Life With Lubna Kerr: ‘Comedy was my calling, I loved to make people laugh as a child’

Scottish comedian Lubna Kerr on growing up in Glasgow, her favourite place in Scotland, and what people can expect from her Edinburgh Festival Fringe show this year.

I grew up in Pollokshields in Glasgow when Pakistani people were the minority. Now you need a tan to fit in.

Now I live in Edinburgh and have been here for over 30 years, but people still ask me where I’m from. In Edinburgh they want to find out if you’re from Glasgow. In Glasgow they want to know what school you went to. Or rather what side of the football divide are you?

I think I was good at school depending on your definition of good. I always asked questions, was always the teacher’s pet, and always had an opinion on everything.

My first show was called Chatterbox and that’s about me in primary school. Now with my new show Lunchbox you’ll be able to see what I was really like at school.

It’s a one-woman show with eight characters, and a commentary on bullies and forgiveness. It’s a story that makes you think so deep you might hurt, but gives you hope. It will make you consider who you can help today and who could do with a smile, a kind word, a lending hand.

Callendar is my favourite place in Scotland, my father loved it. It reminded him of his home in Pakistan. The lush green grass by the flowing cold river, playing cricket and eating samosas. He would take us there and celebrate birthdays, play cricket and have a picnic. I do the same with my children now. It reminds me of the times when we played cricket and ate my mums delicious food.

My earliest memories of comedy were my parents watching Dave Allen on tv and Morecambe and Wise. And Stanley Baxter as the Dame. I think deep down comedy was absolutely my calling. I loved to make people laugh as a child. The best advice I was ever given was be yourself, people will love you for who you are.

What makes people really laugh are the truths that uncovers their unconscious bias.

I love any Dave Allen sketch and show, I sometimes wish I’d written them. My guilty pleasure is watching a sketch that I haven’t seen for a long time.

My biggest achievement was leaving the NHS to make a successful career in the arts. And my children of course. 

Muhammad Ali is my hero, float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.

I don’t believe in ghosts but I do believe in Jinn, they are in between Angels and humans.

Following Tickbox and Chatterbox, Glasgow-born Lubna Kerr returns with Lunchbox – the final chapter of her powerful trilogy inspired by her upbringing. Set in a Glasgow secondary school, this solo show explores identity, race, bullying and belonging through two teenagers from the same street but different worlds.

Read more from the Life With series here.

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