Read Time: 2 Minutes
Before about a week ago I’d never heard of Fern Brady, and now I think she’s one of my favourite comedians of all time. I stumbled upon some of her standup comedy on YouTube and have watched hours of her work now. Needing to know more about her, I googled her name and found she had a memoir of her early years, so with an extra Audible credit in my pocket, I figured I’d learn a bit more about her.
Fern’s journey from her hometown of Bathgate, Scotland through studying at the University of Edinburgh and onto breakout success as a standup comedian is a rather harrowing tale. Growing up with undiagnosed autism thanks mainly to it being seen as a “boys” disorder, Fern’s life of not fitting in with regular kids results in frequent meltdowns, destruction of walls and furniture, and trip to a psychiatric hospital.
It’s a raw and unvarnished account of her whirlwind journey of emotional and physical abuse as she grew older, pushing to getting straight A’s that would get her into university, then needing to work as a stripper in a series of sleezy dives in order to afford it.
Fern’s narration of her memoir adds a unique dimension to the whole thing. She admits at one point that she’s narrating it with a cold, so her voice is somewhat huskier than what it would normally be. I think this was an odd choice to not wait until that had cleared up, but it wasn’t off-putting. Just something I noted.
Her unique perspective on life gives an interesting insight into what it means to live with autism. As the father of two girls with autism, a lot of what Fern describes I can relate directly to my daughters. From not wanting to wear specific types of clothes, eating bland food, the need for routine, and some of the less obvious stuff like not understanding sarcasm or taking things too literally.
Don’t go into this thinking it’s going to be full of laughs like a standup routine. There’s an interesting weight between tragically real and darkly comedic though, so there were plenty of times she had me chuckling while at the same time being horrified at things she had to endure.
Strong Female Character is well written and deeply personal. Listening to Fern’s journey is a must. No autistic person has the exact same experience, but listening to Fern’s account can give you an idea of what life may be like. Even if you don’t think you know someone with autism, this may open your eyes to the fact you most likely do and just don’t know it.