Sandi Toksvig's career update ahead of visit to Liverpool
Comedian Sandi Toksvig is touring the country’s theatres with an evening to celebrate the publication of her new novel. As part of it, the presenter will be coming to the city’s Philharmonic Hall with a show that is said to be “packed with silly stories, profound truths” and a quick-fire Q&A.
The 66-year-old will be exploring what it really means to be a “friend of Dorothy” - a euphemism for a gay person in the queer community. The mum-of-three said: “The novel refers particularly to the LGBT+ community, people who may have lost their biological family through cultural issues or personal issues. As I got older, I find a lot of my friends have become my family.
“I’m lucky enough to have also got my biological family. But particularly for gay people who've been chucked out of their families, it's important to create your own. But it can be anyone. So it's a celebration of those families.”
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Sandi’s latest book follows the story of a young lesbian couple who are lucky enough to buy their first home. However, when they move in, the old woman they bought said house from has failed to move out.
The author explained how some of her own experiences, as a lesbian, have influenced the writing. She said: “It’s a world I understand. I wrote a novel set in the Boer War, and I had to do an enormous amount of research. So for this one, I thought I'm just going to sit down and write an amusing novel, and I'm not going to do any research.
“So it helps that I understand how families work. I've got three children with my previous partner. It draws on what I know, but it's not in any way autobiographical. It's just something I made up in my head.”
At her upcoming show, where everyone will get a copy of the book, Sandi said “no two” will be the same. She added: “Anybody who's seen my show before knows that I go off in what I call rabbit holes of curiosity. But I'm going to be talking about books in general. I’m going to find the cleverest person in the room and we’ll have some unexpected laughs along the way.
“We just have a nice time. It's a bit like having a cup of tea one-on-one but with a thousand people. It's very chatty. One time I asked ‘Who’s got the strangest job?’ This old man said he was the last handmade bicycle maker in Britain.
“He told us all about it and I said, ‘Well, that's marvellous, thank you,’ and moved on. But he got out of his seat and came all the way down to the front and started banging on the stage saying, ‘I haven't finished.’ So I got a chair and a cup of tea and allowed him to carry on.
“I like to see what the audience asks me, although some of it can be curious. There was a woman in Cardiff who asked me what my bra size was. I couldn't remember, so she had to come up and have a look.”
Sandi Toksvig’s show will be coming to Liverpool on Tuesday, October 8. Tickets can be bought for the 7:30 pm show here.