Is there any such thing as 'normal'?
What is normal? Is there a single person out there who, hand on heart, would describe themselves as normal, nondescript or plain old ordinary?
It's a subject stand-up funnygirl Francesca Martinez will be tackling with verve and more than a little insight when she arrives at Hull Truck on Friday, March 1, with her latest tour What The **** Is Normal?
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Francesca Martinez
Born with cerebral palsy, Francesca says has come to the realisation she had never actually met a "normal" person and decided to base her show on this.
She said: "I wanted to do a show that was very much me and I didn't feel I could act.
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"It is really nice to deliver an hour of truth and honesty.
"This show was sparked off by my intense relationship with the word normal.
"Being born 'wobbly' I have been haunted by the idea of normal, especially in my teenage years.
"I felt so isolated and I hated who I was. What happened was, when I got to 20, I realised, hang on a minute, I have never met a normal person. That realisation changed my life and liberated me from all my insecurities.
"That was such an immense change. Because of the shift in my attitude my whole life became different and I was amazed by that.
"I thought, 'wow I want to put that in the show'.
"No matter what body you are born into, everybody struggles to live up to certain ideals. Especially the young generation.
"It is really hard to escape from those pressures."
Francesca says every show she does is slightly different and she would relish the chance to keep it going for more than the 40 dates she has planned.
"Touring is quite intense but I absolutely love doing this show," she says. "I would be happy to do it for two years.
She says the show is aimed at people aged 14 and over and teenagers often relate to her content.
"It is an adult show in the sense there is a bit of fruity language and I challenge conceptions. I often perform in schools and colleges and it is such a relevant age.
"I never look at myself and say, 'Francesca, you're a role model', but I am flattered if anyone finds anything I say inspiring.
"I don't set out to be a role model. I set out in the hope that what I say is inspiring to people.
"I am very passionate about communicating things I think are important and comedy is such a good way of doing that, so it is kind of the perfect package."
Francesca calls herself "wobbly" as opposed to saying she has cerebral palsy after a young neighbour used the word to describe her.
She says: "I realised a few years ago that I hated saying 'I have cerebral palsy'. It sounds scary.
"One day, one of my neighbours said 'you are a wobbly lady' and I thought 'how great'. I thought 'I am going to call myself that'."
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