Comic Chloe Petts’ very first stand-up was a rarity: it was a triumph.
‘The primary one was nice as a result of I packed a basement of a pub with all of my mates, and took about 10 pictures,’ she tells Metro.
Her confidence swiftly got here crashing down after the subsequent one, although.
‘The second gig was in an attic above a pub, I didn’t have the pictures or my mates, and ate s**t for 5 minutes. In these two moments, it was like, “Okay, that is what arise is – the highs and the lows. Do I wish to maintain doing this?” It was a terrific lesson in by no means believing in your individual hype.’
We’re talking forward of Petts kicking off 2026 together with her largest tour to this point. Mischievously titled Huge Naturals – impressed by an inside joke with Off Menu’s Ed Gamble – the present opens with a three-week run at London’s Soho Theatre earlier than heading out on the highway across the UK.
The set was previewed at a sell-out run on the Edinburgh Fringe final summer season, the place it turned one of the talked-about reveals of the pageant. Her identify was inescapable as pundits drank pints and traded suggestions with strangers about the very best issues they’d seen up to now.
Nostalgia, lad tradition, and musical roots
Huge Naturals is a nostalgic – although removed from uncritical – retrospective of rising up as a ‘baby geezer’, which Petts describes as ‘somebody who seems to be like they may deal with themselves at a marriage’, in the course of the peak of ‘lad tradition’ within the 90s and early 00s.
It was a ballistic second when misogyny wasn’t simply accepted, however celebrated – splashed throughout the covers of countless ‘lads mags’, Web page 3, and within the work of many main comics of the time.
‘Lad tradition is clearly one thing I look again on now and completely interrogate,’ Petts insists. ‘It created a framework the place lads are allowed to be a**eholes, and if the ladies don’t get on board, then they’re mocked. It was identical to it was an excuse for misogyny. However quite a lot of the stuff was actually enjoyable, and I believe it’s okay for that nuance to exist.’
For Petts, the pull of lad tradition was rooted in music. ‘There was one thing concerning the simplicity of the music that received me. Noel Gallagher stated Oasis wouldn’t be the band that they turned if he have been a fret wizard. He stated the rationale they have been so good is that the music is easy and anybody might play it.’
Petts was attending the church of indie-pop, worshipping the god-like bands of lad tradition. Her stand-up is filled with affectionate, hysterical anecdotes – together with attending a Kasabian live performance together with her mum, a Christian minister and rocker.
Discovering pleasure in trauma
Her household looms giant in Huge Naturals. On the time of writing, they’ve but to see the present, however she says she requested for permission to share pivotal moments from her childhood, albeit with some poetic licence.
‘I’ve received a bit within the present about my brother all the time crying. I haven’t seen him cry since I used to be about 4, and he simply thinks it’s actually humorous that I’m portray him out as this little wuss that gained’t cease crying.’
Whereas getting swept up within the communal spirit of lad tradition, Petts was concurrently taking part in in a Christian rock band together with her greatest mates. ‘We might meet two or 3 times every week to play music collectively within the church, and I discover church buildings so emotionally evocative.’ Absorbing the preachings of the Church of England, nevertheless, proved harder.
She recollects: ‘I informed the Vicar’s spouse I could be homosexual. After which she stated marriage was between women and men, and [being gay] wasn’t one thing that God wished. However I used to be at an age the place I used to be identical to, “okay, shut up.”’
Discovering pleasure and humour within the trauma of rising up a lesbian on the peak of lad tradition isn’t any small feat. Homophobia was a constant thread within the comedy of the period. ‘It taught you that butch lesbians have been aggressive and a laughable group. I believe I in all probability overcorrected myself at the moment,’ Petts displays.
Virtually 20 years on, Petts’ stand-up feels solely confident. ‘A part of being myself is the silliness and softness. I believe the dichotomy of the aggressive soccer lout and the mushy feminist is kind of a humorous conflict.’
From the stage to the display
The conflict is clearly working. In 2025, Petts made her Reside At The Apollo debut – a career-defining milestone for any comedian on the rise. She bought out her third UK tour, starred in Hannah Gadsby’s Netflix particular Gender Agenda, and have become one thing of an everyday on Have I Obtained Information For You.
‘Have I Obtained Information For You is probably the most intimidating factor,’ she says. ‘That present is tough. You’ve received Paul Merton, Ian Hislop, Andy Hamilton, and Stephen Mangan sat there, and I wouldn’t know methods to make these males giggle at a cocktail party, however now I’ve to do it on nationwide tv. It’s intimidating however thrilling and funky, and so they take care of you.’
Not all stand-ups translate seamlessly to panel reveals. It’s a distinct talent solely – and one which’s slowly disappearing. All through the 00s and 10s, panel reveals have been unavoidable, filling schedules most nights of the week and launching the careers of numerous comedy legends.
‘It’s a disgrace,’ says Petts. ‘You’ll want to do it hundreds to get actually good at it. I want I might do it extra as a result of I actually wish to enhance. Generally it’s embarrassing and humiliating to fail on such a public scale, however you simply should go, “have you learnt what, I did my greatest, and it’s okay to muck it up typically.”’
I ponder if she’s ever felt that approach herself. ‘As soon as,’ she admits, however even with a nudge, gained’t say extra.
She is, nevertheless, more than pleased – even barely excited – to recall one very public cock-up.
‘I went on Radio One, and Scott Mills was speaking about his upcoming wedding ceremony, after which I requested him about his spouse. It was so embarrassing that I got here on as a semi-famous homosexual man and assumed that this famously homosexual man might solely have a spouse. I used to be so embarrassed by it, however now I discover it actually humorous.’
Fortunately, it wasn’t sufficient to summon the rage-baiters, and Petts’ profession nonetheless feels prefer it’s gathering pace. The final three years could also be filled with bucket-list ticks, however momentum is firmly on her aspect.
‘I’ve been working 11 years to get “in a single day success,” and I really feel extremely grateful for it. From the surface, it would seem like a wave, however for me it looks like this mild floating downstream, and each little bit of floating downstream has been a bit extra expertise so as to add to the jar, in order that by the point these items begins taking place, I simply really feel actually ready and and outfitted for it, as a result of I’ve been allowed to simply observe, develop and have enjoyable actually quietly.
‘I now really feel like I’ve completed the coaching, and I’m able to maintain doing all of those superb issues, and simply really feel actually grateful for them.’
Chloe Petts brings her critically-acclaimed and sell-out new present, Huge Naturals, nationwide, beginning with over two weeks at London’s Soho Theatre from Friday, January 2, and operating till Sunday, March 8. For more information and tickets, go to chloepetts.org.
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