Harriet Kemsley is back in Edinburgh with her fourth solo show in as many years and it’s already been nominated for Best New Show at the Leicester Comedy Festival. With her unique brand of unfiltered honesty and autobiographical truths, she is taking on slut-shaming in this deeply personal new hilarious hour of stand-up, Slutty Joan.
Meet the Joans. The first Joan is considered a lady, a model citizen, a woman who you’d take home to meet your mother – she has had 2 sexual partners in her lifetime. The second Joan has had a melee of one-night stands and multiple conquests; 20 to be exact. She is thought to be less competent and emotionally stable. Taking inspiration from the Cornell University study where two fictional women named Joan were judged by female students, Harriet explores why ‘slutty’ Joan was judged so harshly.
If Joan wasn’t fictional, her name would be Harriet Kemsley. In this bold outing, Harriet delves into her sexual history, her first male friend being Milo Yiannopoulos (seriously), teaching men what’s right and wrong in the post #metoo era, how she wants a bit of that sex pest confidence and more.
Harriet asks in a world where society tries to tear women down, why are we not building each other up? This riotous and reflective show delves deep into why women are punished (and often punishing themselves) for their sexual exploits, why your sexuality isn’t anyone else’s business and the circumstances that led Harriet to take a long hard look at herself…
Harriet has appeared at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, Sky Cat Laughs in Kilkenny, Oslo Comedy Festival as well as Latitude. The multi award-winning comic has tour supported for Stephen Merchant, Doc Brown, Kerry Godliman, Stewart Francis, Katherine Ryan and Isy Suttie.
You’ll recognise Harriet from her TV appearances on Live at the Comedy Store, Roast Battle (both Comedy Central), Doctor Foster (BBC), Damned (Channel 4) and The One Show Edinburgh Special (BBC). She received huge critical acclaim for her Viceland reality sitcom Bobby and Harriet Get Married, which she wrote and starred in with her real-life husband.
