As part of the commonwealth you are doing a vast array of shows.  What brings you to the Highlands? 

We have a lot on for the Commonwealth but our aim in our journey’s to the highlands are two fold:

Firstly we want to take a bit of the festival of culture out of Glasgow and share it with other parts of Scotland. This year is a celebration for all of Scotland; we should be really proud; so we were keen on heading up to do some comedy for people who might not necessarily make it down for the actual Games.  It’ll be myself and my award winning daughter, we want to make the show fun for people of all ages.  In Millport we played to a room made up of several generations and that was great! 

Our second aim is to gather local stories. Scottish people have a unique and beautiful gift for story telling and just as we’re keen to bring a bit of Glasgow to the Highlands we’re equally as excited to take a bit of the Highlands back to Glasgow! 

We’ll be encouraging the audience and locals to share with us their stories about interesting Journey’s they’ve made to Glasgow… or anywhere really.  When we set out on this project – we set the remit as Glasgow, but as we have toured and met so many people, and heard of their amazing journey’s from all over the world, have changed our mind.

Some of your performances take place in libraries. Dufftown, one of the places where you are performing, won the right to keep their library after a strong fight – why libraries?  

In today’s age of internet and mobile reading devices Libraries have been overlooked, which is a little heartbreaking. Libraries house stories, they house history, romance and death all under one roof.  A library was the one place in the world where me, a wee poor lassie who’s family couldn’t afford books, could go and learn to read, and love to read. Libraries are not biased, and that’s important I think in today’s climate.  

In my visits to libraries I’ve seen how important they are to communities, it’s a place where a young mother can work on her CV, or people new to this country can learn about their new home. Libraries are so important to the very fabric of who we are… so that’s why libraries.

We know you are keen to involve the audiences as part of the show.  Often people associate audience participation and comedy with heckling (from both sides of the stage)  how does this show differ in its approach? 

My daughter and I do have an interactive approach while performing comedy – we like to find interesting members of the audience especially locals who know the lay of the land and talk to them a little bit.  I also do like to ask the audience for suggestions on topics but the real interactive aspect come after the stand up comedy when we invite the audience to share their stories with us. That’s not to say we won’t get heckled… that’s just part of the job. 

Some may wonder what tales from the East End of Glasgow will have resonance in a rural place… how would you respond to that?

I don’t just talk about the east end of Glasgow, I am from the east end of Glasgow so obviously this does colour my material but I also talk about parenthood, life, love, sex and politics… these things are universal. I’ve done comedy in clubs as far afield as New Zealand, Atlanta and Kuala Lumpur. If my material had no ‘resonance’ with my own countrymen then I doubt I’d still be in this job! My daughter who is also performing will probably talk about William Shatner more than she does the East End of Glasgow… that’s why she doesn’t have a boyfriend.

Mothers and Daughters are infamous for their, how shall we say, ‘interesting’ relationships. What is the dynamic between you both? What made you want to perform together during this tour? How are you going to cope being on the road with each other?

My daughter directed and produced many of my international shows, we once spent a month in Adelaide sharing a hotel room! We really enjoy working together and I love getting to see her grow and blossom as a stand up comedian.  She’s also very good at putting people at ease and encouraging them to share their stories.  

To be honest I think we’ll be fine, we’ve worked together for that long that we both know what to expect and also we have the luxury of being honest with each other something you don’t get when you’re working with strangers… we don’t have to be polite!

 Ashley, we know you have been away from comedy for a while.  You have said in the past that puberty had a role to play in keeping you away.  What’s changed since you were 14 and brought you back? 

I did perform comedy from when I was 11-14… it seems so weird saying that. Becoming a teenager and all the horridness that goes hand in hand with that did play a huge part in my ‘retirement’.  I spent a lot of time trying to do other things, production, writing comedy for other people, sketch comedy and all the while people were always telling me “You should do stand up” nobody more so than my mother. 

I was always reticent because I’m really self conscious, and after almost 13 years of not being on stage I thought ‘to hell with it’ and decided to give it a go. As soon as I stepped up, grabbed a mic and started talking I realised that this may be the one thing in the world I’m meant to do (that sounds trite), standing on a stage telling people stories is weirdly the one place in the world where I’m not worried about how I look or whether I’ll die a lonely cat woman. For those brief minutes performing I feel like the best me I can be (That sounds very cheesy… I apologise)

Female comediennes often get it in the neck.  Is it all about trying to be a woman in a mans world, or is it more subtle than that?   

Comedy seems to be the only job in the world where journalists can ask “Are women good at their jobs?” you see newspaper inches dedicated to this erroneous question. The amount of times both Ashley and I are approached after gigs by punters declaring “I don’t usually like women.” Or “You’re funny for a woman” is insane.  If you said to a female lawyer “I don’t know if you’re as good at your job as the men.” You’d be facing a tribunal… not in our industry. 

That all said, while I recognise I wont get the leeway or the opportunities some of my male colleagues get I feel a great deal of pride in the knowledge that I’ve  worked hard to get the gigs and the jobs I’ve had.  Maybe in the future Ashley’s generation will look back and know that I and my peers kicked down some doors for them.

Being from the East End of Glasgow, I am sure you will be interested to see how the legacy of the games has an impact on Carlton, Bridgeton, Dalmarnock etc., but what do you see as the benefits for Scotland, and in particular the areas to which you are touring? 

The benefits for Scotland as a country will be amazing, we’re showcasing to the world how magnificent our tiny wee country is. When people come to Glasgow they’ll be keen to visit other parts of Scotland, and with transport to and from the Highlands being so readily available be it by train, bus or those wee mini planes, there’ll be no excuse for the games visitors not to explore all that Scotland has to offer. 

Also our final project will be collating some of the stories we’ve gathered into a film this will mean that the games legacy isn’t just going to be the buildings and the memories of who won the long jump, the legacy of these games will include the words of the people of Scotland, and of that I’m very proud.

In your own words what can people expect in coming to see you whist you are touring the Highlands?

People can expect laughter! The storytelling and more ‘cultural’ aspects of the journey’s to Glasgow project are all great but at the beating heart of this tour is a desire to make people laugh, it’s our job so the one thing people can expect is laughter, and it’s scientifically proven that laughing is good for you so why wouldn’t you want to come.