Sara and Lil are having a party in mom’s room
Sara Segovia and Lil Wenker talk about why they sneaked into their mom’s room and what it taught them about comedy.
Lil: I was raised by a very Catholic, Midwestern family. So my mom was like, if you're not up at six, you’re lazy. Now I’m learning to love myself so I wake up at eight and nine. So it's a little bit different. However, something I’ve been struggling with personally is how much of a better human I was as a child. I would wake up, do my homework and my chores. Now I get up and find it hard to function.
Sara: On the day of our show, if I don’t have anything in the morning, I wake up as late as my body allows me. It can be nine, it can be eleven…
L: When we were first creating the night we brainstormed a whole bunch of ideas. Our last two contenders were Flat Earth or Mom’s Room.
S: We went with Mom’s Room because we both had early memories of going into our mom’s room, and she would always have these amazing and beautiful things
L: I loved trying on her outfits and wearing her jewellery, it always seemed to us a magical place where you could have fun.
S: I once found a small jewellery box and underneath the sponge ring holder layer I saw all my baby teeth, I was so surprised because I thought Ratoncito Pérez (Tooth Mouse (English equivalent of the tooth fairy)) had them! That was the day I grew up.
L: My Mom had this suitcase filled with tiny animals, dolls and dolls’ clothes, and whenever she was at work I would always run up and play with them.
S: Everyone has these kinds of memories and we wanted to go back to that wonder, that childish dream land of having fun, not caring about rent or taxes and dressing up.
L: Yeah, we love costumes! One show we had was marriage themed so we both came in wedding dresses and got someone in the audience to marry us. Another thing about us is that we love props - my favourite is the Kiss Cam…
S: Just before the show we start off with music, we dance around, hype each other up, post little Instagram posts to be like “look how pretty we are, come to the show!” Then people start arriving.
L: We like hanging out with the acts beforehand, explain the night to them and get them a drink.
S: We’ve all been to those gigs where you show up and there’s no one greeting you or telling you what’s happening or where you can leave your stuff or asking if you have any questions.
L: The idea of Mom’s Room is that the first half is improv, each act will come with a suggestion and we put it into a hat and another act will have to do it. Props are encouraged, of course. Once someone brought in a dog leash and actual dog food and they ate it. I swear to god. It was really good.
S: The night first started in a school cafeteria that I was a property guardian for. Parties weren’t allowed so I had to keep saying to everyone that I was just having a movie night. There was also a padlock and gate, guests had to come through so everyone who bought a ticket had to be given directions and passcodes to get in. Definitely a “if you know, you know” situation.
L: It was very much a house party vibe. No stage, everyone performing on the same level right next to each other. After the show, we had a few tables set up with loads of beers in the gymnasium, along with lights and we would have a disco till the early morning.
S: We really wanted to bring that spirit of going into your mom’s room with your friends and having silly fun. Even if it was with a bunch of people you didn’t really know. Moving to 2Northdown has been really good for us but we’ve had to change a few things. We have to think about how we deal with hierarchy because we literally have a stage now, with real seats and a real bar. It’s a challenge we are having fun figuring out. Our last show went really well.
L: Yeah, the audience buying into the show is a big part of the magic, so we really want them to have a fun night and feel included. That's why we like, the silly things, like the Kiss Cam or running through the audience and having prizes. We gave out a bunch of condoms last time and people were genuinely so excited to get the condoms. I think that maintains that sort of silly little kid kind of house energy.
S: We are thinking of bringing the acts down, maybe having the audience around us, maybe on to the stage, and bringing in some furniture from home so we can dress the place so it feels like you’ve gone over to your friend's house for dinner.
L: There’s something to be said about the traditional atypical comedy night. We’ve both done it. There are so many gigs where you do your five or 10 minutes, and that’s it. You sit down, and then you have a beer or whatever and talk to your friends about how it went. But asking somebody to improvise is just a scarier thing to ask people. So we want to make it feel really safe. We spend a lot of time matching the acts up, thinking about which acts and what line up would best to work together.
S: Yeah, for the first few shows we were just convincing people like, “I promise, it's not scary.” There were a lot of calls we had to make and we were getting responses like “I'm not sure”, “I don't feel confident” but then every time the acts do it, they love it and they’re like, “I'll be back anytime!”
L: After the show we stay in the venue for a little bit and then with whoever is left we all transition to a pub. We shepherd everyone we can, Kiss Cam in hand. For the Christmas show, I was already a bit drunk and I kept running into restaurants and bars with my Kiss Cam demanding strangers to kiss. Honestly, a lot of straight 40 year old men were very willing to get with their friends. That’s progress.
S: The pub closes at 2am so then we make our way home, I have just moved so I have no idea how to get home yet…
L: And I’m definitely eating chocolate in bed, honestly the amount of chocolate I eat in bed is disgusting (Editor note: She said this proudly). I’ll put on some reality TV and dm my Instagram baddies. Last time I got a call from a friend who wanted to break up with her boyfriend. I was drunk, had been flirting all night, I was all messed up, so messed up! I had to reschedule the call for 10 in the morning.
Their Recommendations:
For me (Sara):
And for me (Lil):
What we saw in the dark:
09/01/23, SOFT PLAY AREA, "you're all flannel suckers!"
Double parked with a pair of margaritas little did we anticipate where this ordinary Tuesday would take us. Soft Play Area (SPA) is an alternative comedy night inspired by an innocent, silly and childish joy. Don’t let their single rule of “no bullying!” fool you however, these are not a bunch of flannel suckers, but a night interested in the thinking and experimentation that goes into being silly professionally.
Always on the lookout for new and interesting nights, we have enjoyed SPA’s Instagram content for a while now, and this was our first time venturing into the role of an irl audience member. Based at the Dona, nestled underneath Stoke Newington High street, the concrete reinforced basement bar provided a safe haven for this nostalgia inducing night.
The hosts (Vidya Divakaran and Maria Telnikoff) emitted an energy that powered this pocket dimension. Greeting everyone on entry, doing laps of the venue, asking questions to vocal participants and debuting their coordinated anti-bullying GCSE interpretive dance number, they brought the required energy and a sense of safety to the room, especially one so early on in January.
The acts were well curated, offering a wide variety, from the high camp ghost of Karl Marx, “YAAAAAS Kapital” to the French lounge singer adapting their songs for the TikTok generation. The night finalised with Rosa Garland who came on stage sporting a dog collar and leash and, with the help of an audience member, nonchalantly created an ad hoc human sized web whilst simultaneously trying to change shirts, producing many moments of hilarity and a very red face for her producer.
The over giddy energy of the night can be summarised with the failed harlem shake that was instigated by the hosts. The audience might not have joined in but it's a reflection of the night’s warmth and appeal. Some nights don’t have to be about hitting every beat and slick 5 minute sets. Some night’s you need to experiment, explore and find yourself, whether as an audience or a performer. Why not do it in a Soft Play Area?
Their next show is on the 6th of Feb. Find them here.
People you should follow: Pravanya Pillay, Jamie Mykaela, Temi Wilkey, Lil Wenker, Dom McGovern, Alice Markey, Rosa Garland