Daisy May Cooper & The Bendy Nob(s)
Daisy May Cooper has long since been a hero of mine. From writing and starring in the eye-wateringly funny rural mockumentary, This Country, to running free sessions for aspiring scriptwriters on how to break into the industry; Daisy has been blessing us with the most top notch of content for quite some time.
This Country, which Daisy created alongside her brother, Charlie Cooper (who one of my BFFS has a big crush on [naming no names]), single handedly got my boyfriend and I through the first stretch of lockdown. We’d already watched each series thrice (cooked chips) over but re-watching them again whilst the world was falling apart provided a rare (and very valuable) opportunity for laughter amidst the chaos. The Vicar is one of my favourite TV characters EVER. And I think about how Kerry’s Mum says “tomAtoes” and laugh at least once a week. (If you missed all those references, it’s a sign that you’ve got some catching up to do. Go put This Country on, you won’t regret it).
But it’s been during the Panny D that Daisy May Cooper has truly realised her status as national hero. (If you don’t follow her Instagram account, head there immediately and prepare yourself for a laughathon).
I didn’t think I would or could ever be as entertained by an Insta. account as I was during the events of Daisy’s saga (/ love story for the ages) with the illusive Sea Captain back in the summer. (See screenshots below for a flavour of the events which unfolded). Nor did I think I could have more admiration for a selfie trend than when she created the majestic under-boob challenge (also see pic below). But the events of the past couple of weeks have somehow managed to top them both for me. And have elevated my (already vast) love and admiration for this iconic woman to new levels…
Daisy’s in the process of releasing a new book, ‘Don’t Laugh It will Only Encourage Her’ (available to pre-order now). And last week, in her signature style, she shared a video of herself light-heartedly winding up her publishers about who (or should I say, what) she wanted to write a story about in her book… her ex-boyfriend’s wonky nob that bent quite considerably to the left.
What started as a bit of harmless fun actually turned into something a lot more serious (and made the outcome, in my eyes, something to shout about). Daisy received phone-calls ‘telling her off’ like a naughty school child for her penis prank. They actually had the cheek (the nerve, the gall, the audacity and the gumption) to try and tell the queen of comedy herself what was or wasn’t funny. In a direct quote (that brought tears to my eyes) from one of the phone conversations she shared on Instagram, one of the publishers said:
“it wasn’t very funny to ask of the publishers…we’re quite a serious group of people”.
These oh so serious men getting their knickers in a twist about a wonky nob was farcical. But though this whole exchange provided a barrel of laughs for her followers, it is also a shining example of how hard it is for women to be funny and taken seriously. (Something I wrote about in this article).
If one of THE most successful, (4x bafta-winning) female comedy writer’s/ comedians can’t crack a joke in a meeting about her OWN book and what she wants to write about without getting a patronising dressing down, then who can?
Dame Daisy at the 2019 BAFTAs in London. Credit: Getty
The fact that she stood her ground and publicly stood up for what she knew to be funny (because who knows better than she?) is a monumentally important thing. Yes, the videos are hilarious, but don’t let that detract from how truly brave of a stand this was.
In the past week, Daisy May Cooper took on (as they themselves said) the very serious publishing industry (one with longstanding issues with gender inequality), and one of the biggest publishing houses in existence. And it was her, rather than they, that came out on top.
They ended up agreeing to let Daisy dedicate her book to whoever/whatever she wanted, wonky nobs and all. And, the pre-signed copies of her book then sold out within hours, got to no.1 on the Amazon Best seller list WITHIN A DAY. And no doubt will go on to have rave reviews, continued success and bring both the publishers and Daisy a phat pay check. If its anything like EVERYTHING else she’s created it will be honest, hilarious and fucking brilliant.
This story (as hilarious as it is), is case and proof that funny woman can be strong, crude, funny and SERIOUSLY successful at the same time. More importantly, it will (I hope) inspire more women to stand up for themselves; because Daisy May Cooper has shown us all that it’s possible to make even the most serious of institutions bend (like your exes wonky nob) to your will if you stay true to who you are.