Award-winning podcast duo Poppy Jay and Rubina Pabani are bringing their bold, hilarious and unfiltered stage show Brown Girls Do It Too: Mama Told Me Not to Come to Soho Theatre Walthamstow and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Known for their fearless takes on sex, identity, and cultural taboos, the pair have transformed their hit BBC Sounds podcast into a live experience packed with sketches, songs, and raw storytelling.
Catch them at at Soho Theatre, Dean Street from 10 – 14 June 2025, Underbelly Bristo Square in Edinburgh from 1–26 August 2025, and at Soho Theatre Walthamstow from 9–13 September 2025.
You’re bringing Brown Girls Do It Too: Mama Told Me Not to Come to Soho Theatre Walthamstow – what can you tell us about the show?
P: It’s messy, it’s honest, and it’s everything we were raised to keep quiet about. Built from fragments of our real lives – from the hilarious to the unbelievably cringe– the show is ultimately a celebration of what it means to be a British Asian woman.
R: It’s a collection of flashbacks from our own lives told in song, sketch and dance as we share some of our most personal stories and feelings about growing up as British Asians. From who we masturbate to, to the complex relationships we have with our mothers, this is an acid trip into our colourful and chaotic brains.
The podcast has been a huge success – how did you go about translating that energy and honesty to the stage?
P: The podcast gave us the freedom to say things we never thought we’d say and the stage gives us a chance to show them. FYI the show isn’t just the two of us sitting on stage talking – it’s theatrical, it’s performative and a little unhinged. We wanted people to laugh, wince and maybe even feel a little exposed. It’s raw and honest – with a space hopper, a hula hoop, and absolutely no regard for shame, which still holds so much power in the South Asian community.
R: When we had a chance to bring our podcast to stage, we really wanted to do something different, something that had audiences sitting up in their seats in shock, something that we know the podcast did. We’ve had to shed any self-consciousness and leave shame at the door and hopefully we can encourage our audiences to do the same!
You’re performing in your hometown – how does it feel to bring this show to to Edinburgh Fringe and then to Walthamstow?
P: I grew up in Waltham Forest, went to school here, and had some of my toughest years in this borough, so bringing the show home feels nerve-wracking but cathartic. I’m not the same girl who grew up here – I’m coming back freer, louder, and finally in control. Edinburgh, on the other hand, will be wild. I’m shitting myself, but chaos is kind of where we thrive. Best advice I’ve had so far for surviving the Fringe? “Eat veg”.
R: I lived in the borough of Waltham Forest for 3 years and am from North London, so this feels very much like home turf. While I am very excited to bring our show to Walthamstow and to an iconic venue where I have been drunk more than once, its nerve wrecking to bring it to people who maybe had parallel lives growing up. Let’s hope they see themselves in us.
The show tackles everything from sex and heartbreak to racism and family politics – how do you balance humour with such powerful themes?
P: We don’t try to balance it – we let it collide head on. Our humour and the pain come from the same place. Growing up British Asian, you learn to laugh in uncomfortable moments. It’s a survival skill. But it’s also what makes our stories rich – they’re tragic and ridiculous at the same time. And brown girls are elite level trauma bonders so they get it.
R: Comedy has this unique power to talk about everything and anything and we hadn’t realised that our podcast was really using laughter to probe deep into the darkest parts of ourselves. Our community is very very funny and we’re so excited to no longer be the butt of the joke, but in fact make jokes, about butts.
You’ve received praise for your openness – what keeps you motivated to keep pushing boundaries?
P: Boundaries? What are those? Asians don’t get boundaries – I didn’t grow up with any, and I’m only just learning what they are in my late 30s. What keeps me going is the silence we were raised in. The things left unsaid. The shame that seeped into the gaps. If we can put words to those things – and have other women nod, laugh, or shout “same!” – that’s enough. For me, it’s about reclaiming our stories, especially the painful ones but doing it through laughter cos honestly if we don’t laugh, we’ll cry.
R: British Asian women in this country are magnificent creatures. Their love for the podcast, their love for the show and their support means we want to continue to represent them, tell their stories and keep amplifying their voices.
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see Brown Girls Do It Too: Mama Told Me Not to Come?
P: If you’ve ever felt too brown, not brown enough, too loud, too horny or just too much – this show is for you. Come for the jokes, stay for the truth bombs. And bring your mum…(No really bring her).
R: Stop thinking and just come. This is also my one hot sex tip.
