Focus on: Natalie Palamides

We are quickly learning that Natalie Palamides doesn’t do things by halves. Her debut show last year, Laid, was a wild and messy ride, and involved her secreting a lot of eggs about her person – eggs she would then either fry onstage or raise as a child. When Natalie and I speak about her new show, Nate, she’s at home in Los Angeles creating a painting of a naked woman with a tuna casserole in front of her vulva. 

Aside from the obvious issue of what on earth a tuna casserole is (I understand it’s mainly an American thing), this is a good marker for what kind of comedian Palamides is. That is, full-throttle and visual, yet substantial too. In my review of Laid last year, I described her as peddling “carnage with purpose”, and Nate promises to pull off a similar trick.

Whereas Laid was study of femininity, Nate is a study of masculinity, and if it’s about any one thing, it’s about consent. Palamides drags up as Nate for the entirety of the show, much like Zoë Coombs Marr did for her 2016 anti-misogyny tour de force, Trigger Warning. The difference here, though, is that Palamides clearly feels a lot of warmth for her creation.

“Nate’s just a stupid, lovable guy. I love playing him so much, I get to say really stupid stuff. People may think he’s a douchebag at first, but as you get to know him you realise he’s a lovable character. He’s kind of been affected by toxic masculinity and he’s pro-consent – that’s something that comes up again and again. He says, ‘all you gotta do is ask’.

“He does get into a difficult situation, but because he’s so lovable it makes the situation tough for the audience to say what’s right or wrong.”

The 28-year-old comic and actor was crowned Best Newcomer last year, and returns once again with Phil Burgers as director of her show – that’s Doctor Brown, who won the 2012 Edinburgh Comedy Award for the spellcheck-defying Befrdfgth. Palamides says in jest that she enjoys playing Nate so much that she’s considered staying in character for the whole month. But does she feel different performing as a man? Does it bring any sense of freedom?

“I feel so much freedom playing him! I get to be gross, sexual, I get to be a badass as well. He allows me to enter arenas that I couldn’t normally as myself. Although I’m not sure it’s playing a male that gives me a privilege [so much] as being onstage. When I’m on stage, I can do whatever I want.”

And that’s a privilege Palamides embraces more than most.