Lou Sanders and Grainne Maguire may seem like another female double act but
beneath their pretty faces lies a story of bravery and female friendship.
Lou Sanders (25) explains “I was
always interested in giving something back. I had quit my job on the force to do
comedy full time and things were working out really well for me. I loved being a
copper but it was hard busting filth by day and telling whimsical stories about
Battenberg’s at night!” Eventually something had to give, but Lou ( real name
Mathews) never forgot her law enforcement past, especially her favourite unit - Vice.
“I started an out reach project
teaching basic stand up skills to prostitutes. It was an immediate success. It gave
these girls a chance to build their self esteem. Our motto is prostitution is
a serious business but that doesn’t mean our girls have to be serious – all the
time. And if any profession needs the ability to come up with a
quick-heckle-put-down, it’s theirs!” Lou laughs!
One of those girls was Grainne Maguire (14)
(real name Grainne). “It was amazing” Grainne explains, “I’ll never
forget meeting Ms. Sanders for the first time, she was like some sort of Angel.”
Grainne very quickly emerged as the
star of the class. “At the start with clients I used to drop a few little puns, then
I gradually built up the confidence to do knock-knock jokes then full pieces of
observational humour. Eventually customers began requesting me solely for my word
play!”
Lou is understandably proud and when the
opportunity came to perform at the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival, she knew exactly
whom she wanted to do the show with.
“I’m not a hero” Lou
modestly protests. Grainne thinks otherwise “Lou is an inspiration, she is like
Mother Theresa, except with prostitutes instead of lepers and jokes instead of
orphanages”.
People say comedy is the hardest game in
the world. Well at least these two girls know, that isn’t strictly true! |
