Episode 27: Naomi Paxton / Character comedian, researcher, academic and public engager

Funny Peculiar Podcast

This week I chat to the wonderful and multi-talented Naomi Paxton. Naomi trained as a performer at Goldsmiths College, University of London, and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). After ten years as a professional actor, she started a PhD. Her doctoral research at the University of Manchester explored the work of the Actresses' Franchise League and the contribution of theatre professionals to the suffrage campaign. In 2013 she edited The Methuen Drama Book of Suffrage Plays (Bloomsbury) which launched at a Platform event at the National Theatre entitled Suffragettes on Stage. Other publications include Stage Rights! The Actresses' Franchise League, Activism and Politics 1908-1958 (Manchester University Press, 2018) and a second edited collection, The Methuen Drama Book of Suffrage Plays: Taking the Stage (Bloomsbury, 2018). A confident, engaging and creative public speaker, Naomi was one of the AHRC/BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinkers for 2014-15. Her extensive public engagement experience includes regular appearances on BBC radio and television, and talks at the National Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, the Barbican, the National Archives, the Hay Festival and Latitude Festival, amongst others. ​Naomi is the regular MC for Museums Showoff and the V&A Museum's Carry on Curating shows, Naomi is currently Knowledge Exchange Fellow at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London, Associate Fellow of the School of Advanced Study, University of London, and an Associate Artist of feminist production hub Scary Little Girls. She worked in Parliament from 2017-18 on an AHRC funded project entitled What Difference Did the War Make? World War One and Votes for Women and was nominated for a Parliamentary Diversity and Inclusion Award for her work with the Vote 100 team. She performs at comedy, cabaret and variety nights as her character Ada Campe. Ada won the prestigious New Act of the Year Show (NATYS) in 2018, and the 2018 Old Comedian of the Year competition. Naomi has contributed to two recent books about women in comedy, The What the Frock! Book of Funny Women (2015) and Stand Up & Sock It To Them Sister (2016). You can follow Naomi on Twitter @NaomiPaxton Twitter @AdaCampe Facebook @naomipaxton Website www.naomipaxton.co.uk Instagram @naomi.paxton