December 8th 2024.
Lou Sanders is a beloved comedian in Britain, known for her sharp wit and hilarious performances. However, despite her success and talent, she is often overlooked by TV producers when it comes to comedy panel shows. This unfortunate reality is shared by many other funny and talented women in the industry.
Despite this, Lou has achieved a lot in her career, having appeared on popular shows such as QI, Would I Lie To You?, 8 Out Of 10 Cats, and Live At The Apollo. She even won Taskmaster in 2019 and competed on Dancing on Ice. However, she is still seen as an afterthought by TV bosses, who seem to prioritize male comedians over their female counterparts.
I had the pleasure of chatting with Lou on a rooftop, and it's no surprise that she is as lovable as she is on stage. Her thoughts bounce from one topic to another, and everything she says is both astute and hilarious. We talked about a range of topics, from serious issues like violence against women to the joy of trampolining.
Lou shared her thoughts on the gender imbalance in TV, saying, "In TV, men are still seen as the authority while women are just there to decorate the lineup." This is backed up by statistics, with research showing that the BBC's efforts to include more women on comedy panel shows have plateaued, with the split still being 60:40 in favor of men.
Despite the progress made in 2014, where each panel show was required to have at least one woman per episode, women are still not given equal opportunities to be the stars of the lineup. Lou pointed out that it's often three male comedians and one female presenter, when in fact, the women should also be given a chance to showcase their comedy skills.
As we discussed the challenges faced by aging female comedians, Lou shared her observations on how men and women tend to react differently as they get older. "Men become moody, while women become anxious," she said. It's a sad reality that even as TV evolves over the years, women are still not getting the representation they deserve. Just take a look at TV travel shows, where men dominate as the hosts.
But Lou is not just sitting around waiting for things to change. She's embracing aging and trying to resist some of the stereotypes associated with women her age. "I think as we get older, we tend to become more negative," she said. She recalled a time when she overheard her friends talking about air fryers for an hour and thought to herself, "There has to be more to life than this."
Lou's life certainly isn't small. On the contrary, she's constantly pushing its boundaries and living life to the fullest. She even joked about how the internet now knows she is 46, after she didn't correct anyone for a while. "I was a bit ashamed of it, to be honest," she admitted. But now, she's made peace with it and is even using her age as material for her stand-up comedy tour, No Kissing In The Bingo Hall.
We talked about the pressure on women to maintain their looks as they age, while men are not held to the same standard. Lou believes this has to do with power dynamics in society, where men have always had more influence and financial stability as they age, while women are judged based on their appearance. "But that's a losing battle," she said. "There will always be someone younger and fitter than you."
As someone who values inner growth and happiness, Lou is not afraid to age gracefully. She shared her secret to staying youthful - trampolining! "When you're jumping on a trampoline, you're not thinking about how you look, you're just having fun," she said. Lou believes that we should all embrace our inner child and have more fun as we age, instead of becoming more risk-averse.
Lou practices what she preaches and even has two mini trampolines at home for herself and a friend to bounce on. She believes that true love comes from seeing someone's whole spirit and soul, rather than just their appearance. "It's crazy that we spend so much time resisting something we can't control," she said.
Of course, Lou does want to age well and take care of her health, but not at the expense of her well-being and happiness. Her new comedy tour explores the idea of aging joyfully and squeezing the fun out of life. "I don't want to look like a shriveled up prune before my time," she joked.
No Kissing In The Bingo Hall will kick off in February 2025 and will be touring around the UK. So, if you want to see Lou's hilarious take on aging and life in general, make sure to grab your tickets. As for Lou, she'll continue to jump on trampolines and live life to the fullest, no matter what age society says she should be.
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