S2 Ep21: Ep 21- Happiness and those grounding moments - with Athena Kugblenu

Weekly series special  as we check in on our funny mummies in the lock in!

This week Hatty and her comedy partner Gemma Beagly manage to get hold of stand-up, writer, improviser and mum of one  Athena Kugblenu (BBC new comedy award finalist, BBC Radio 4 news quiz, ,loose ends, guilty feminist co-host and Keeping Athena Company Podcast ) We go through Athena's birth story and how waiting two weeks till after her due date meant she didn't have a chihuahua baby. On happiness she concludes she's a happy person in spite of herself and takes us through what her parents laid down as the vital ingredients for happiness. The chat turns to a mothers love and Athena ends up counselling Hatty! They have a very valuable chat about stand-up, competitions and Athena parts some advice on how your material will dictate where your success can lead - 'be purposefull'. A shorter then normal episode as Athena is in demand and sadly we only brush the surface of the recent  anti-racism  movement after the killing of George Floyd in America and her reaction. We chat about the need for the writers room to be diversified and how she would love to be a mentor for bringing more black women into comedy. 

Recorded remotely on 12/6/2020 for the Other Woman Show on Soho Radio . 

Edited by Alex Holland