Interview with Emma Rollason
- Reference Number: DW-252/2/18
- Date: 24 Feb 2020
- Level: Item
- Extent: 1 file (564958 KB)
- Format: WAV Audio file
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Description: Interviewee: Emma Rollason Born: 1981 Interviewer: Julie Nettleship Date of Interview: 24 February 2020
(00.25) Q. Tell me about where you grew up and what it was like growing up there?
(00.31) Grew up in Gornal. Raised between upper and lower Gornal. A typical working-class upbringing. Enjoyed upbringing.
(01.15) Q. Can you describe what it was like growing up at home and in the area?
(1.29) A little different to what it is today which sounds clichéd. My grandad grew leeks and beans in the garden (he was war generation). Gornal doesn?t moved quickly with the times (not in a bad way), just more traditional folk.
902.25) Q. Do you have any sort of like prominent memories growing up?
(02.36) As a kid or couldn't just always remember being out. Born in 1981, so middle 80s we were always out. Technology, nobody had mobile phones and you were lucky if you had a house phone. I feel I added a good childhood in that sort of way.
(03.25) Q. Do you have any siblings?
(03.28) I have a younger sister Rebecca, 18 months between us and then 18 months after Rebecca my brother Mark was born.
(03.48) Q. What were the dynamics like between you
(03.53) Being the eldest I've got the blame for everything even if it weren't my fault. Remember my sister and brother always sticking together and I was kind of on my own. It was always them to against me. When we did get on wed build camps in the living room, we would use our imaginations a lot. My mom I did a square pouffe in the corner and we'd all get on it pretended it was a tank. We used our imaginations a lot and I don't think a lot of kids now have the opportunity to do that.
(05.01) Q. Tell me about your parents
(05.05) My mom Kerry is one of three siblings. She lost her mother when she was 13 which had a big impact on her. I never knew my nan. My mom looked after the kids and my dad went out to work. She had a breakdown when she was 21 complete breakdown and as a suffered mental illness all her life and that's just some of the we've become used to. My dad, he's just a little bit older than my mom is hands on. He was an industrial welder and bricklayer.
(06.37) Q. What was it like going to school for you?
(06.43) I absolutely loved primary school. Loved playing in the and dressing up in costumes. That was something I just took to naturally. I was one of the smallest at one point and got bullied. I found that I could mimic accents just naturally. I mimicked the accents from Home and Away (popular Australian soap opera of the time) so I would do these and it stopped me getting bullied, because
they found it entertaining. I was hoping that secondary school was going to be just as fun but it wasn?t. I lost all my confidence and became aware that there was at the time a possibility that I thought I could be gay, so that caused a lot of problems. I had an eating disorder and I couldn't wait to leave secondary school. I went on to college and loved it.
(08.38) Q. Tell us about what you were doing that you loved it when you went on to college.
(08.47) Fell into it by when I say accident. I'm a religious person. I do believe God can have a hand in things. By a couple of funny chances ended up doing a performing arts course. I was really interested in music and singing. I went on this performing arts course doing acting, singing, dancing and directing and I loved it. It was a B Tech in Performing Arts at Manziel college in Dudley. I went on to do an HND in community theatre.. We got to go out to old folks homes and work in prisons. I just thrived.
(10.26) Q. You say you got on the course by the skin of your teeth, by luck. Can you tell us more about that?
(10.44) I wanted to do art at school at GCSE but not enough room in the class for me. I did music instead. I was filling some forms out for what I wanted to do after school. Had no idea what I wanted to do after school. The girl sitting next to me, Kate Owen, said do what I'm doing so I did. I started this course when I went in for the interview with Lynn Miller and we had to do improvise a scene.
(13.06) Can you tell us about some of the experiences that were strong for you on the course?
(1315) The whole thing. I work in the post [office] now and it?s not bad bad job. I do it because it pays the bills but with performing arts with that college , I?d do a night shift. I loved it.
(14.06) Q. Were there any particular influences for you at that time when you were doing the course?
(14.25) Lynn Miller and Dave Morris who ran the course. The way I work today as a performer is everything in the back of my head that they taught me. Dave was a bit more laid back, but very, very intelligent man. Lynn was more strict but you wanted to please her. Lynn and Dave were were massive influences. Greg Hobbs who's a local actor and working actor, he used to come and do some acting technique lessons with us.
(15.40) Q. Can you tell me about your interest in comedy and when it first began?
(15.52) At primary school. I remember playing a sparrow and I had to just run up out the stage flapping my wings. Then I played an old man guarding a treasure chest and I had a cotton wool beard and moustache. I can remember being so nervous. All the adults laughed and they commented to my mum saying how good I was. I wanted to make people laugh.
(17.37) What does Black Country humour mean to you?
(17.45) Everything. Black Country humour is so simple. I don't mean simple as in we need educating. Taking simple things and laughing at them. Observational comedy. Everyone can laugh, it doesn?t segregate.
(18.45) Can you tell me about some of your influences?
(18.57) Victoria Wood, French and Saunders, 80s comic group. The Two Ronnies, Dick Henry, Frank Spencer. All these comedians and the carry ons. I like traditional slapstick comedy.
(20.06) Q. Once you finished your course, what did you do with your skills that you?d learned?
(20.20) When I finished the course I didn't do anything for a good four years. I did a lot of drugs did a lot of beer. I kind of got very lost and reached in in the end I think after about four years, I thought to myself what am I doing? I?d become lost. I went to see Lynn Miller at college. In that meeting, the office phone rang and Sue Hawkins from The Fizzogs asked Lynn is she knew a young performer who could play Cinderella in school tour and Lynn said Emma Rollason. I worked with The Fizzogs for the next 10 years.
(21.58). Q. Do you want to say anything about those 10 years working with The Fizzogs? What the highlights for you?
(22.08) It was great. I was earning money, doing a lot of school work in and out of schools teaching drug awareness, bullying awareness and sexual health awareness. Fizzog then progressed on to doing evening comedy shows and I did those too. I was with them for 10 years. It did get to a point where I just wanted to walk away from the group and just do my own thing.
(23.20) Q. How did that come about?
(23.35) I consider myself a professional when I'm working. We were doing characters called the dancing grannies and it got a few shares and likes, so a few egos started to grow. I just started to dislike that. The last nail in the coffin when I was on stage in a rehearsal and somebody's boyfriend, who was unqualified started telling me what to do on stage and I just thought this isn?t working for me. This isn't professional enough so I thought, I'm going to do my own thing and I walked away.
(24.37) Q. How was it to walk away after 10 years?
(24.42) I had to just cut them off. At the time I was suffering with a lot of depression and anxiety. At the time, that was what I did in my life. If I couldn't deal or cope with anything, I just cut it off, throw it away, move on, and then I didn?t have to deal with it. Probably very childish, just cutting them off after 10 years but that's what I did and I can?t take it back.
(25.24) Q. What did you do then?
I?d gone on to work with Women in Theatre, The Birmingham Rep and did some work with Doreen Tipton (Black Country character) I did some productions and did a film called Doreen and then started filming my own character Dolly. I'm still doing that now.
(26.04) Q. Can you tell us about the origins of Dolly?
(26.08) When 17 years old, performed in a friend?s play in college which was set in the war. The set was just five front doors and out of these five front doors came out five different women. Played a washer woman. After a performance, a guy in the audience came up and said I?d make a really good Dolly Allen impersonator. Didn?t know who Dolly Allen was so went and researched her. Got some
of the material together, got a costume to carry off the character and tried it at a few venues and I got a lot of interest. I couldn?t take up to the stand-up though. I met a friend who does films and we decided to do little sketches video sketches. We developed it from initially being a tribute to a stand-up comedian into a comedy sketch. I?d like to think I?ve brought Dolly into modern day. It's a representation of a sort of tip of your me cap to Dolly Allen, Tommy Mundon, all these comedians that I admired.
(29.44) Q. What are your main influences that you bring to the [Dolly] character?
(30.00) It's a mesh. Like Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd and silent comedians. Have done sketches where Dolly is silent, like Mr. Bean. It?s physical comedy. You can make people laugh without saying anything. It's a bit of a mishmash of all the things I've liked.
(30.42) Q. What kind of responses have you had?
(30.45) Fantastic. Got just over 4,000 followers now and that's good for the for the Black Country characters out who speaks Black Country.
(31.30) Q. What do you see is the future for Dolly?
(31.34) Understands everything has a shelf life. I put these video out to make people laugh and that makes me happy making people laugh. My answer to that is what will be will be as long as people like it, I?ll keep doing it but I think on myself when it will get stale and stop.
(32.33) Q. Can you describe Dolly to us?
(32.37) Dolly is more probably like me nan?s mum, like Dot Cotton (famous character in Eastenders soap opera). God-fearing, salt of the earth, likes a simple life. Had her heyday in the 40s. Simple woman but not a pushover. Has a tough and sternness about her.
(33.51) Q. What's your favourite attribute that Dolly has?
(33.58) She of an old school generation where they wouldn?t let things get you down. I admire Dolly?s strength.
(34.55) Q. Have you got any favourite scenes or acts that you've enjoyed playing, whether it be Dolly or another character? Is there anything that stands out?
(35.12) I had a part in Women In Theatre for the Shout Festival. It was an LGBT project in the back to Backs in Birmingham. It was about gay relationships through the ages (40s to the 70s). I played a married a housewife in the 40s, whose husband has gone off to war and she fell in love with a woman. It was touching because I could relate to it.
(37.27) Q. Do you bring your personal life and your working life into your performances?
(37.36). I tend not to. I just get shy and stutter over words. That?s why I love Dolly as I can be more confident with her than I can be with myself.
(38.23) Q. You mentioned your Dolly [Allen] is being partly based on your Nan. Do want to tell us a bit more about your Nan and your relationship with her?
(38.39) Joan Tide was nan?s (paternal side) maiden name. I was the first granddaughter to her so was the apple of her eye. She was such a strong woman, head of the family. I just loved her. When I started college and I came out (as gay) they didn?t take to it very good. That was hard to deal with. She was a strong women and the women around her were strong too, like Dolly.
(40.55) Q. You also said that your nan told you mentioned about Tommy Mundon
(41.08) Nan (Joan) told us about Tommy Mundon. We all knew his name growing up. Tommy Mundon and Harry Harrison are names I have always known.
(41.44) Q. Did you ever go and see any of these comedians?
(41.49) No, I was too young (6/7 years old).
(42.06) Q. What can you tell us about what you remember about when they came back from these performances?
(42.18) I can always remember that they?d had a good night. My nan loved it. I remember looking up at her and she?d done her hair, put lipstick on and wear perfume. They would come back exactly the same but smelling like chips and beer. They?d always had a good night down at the legion or the chapel house.
(43.12) Q. You mention that you teach a group of young people. Can you tell us more about that?
(43.24) Teaches at the Black Country Wellbeing Centre. It used to be the youth centre and became derelict for years. Local man, Wade Cooper, and local men have put effort into it and done it up and he asked if I would teach drama to the local kids. I show them what I?ve learnt and they seems to enjoy it and they love Dolly.
(45.05) Can you tell us about the legacy of Black Country comedians and passing that that on to a group?
(45.21) I worry it?s disappearing. The kids (from Gornal) are correcting me on how I speak and it?s Black Country language. I'm very passionate about keeping the language. By the time these kids get to my age, the language and dialect may have died out. They [children] put the accent on, they're not speaking it properly.
(46.54) Q. Why do you think it?s disappearing?
(47.02) It?s being Americanised. The Black Country language itself is looked down on. We?re losing this old English.
(48.32) Q. What's it been like for you to be a woman doing comedy?
(49.00) I've never been on the receiving end of any badness. Men believe themselves to be funnier than women and women can only be funny if they?re talking about pregnancy and periods, which to me is a load of codswallop. Personally, I don't think there's enough women out there. Women are just as funny as men. - Access Status: Open
- Contact: Wolverhampton Archives, Wolverhampton Archives & Local Studies