questions when she comes to Belfast next week.
Questions such as why has she been sending her stained underpants to British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne every month? And what’s the difference between Eddie Izzard and Caitlyn Jenner? And which method actor has been playing the character comedian Nigel Farage since 2010?
Bridget doesn’t do social media, so seeing her live is the only place to get the big answers. She does have a Twitter handle (@BridgetChristie), but on her page she points out that "I’m not on here, but thanks for following".
On her website, she says she is on Twitter "in case I decide to join at some point in the future. Please feel free to `follow’ me doing nothing".
So, why does she avoid social media when so many of her comedy peers are on it constantly?
"I am a little bit on Facebook – but not really – and I’ve never been on Twitter," she says.
"I know people with busy jobs and kids are on it and it’s fine and there are advantages to it, but for me – personally – I would never know when I was not working if I was on social media too.
"It’s quite liberating as a writer and performer to not be involved in that to-ing and fro-ing.
"Economically I probably should be on it because it’s a way of you connecting with your audience and letting them know about things."
Bridget’s husband, comedian Stewart Lee, is also anti-Twitter, stating on his website, "I am not on Twitter, I will never appear on Twitter... People will pretend to be me on Twitter... they are not me..."
The London-based couple have two children, aged eight and five, so Bridget says she tries not to be away from the family for too long and so is doing mostly midweek shows on this tour.
She’s in Belfast next Wednesday as part of the Imagine! festival and says she loves getting over.
"I think my last time in Belfast was with Mark Thomas and Robin Ince for a benefit thing a couple of years ago. I do love it there, although I always do feel a bit... `I wonder how this [bit of material] will go down’," she says.
She also plays The Sugar Club in Dublin on May 9 and 10 and says she might have to tweak a few things for her shows in the south.
"I think it’s easier to talk about sexuality than it is to talk about women’s rights in some places [in the Republic]. There’s still a feeling of apprehension and worry, maybe, about what I’m going to say.
"I remember doing a show in Galway and then I went to Sweden with the same show and it was SO different."
Born to a father from Roscommon and a mother from Leitrim – and with the classic Irish name Bridget (named after her granny) – she and the family used to visit the west of Ireland quite regularly.
"There were nine of us, so it was quite expensive. We’d go camping at Strandhill [in Co Sligo]. I don’t get over as much as I’d like now, but we might be coming over on a holiday soon."
British politics is just one source for Bridget’s stand-up material and she isn’t a huge fan of London Mayor Boris Johnson.
"He’s been doing this character of this harmless buffoon for years now, but he’s ruthlessly manipulative and ambitious."
And what does she make of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn?
"I don’t know if it’s working out as well as everyone had hoped. He’s a nice guy and he was something different for everybody, but he’s not quite Prime Minister material.
"Things come up all the time and I think `Where is he? What’s he saying about this? What’s Jeremy’s opinion?’ We need our party leaders to be more prominent on big issues. He’s just been really quiet. I feel like there isn’t anyone for me at the moment."
Bridget has appeared on host of TV shows, is a regular on BBC Radio 4 and after writing for many newspapers and magazines, she published her debut book – A Book For Her – last year and it’s out now in paperback.
"It’s quite nerve-racking writing a book, so you don’t really want to read reviews. I was lucky to be reviewed at all and then it was universally positive, so it’s been amazing.
"It’s a bit of a lefty manual so I thought the right-wing press would have a bit of a go, but they didn’t. But writing stand-up is my favourite thing; it’s more fun, because you think of something and then you try it out at night."
The book title is a play on her 2013 Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning stand-up show A Bic For Her.
She’ll be doing an after-show book signing in Belfast and says it’s nice to meet people.
"I’m not on social media, so I don’t get to chat with them that way. People do email me, but it’s nice to meet them face-to-face."
:: Bridget Christie comes to The MAC in Belfast on Wednesday at 7.45pm, as part of the Imagine! festival. Tickets £19.50-£25 (themaclive.com / 028 9023 5053). A Book For Her is out now, published by Arrow Books.
