Professional Stranger
A comedy show about trying to become a comedian.
Image of Victoria Melody by Rosie Powell
Made by

Victoria Melody
Victoria Melody is an award winning British artist with a background in fine art. She makes theatrical shows, performance interventions and films mainly about Britain’s pastimes, passions and tribes. Fascinated by…I'm developing a comedy show about trying to become a comedian. The mission I have given myself is to try and become funnier by training and gigging as a stand up comedian on the amateur circuit. With my social anthropological signature style of creating work, I am studying the behaviors and rituals of the stand up comedy tribe.
There is an underlying theme ... I was recently diagnosed with ADHD, which means I have a lack of dopamine so I am bored by most things and preoccupied with finding rewards. I was prescribed medication in the form of amphetamines by doctors and was put on the same dosage as children. I was off my head, my productivity levels were incredible but my creativity disappeared and socially I was a zombie.
I want to see if comedy can be an alternative to medication by attempting to become a stand up comedian. Making people laugh releases dopamine. I am working with a neuroscientist and an EEG headset to find out more about the brain and what happens to it when you are funny.