Episode 253: Zara Gladman

Elaine and Louise chat with the brilliant Zara Gladman about her Edinburgh Festival Show Zara Gladman is… Aileen: Cameron’s Gap Year Fundraiser and her new BBC Scotland show Good For Her. We talk about the full circle moment for all of is that this podcast is. As Zara and her writing partner Laura’s script was the very first thing we selected for the very first Persistent and Nasty event. We also chat about the struggle for freelancers and creatives to balance the work we do to pay the bills and keeping the creativity alive. You can watch Good For Her here: watch on iplayer And you can get tickets for Zara Gladman is… Aileen: Cameron’s Gap Year Fundraiser here: https: Ticket Link Here ZARA GLADMAN Dr Zara Gladman is a comedy writer, performer and recovering scientist. She has been making sketch comedy and musical parodies since 2012, including viral hits “Last Friday Night in Glasgow“, Scottish indyref star “Lady Alba” (as featured in the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Al Jazeera, BBC, Irish Times, The Independent), lockdown anthem “I’m losing it” (lauded by pop queen Alesha Dixon as “Absolutely hilarious!!!”) and Glasgow’s “West end mums.” Zara’s TikTok parodying a Scottish newsreader racked up 1 million views in under 24 hours. Her new BBC sketch show “Good For Her” comes to iPlayer and BBC Scotland in summer 2025, when she will also make her Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut. Zara was among 20 “ones to watch” on The List’s Digital Hot List. She has written and co-written screenplays and theatre, including “Culture Club” with Laura McNamara, which was longlisted for the UK’s Funny Women Comedy Writing Awards. Zara has also co-written award-winning educational theatre (“Chasing the Waves”, 2016), for national radio (BBC Noising Up) TV (BBC Steven’s & McCarthy show) and cultural magazines (The Skinny). Oh, and she wrote a PhD once too! About crayfish. But that’s another story. In 2021, Zara was spotlighted by Chortle for her “incisive, funny and relateably honest videos” during lockdown and in 2023 she was shortlisted for the UK’s Funny Women Content Creator Awards. Zara has made comedy for BBC Scotland (Short Stuff) and Channel 4 (TikTok). Her hotly anticipated debut hour took place in 2024, selling out the Oran Mor three times as part of Glasgow International Comedy Festival and WestFest. In 2024 Zara was shortlisted for the pretigious Sir Billy Connolly Spirit of Glasgow Award. In 2025 she was a Finalist in the UK’s Musical Comedy Awards and she is due to debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August. Zara wrote, directed and starred in her sketch show pilot “Good For Her” which comes to iPlayer and BBC Scotland this summer. WEBSITE: zaragladman.com INSTAGRAM @zanyzaz TIKTOK: @zaragladman OUR WEBSITE - www.persistentandnasty.co.uk Persistent and Nasty join the CEC community to create a safe space & build a community for those who are marginalised in any way in the arts. Link for our Zoom meeting with Creative Entrepreneurs Club https://creativeentrepreneursclub.co.uk/ MAIL BAG – you can write and ask us industry related questions or general questions or maybe you have a hot take you want to chare, some tea you want to spill or a topic you want discussed on the podcast. To be included in the Mail Bag podcast email [email protected] with subject line MAIL BAG or slide into the DM’s. IPA GUIDES: HIPA GUIDES Equity Toolkit: Link Stellar Quines: Link Persistent Pal & Nasty Hero - Pals and Hero Membership Email – [email protected] Instagram - @persistentandnasty Twitter - @PersistentNasty Coffee Morning Eventbrite - Coffee Morning Tickets LINKTREE - LINKTR.EE Resources Samaritans - Rape Crisis Scotland - Rape Crisis UK ArtsMinds - BAPAM Freelancers Make Theatre Work Stonewall UK - Trevor Project - Mermaids UK Switchboard LGBT+ - GATE PLANNED PARENTHOOD DONATE - DONATE ABORTION SUPPORT NETWORK UK - ASN.COM- DONATE