Lorna Rose Treen
LORNA ROSE TREEN is an award-winning character comedian, writer, actor and improviser, based in London but origionally from Redditch (Midlands). She won the Dave's Best Joke of Edinburgh Fringe, causing The Sun to claim ‘wokeism has killed comedy’. A funeral will be held in the extended run of SKIN PIGEON at the Soho Theatre 19th-28th October 2023
Lorna became the first ever double award winner at the Funny Women Awards in 2022, when she won both the “Stage Award” and the “Comedy Short Award”. She won Chortle’s coveted Best Newcomer Award in early 2023. Lorna also makes waves with her viral TikTok and Instagram sketches, which have amassed over 2 million likes and millions more views. She’s a current writer and cast member for the upcoming series of BBC R4’s DMs ARE OPEN.
SKIN PIGEON is advertised as a "character comedy show". What characters do you perform, and what ties them all together?
Skin Pigeon is a collection of characters I like to play. 10 women, 2 animals and 1 object. Some characters are more cartoony, like a cowboy and others are more realised and based my experiences like a Brownie Girl Guide, or a year 11 netball teacher.
When and how did you first become interested in performing & doing comedy?
I grew up on tv - it was my third parent. I loved it, I loved the energy in comedy shows. The Simpsons, Whose Line is it Anyway?, Blackadder, etc. I always used to play stupid to make my family and friends laugh too, being funny was sort of my social currency and I didn’t mind looking like an idiot. I started performing when I went to uni at the University of Edinburgh - training with the Improverts, a short-form improv troupe. Short-form improv is incredible because its game-based, so its really fun to do, and the high energy-ness of the characters is super clowny, and free-ing. It’s like playing pretend when you were a child.
Will you describe one moment in your show that gets the biggest reaction from the audience?
I love surprises, so there are quite a few bits that the audience don’t expect. But there’s one particular one which I actually can’t describe or it’ll ruin the surprise. I guess you have to see it if you’re curious!
What is the "heart" of your show, or what is the thing you're hoping the audience walks away with after seeing it?
I love comedy that’s silly for silliness sake. My show is geared to be fun and joyful. I would love people to leave feeling like they’ve just had an hour of ridiculousness and escapism.
How does it feel to be Edinburgh Fringe's "BEST JOKE" Winner of 2023? Why do you think this caused such a strong reaction from news outlets like The Sun, claiming that “wokeism is causing the death of comedy"?
Super lovely to have won. The award always goes to a pun that can exist without context, and the previous winners are all legendary comedians like Zoey Lyons, Ken Cheng, and Tim Vine, so super nice to be on a list with them. In terms of the sun article - I'm really sorry that I killed comedy with my pun about the zookeeper who turned out to be a cheetah. I didn't even know it was sick, otherwise I would not have done my woke joke. I'll be holding a funeral for comedy 19th-28th October at the Soho Theatre in London if people want to pay their last respects.
Can you tell us about some other female-driven shows you've seen at Fringe this year that you would recommend checking out?
Alice Cockayne, Kathy Maniura, and Trolls are all favourites of mine. Real good escapist silly stuff. It’s really felt like a month of silly women, and I can’t wait to see what they all do next.
Photos by Will Hearle