The comedian on overcoming her shyness, doing standup in secret and being a chaos magnet

Born in Canterbury in 1987, Harriet Kemsley is a comedian and podcaster. She began standup in 2011, winning a string of best newcomer awards. As well as touring, she has appeared on 8 Out of 10 Cats and LOL: Last One Laughing UK. In 2017 she starred in the Viceland reality series Bobby & Harriet Get Married with fellow comedian Bobby Mair, with whom she has a four-year-old daughter, Mabel. She presents the podcast Single Ladies in Your Area with Amy Gledhill, and her new show, Floozy, begins in October.

This thick fringe was a big part of my childhood. Sadly now I don’t have the get-up-and-go to maintain one. It’s a separate job altogether. I have no idea where the photo was taken; it could have been Kent, it could have been on holiday, but either way I would have loved that ice-cream. My expression is pure joy. My parents say that I was a conscientious child and very well-behaved. Sadly this has been in steady decline over the years. I was incredibly shy and didn’t know what to say to anybody. Someone would ask how I was and I would panic and say nothing. I have a younger brother and sister but nobody ever thought I was the eldest as I didn’t seem responsible enough.