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Irish Independent

Smear tests, magic knickers and having a laugh – Being an older, bolder, wiser version of Vogue Williams is comedy gold

Anyway, I was 'working' in the home, minding the kids, and running the house and very conscious of the increasing pressure on my self-employed husband who was trying to earn enough to keep our little boat afloat. Our kids were 23, 12 and 10 and the oldest was about to emigrate. It was time for me to go back to paid work. We were broke. Before being a 'housewife' I had worked for a national charity as their PRO and fundraising manager. I had skills. I had experience. I knew that the recession might mean it would take a bit longer to gain employment, but I never doubted that I would get a job. Boy, was I wrong. I hadn't bargained for the fact that my approaching 50th birthday, coupled with the 10-year gap on my CV where my career used to live, rendered me not one bit attractive to an employer. Oh yes, sexism with ageism is a lethal cocktail. It took me until early 2012, as I turned 50, to finally realise that my chances of getting a job were remote. We desperately needed the money and so I needed to do something. In the end I decided to focus on what I loved most – writing and talking and see if I could paid that way. So began a long apprenticeship, learning to write opinion pieces for the papers and contributing to radio – both local and national. It was not lucrative but it was enjoyable, and I felt that it might lead to other opportunities. But had you told me, at any time, during the last 13 years, that in 2025 I would be touring my own one woman show, I would have laughed in your face in disbelief. Now let's be clear. I am not playing the 3 Arena or even Vicar Street (yet), but I am delivering my show, called Older, Bolder, Wiser in what promoters would call 'intimate venues' around the country and I am delighted that that includes playing the Wexford Arts Centre this Friday, May 23. Older Bolder Wiser is sort of a follow-up to a book that I wrote during Covid, which was published in 2022 called Wise Up. I had always wanted to write a book and as I cruised towards my late 50s I realised that life post menopause was not at all what I was expecting it to be. It was far better. I wondered why no one told women about the freedoms and the fun of these later decades. After the book came out, I was invited to various places to give talks on what could loosely be called 'positive ageing' and I realised that I was a woman on a mission. And that mission is to tell women (of all ages) not to buy into the consumerist messaging around anti ageing and other nonsense. Because yes, your looks do change as you age but if you become obsessed with that fact, you miss out on what getting older is actually about. Once you are through menopause, life is full of delicious freedoms. We are living longer and healthier and so our 60s and 70s provide the opportunity for all kinds of mischief, boldness, reinvention, experimentation or just the chance to have some fun. It is then that I believe women step into their true matriarchal power. Through Wise Up I met two women who were organising the first Funny Women comedy show since the pandemic and they rather 'assertively' encouraged me to take part. I was very unconvinced that I could do comedy, but in an effort to practice what I preach (the gospel of 'sure why not try') I thought I would give it a shot. And I got bitten by the stand-up comedy bug. I discovered that making people laugh is the most wonderful privilege. I have also realised that as older people, we have so many stories, so much experience, and much of it is comedy gold. So, I am mining my own life for the pure hilarity; tales about smear tests and so-called magic knickers, about navigating the world as a 6-foot-tall woman and the absurdities of getting older. There is so much to guffaw about. But the best thing about doing this show is that it is giving me the opportunity to meet so many women all over the country, giddy women with their own stories. Oh yes, we can all be Vogue Williams and Joanne McNally….. only we are older, bolder, wiser!!