It's Friday night and I'm at the Comedy Store, London's self proclaimed number one comedy club. The punters are downing gallons of Boddington's and want to forget about work, have fun and maybe even a taste of comedian's blood. The compere bounds on stage full of bravado and starts deriding and goading various members of the audience. He knows he's onto a winner when he discovers there are some accountants in the house - there's definitely no mercy for accountants in comedy land. The audience are getting mouthier as the hecklers' Dutch courage starts to kick in. They take the opportunity to display their lack of talent as a Geordie warm up act comes on. Big on incest jokes and quick on one-liners he certainly holds his own. The audience is laughing and getting hot and noisy. Then it is the moment I'm here for.

Caption: Francesca Martinez - do you dare to take her on?

Francesca Martinez takes the stage with the help of a walker. An uncomfortable hush comes over the audience as they realise that she has cerebral palsy. You can sense them all asking: "What is she doing here? What do we do now?"

The audience struggles with its sense of political correctness. Her opening gag is "I suppose you're wondering about my condition? Well I'm sober - but I bet you all thought I was pissed!"

This breaks the tension and she carries on delivering a series of observations about being disabled. She is very funny and get laughs and applause. Yet no one in the audience has the bottle to heckle. And this is where one of the essential ingredients to comedy is missing; the audience don't feel they can join in.

They haven't come to terms with the fact that, in this arena, it's OK to give the performer a hard time. And the fact that the performer is disabled doesn't count. Disabled performers are putting themselves on the line saying we're here and we can be funny so have a laugh and treat us equally. And as any stand-up knows audience aggro goes with the territory.

I would like to see Francesca perform in a club where the audience is really up for it, where they don't give a damn about her disability and give her the chance to really show what she is made of. Yes, throw her to the lions and she'll come out like a gladiator, fighting.

I think her repartee would be breathtaking and it would be great fun watching her verbally dismember those who dare go head to head with her!

Francesca has already proven she is a force to be reckoned by winning the Daily Telegraph Open Mic Award 2000 and is booked to appear at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. So, if she is performing in a club near you, get down there, have a pint of Boddingtons, shout, heckle and watch the sparks fly. 'Cos that's what live comedy is all about, isn't it?

Posted: 05.06.2001

Disability Times: The voice of conscience for a caring nation

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