Ivo Graham & Suzi Ruffell on class in Fringe comedy
Eton-educated Ivo Graham is from the upper echelons of society, while Suzi Ruffell is a proud proletarian from Portsmouth; the pair are best pals and spoke to each other about class, comedy and friendship
Suzi Ruffell: "I didn't realise I was working class until I left Portsmouth. Growing up for me was holidays in caravan parks, dodgy firework displays and occasionally bunking off school to have a fried breakfast in the big Tesco. School was awful; horrible bottle green uniforms, teachers who would grimace through their classes, all just years away from retirement with very little determination to inspire.
"I don't mind admitting I’m no academic, I’m horribly dyslexic and, unsurprisingly, I was the class clown; I only got four GCSEs but always got big laughs. I distinctly remember Mr Crossland shouting, 'Well Miss Ruffell, you better hope behaving like an idiot can pay your rent when you're older' – well it does, Mr Crossland, and it's London rent which is astronomical! It wasn't all bad, we had a swimming pool but it was so frequently dyed green by one of the older pupils, swimming was usually off the cards.
"I was on the cricket team (quelle surprise!) which was probably the highlight of school for me: I was so good as a batsman, school would often ignore my mucking about and let me play even when I was meant to be in detention. I remember hearing about Eton and it sounded like Hogwarts: wearing special uniforms, in a castle, boarding at school – it seemed magical. So imagine how unimpressed I was when I first met my now best bud Ivo and found him to be disappointingly normal."
Ivo Graham: "Tempting as it is to nick’n’twist Suzi’s opening line ('I didn’t realise I was upper class until I left Eton'), it would be a bit disingenuous: as much of a bubble as Eton was, even the most self-absorbed proto-toff would have struggled to block out the outside world completely. There it was, looming over the Windsor Bridge, the boundary beyond which our tails and pinstriped trousers were not just ill-advised but forbidden, lest boys brought shame upon the school on their weekly jaunt to McDonald’s and HMV.
"But the isolation suited me: not for this champ the thrill of bunking off, or clowning around in class, or even, despite all the stereotypes, playing cricket (woeful batsman; woeful bowler; woeful fielder; extremely competent scorer). As it turned out, in fact, mostly just sat in my room reading Harry Potter, failing to make any connection between Hogwarts and my own lavish teenage prison.
"Sure, we had the old buildings and the secret language, but they had wands, broomsticks, and, crucially, girls. I certainly didn’t think there was anything hugely exotic about my youth. What good fortune, then, to leave Eton, slip off the private school conveyor belt and into the arts, and become best buds with a Pompey bird who never makes me feel anything less than the plummy-voiced museum piece I clearly am."
Ruffell: "Comedy can feel a bit middle class, especially at the Fringe, I sometimes feel a bit of an outsider. There's also an extra element of danger for me, I have no back up plan, no degree, no wealthy parents; if comedy doesn't work out I’m heading back to Portsmouth to work in the family burger van chain Live and Let Fry (100% true). Although, I don't think that's gonna happen any time soon, I love being a stand-up.
"While Ivo and I come from very different worlds we have struck up a wonderful friendship on long journeys, midnight stops at motorway services, comedy clubs, student union gigs and obscure art centres across the country over the last seven years. I’ve also had the pleasure of watching him grow into a fantastic comedian. I think we would both agree in the end it doesn't matter what class you were born into: if you have a lot to say for yourself, some misplaced confidence, a few gags and the willingness to drive literally anywhere for a gig, there's probably a place in comedy for you."
Graham: "My anxious relatives are very generous with their concerns that being posh in comedy must be 'a bit of a challenge, eh, darling?', underestimating (a) how many gigs I do in the Home Counties and (b) how many other poshos still walk the light-ent corridors of power.
"Most importantly, though, it’s a great job in that it forces one to see one’s own bubble from the outside, and learning to sell it to strangers in nightclubs (mostly through jokes about Latin and buggery). Meanwhile, you get to sample other people's backgrounds and worldviews through your friends' sets. Suzi, with whom I’ve shared more miles of motorway than any other comic, is absolutely brilliant at bringing her life to the stage, and I'm looking forward hugely to seeing her latest slice of it, even if she's taking the piss a bit by wearing my school uniform in her poster."
Ivo Graham: Educated Guess, Pleasance Courtyard (Beneath), 2-27 Aug (not 14), 8.15pm, £7.50-11
Suzi Ruffell: Keeping It Classy, Pleasance Courtyard (Below), 2-27 Aug (not 14), 9.45pm, £6.50-10