Making her Edinburgh Fringe debut with an hour called The Exorcism of Liz Truss, Liz Truss impressionist extraordinaire Nerine Skinner joins Pepper&Salt to talk about all things Liz Truss, sketch comedy and where mayonnaise fits into it all.
How did you start doing impressions as a form of comedy?
Just through that situation where my friends said to do this and to do it now. After that I thought, “Oh I won’t do it again, that will be it.” And because I started to gain a following from it, probably the people pleaser in me felt like, “Oh I should probably carry on.” And I started to try and research and mimic other people’s voices in politics. So I suppose it started as a natural thing, but I hadn’t done it before that point; it’s only two years ago that I started, so I wouldn’t necessarily call myself an impressionist, but definitely as time has gone on, I’ve gotten closer to the characters. I think I’m some sort of political hitman because every time I finally think I’ve nailed them, then they resign. I’m taking requests, so just let me know.
Sketch comedy seems to be quite uncommon or at least have a lower profile in the UK. For example, the US has Saturday Night Live– which is quite an iconic satirical show – but there isn’t really a British equivalent. Is there some sort of gap or desire in the British comedy ‘market’ for more sketch-based comedy?
It’s a good question and one I’ve been thinking about for a while. I’ve always liked the idea of doing something like that in the UK. It’s been tried and has been done previously at different points a long time ago. I feel as time’s moving on, perhaps because everything’s becoming more and more ridiculous, but also, I think everyone’s struggling with the cost of living and everything. I don’t know if it’s just because I’ve come into politics a little bit later and I’m understanding it more or it’s just that politicians are becoming more popular in terms of people know about them more that I feel like it would be really good and educational for people as well as it being a break from day-to-day life. I always think it would be good to have something. Satire Night Live, was my idea that I think would be really fun. Because a lot of people say to me on YouTube or whatever that they get their news from me; they don’t like to watch the news anymore, so they’ll watch it from what I’m doing. Which is ridiculous, they shouldn’t trust me at all. I think there’s definitely a gap in the market for it now, for sure.
Having done all this research on her, what would you say is your favourite fact about Liz Truss?
This is the long answer to your question, but I’ve noticed that we have a few similarities, and that concerns me. And one of them is that she hates mayonnaise and I hate mayonnaise, which therefore brings me even closer to her which scares me. Most people seem to think I’m crazy when I say I don’t like mayonnaise. So that’s my interesting fact for you.
What is it about Liz Truss that makes her so ripe for opportunities to mock her?
Gosh, where to start. I really enjoy watching her mannerisms, I find they’re really interesting, and she has these claw hands sometimes or – it seems to change – one time it was a claw, then it would be a straight hand. Her smile: mannerisms and little traits that she has personality-wise. Also, her vocal tone always sounds like she has a bit of a cold, so I found that interesting. But then on a level of politics and all of the things that have happened; from backtracking on decisions to making these calls on things, and to me, I find her really fascinating as like a clown character that I’m studying because even just watching her trying to leave a room was quite fun. Coming from a place of not having known much about politics in the first place, then just finding and doing loads of research on her and finding out more about her, I just found her really fascinating that actually how can I parody this ridiculous situation.
Firstly, I thought that maybe there was a conspiracy, but because the more I’ve studied her and watched the way she does things, I almost just feel that she is just a little bit like a bull in a china shop; just going into things, doing them and going, “I’m here, I’ve done this, this is the decision I’ve made and I’m completely right.” And in a way, I actually wish that I could have a bit more of that myself that I just go in and do something and not have to worry about the consequences. Because I don’t feel like she has any awareness of what she necessarily has done or is doing, which is obviously never a good thing for the country at all to be in that position. So I would say the awareness is a thing that I am most fascinated by because I do wish I could have more of that sense of ‘I’m just doing what I want to do and everyone else can then can follow me even if the facts aren’t backed up or it’s not necessarily going to be for the best.’
What would you say is your favourite meme from Liz Truss’ premiership?
The pork market meme. It’s just a classic. And it was that that pulled me in in the first place as well because I just saw it and thought, “I can’t ignore this, I can’t ignore that.”
In Shakespeare, the role of the fool and the king are very distinct, with the idea that a fool can’t be a king and a king can’t be a fool. How do you think this applies to the modern context?
I think it’s different for each comedian; what their feelings are, or what they need to say, but I think what’s great about comedy generally – whether it’s political or not – is the ability to be able to speak your truth and to feel like you can address the situation in a light-hearted way, which can then inform people and educate them. I do think – particularly with political satire – it’s another way of doing that if you’ve got a very strong opinion and feel that you need to say something. I think it’s really interesting the way that I’ve come in from it because I used to shy away from politics in my work before because I didn’t feel like I knew enough; that thing where you couldn’t back up something because I always feel like I need to know all of the details and all of the research to be able to have an informed opinion. So, it’s interesting that I’ve kind of fallen into this thing and my version of it is developing as time goes on, but it’s more about bringing joy. I see a situation and I go, “That’s ridiculous, I’ve got to do something on it,” even though it’s already a parody. I mean how do I out-do a parody already? But it’s not necessarily coming from a political angle of needing to say something. But as time goes on and my opinion and things start to form, I’m sure that starts to shift, but at the moment it’s more for me about empowering people to just have a bit of a laugh and let their hair down and be silly. To not worry about all these big things and have a bit of escapism.
I think perhaps that Liz has proved that perhaps really. I think it’s very difficult in politics to be able to have that authority and also some form of personality. I guess there’s an argument for both, cause if you have someone who is really authoritative, commands the space, doing all the right things, and their intentions are there then that’s the most important thing. But then at the same time, what is positive about Liz – if you can bring a positive to the situation – is that she is so extreme in terms of her characteristics and her personality that even people who didn’t know much about politics in the first place have been drawn in. It feels like that generally in politics at the moment, it’s almost like a playground of all these extreme characters that are maybe interesting people who wouldn’t have been interesting before. But I would like to see if there’s a world where you can have both authority and personality, that they both combine, because it feels like it does feel like it’s one or the other. So, it would be interesting to see what comes next.
By Katerina Partolina Schwartz
Photo Credit: Karla Gowlett
Pepper & Salt 
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