Susan Harrison picks her comedy favourites

Character comedian Susan Harrison – who’s performing her new show Should I Still Be Doing This? at the Edinburgh Fringe – picks her favourite ever comedies

Chris Fleming 

Chris Fleming is a magical comedian with the ability to create an entire character by making his mouth as small as a cat’s bum. (What a sentence).

 I’ve always been fascinated by the myriad ways there are to create characters. Fleming’s character Gayle is a brilliant example of the ‘outside in' approach to creating characters: the small mouth inspiring the character’s whole personality. 

Chris Fleming is not a one trick pony though, far from it. He is a multi trick, show-pig! His videos are weird & wonderful and range from lampooning theatre kids, to Gigi The Christmas Snake, to an excellent portrayal of an AI called Fupi. He has some uniquely funny songs too, and his stand-up (packed with incredible act-outs and wording which no one else would ever have come up with) is excellent. 

I really admire a comedian who is offbeat, silly, creative, and hard to define. It means a lot to me to see someone ploughing their own furrow and finding their audience, and it gives me hope that maybe one day I will find my audience too. 

Community 

Community is a warm hug of a show, featuring a brilliant ensemble cast. All the characters are endearing: flawed yet likeable. 

I first discovered Community when I was working on reception in a GP surgery, doing early-morning shifts. I would come home exhausted, collapse on the sofa and treat myself to a few episodes of Community in a row. 

Even now as soon as the theme tune comes on, I feel soothed. My favourite part of Community is the friendship between Troy and Abed, although having said that, there are loads of amazing smaller roles and cameos too. The in-genre episodes (eg A Fistful of Paintballs) are also great, and call to mind Spaced, another brilliant and seminal sitcom. 

Nina Conti 

It goes without saying that Nina Conti is a fantastic ventriloquist, but the thing that puts her a Cut Above most vent acts is her improvisational and celebratory approach to audience interaction. She’s so good at reading an audience member’s body language and magnifying whatever quirks they have, in order to speak as a version of them. It’s a very ‘improv’ and generous approach. 

Traditional or mainstream audience interaction often focuses on known outcomes, or being able to steer audience members to where you want to go. I’ve always been drawn to audience interaction that’s more fluid and gentle, and which celebrates the audience member. It can be hard to convince people that this works (until they see it) so the fact that Nina Conti is out there proving it works on a huge scale is really inspiring. Her work is funny, daring and weird, which for me is something to admire, and to aspire to. 

Andrew Roussou 

Andrew  Rousso has a unique comedy mind and an incredibly specific turn of phrase. He is relentlessly funny, strange and surprising. 

The online comedy landscape (with its low effort videos, bland and badly-acted sketches and familiar formats) can be a bit disheartening to observe, so it was refreshing when I discovered Andrew Roussou because his online sketches are well written, well acted and completely unique. 

My partner and I discovered his stuff relatively recently and it’s always exciting to watch new uploads together. Watching one of Roussou’s videos is like having a shot of something addictive that you’ve never tasted before. Newbies should start with his video ‘Those actors on actors interviews be like…’ Let this be your gateway drug. 

Debbie Downer (SNL) 

To my mind, Debbie Downer is the ultimate comedy character, and indeed the ultimate comedy sketch too. It’s a clear premise, brilliantly performed and neatly written. In addition, the actors are constantly at risk of breaking throughout, which gives the whole thing a naughty and unhinged vibe. And that is a vibe that I’m very much here for. 

I’ve always loved this sketch, long before SNL was even a twinkle in the UK’s eye/Sky. Sketch and character comedy have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. In my 20s I was part of a sketch group, but I was finding every excuse to make sketches long before that, back in school. My classmates would treat a lesson like a lesson, and meanwhile I’d be trying to crowbar a comedy sketch into a religious studies class, or an assembly.

For a long time I ran a sketch/character night, alongside Rebecca Shorrocks (of Short and Curly) called Cabarera, which we themed around different eras each month, so I’ve really put the hours in! Basically, I’ve devoted a huge part of my life to putting on wigs and being other people. 

For me, SNL in general, and Debbie Downer in particular, has always been important because it serves as an example of how fun and anarchic sketch and character comedy can be. Its presence says to the world, this is a genre which deserves as much of a spotlight as stand up. 

Parks & Recs

Mockumentaries can have a bad rep, but I love them. So much so that I’m currently making one with my writing partner Lucy Trodd and director Ben Fogg. 

In the right hands, mockumentaries provide a chance for the characters to interact with each other, and to talk directly to the audience. It’s the best of both worlds, and when actors like Amy Poehler are involved the results can be joyful. Parks and Recs features strong relationships, warm characters, and storylines which are just silly enough. Tom (played by Aziz Ansari) is my favourite character. I love his bragadocious confidence. 

My favourite storyline though would be in season 4 episode 11, when Ben (played by Adam Scott) becomes unemployed, and loses his mind to claymation. This episode was a classic for the ages which took on a new resonance during lockdown. 

I have been a comedy geek my entire life so this whole list was impossible to narrow down.  Therefore honourable mentions must go to: Spinal Tap, The Day Today, Three Bean Salad, Sarah Kendall (who was the first female stand-up I saw), The Handsome Pod, Vic and Bob, French and Saunders and The League of Gentlemen.  

• Susan Harrison’s character comedy show Should I Still Be Doing This? is at the Gilded Balloon Appleton Tower at 7.40pm for the duration of the Fringe.

Published: 16 Aug 2025