Sam Martin and Amy Hoggart

Sam Martin and Amy Hoggart are the hosts of FeMANism. Follow Sam on Twitter here, Amy on Twitter here, FeMANism on Twitter here.

Describe FeMANism in ten words or less.
Amy: Two female comedians parodying dumb men who think they're feminist

Describe the characters you play. How are they different, what do they each bring to the table?
Amy: Jamie is a self-described big-shot, high-flying TV producer who in his free time supports every single football team in Britain and watches a lot of porn. He's an arrogant alpha male with absolutely no self-awareness. Unable to see, for instance, that the fact that he's under investigation after allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace might undermine his feminist podcast. But he IS hoping that saying he's a feminist could help him get laid. Jamie's a mix of lots of different men we've met and also worked with in TV -- the type that's so confident and privileged, they're impossible to bring down. So I'd say that the main thing he brings to the table is the catharsis it brings us to dream up bad things happening to him.

Sam: Sam just wants recognition, he wants to be seen as special but unfortunately he hasn’t done anything in his life to warrant that. Being a feminist allows him to feel morally superior without actually having to do anything- because I don’t know if anyone has noticed but he’s not very well informed. He’s a wife-guy and uses being a father when it suits him but he’s also deeply resentful of his family because they don’t see him as the hero he thinks he is. I love the reveal of this as we go through the series, it even feels a little sad, despite Sam being totally to blame for it all. I also love how Sam can’t believe his luck at having Jamie around so much when Jamie is so horrible to him. In Sam’s head he’s always winning but it’s a house of cards that could topple at any second.

What is your relationship like, the two of you, as comedians?
Amy: We met when we wrote a show together called Almost Royal on BBC America, which was a similar mix of improvised and scripted. Then we just stayed friends and kept working together! It's lovely because as well as making each other laugh, it's a very supportive relationship. No one is domineering or keen to be the star or pushing their own jokes too much. We prioritise ensuring that the other one is happy and we really trust each other. When she's not making me laugh, Sam gives the best, almost sage-like advice, and makes the best coffee. I go and stay with her and her dog, Geoffrey every time I'm back in the UK.

Sam: What Amy is describing is Hoggfest. We have it every year and it’s bigger than Christmas in my house. I love working with Amy and I’m happy that I’ve been able to do it so often over the years. FeMANism is my first time performing but I’ve never had to think about that too much because it’s felt so relaxed and supportive. Amy is a really good friend, sort of by trade. I think at last count she has around 4,500 but you can guarantee she’d find time to make a podcast with almost all of them- I don’t know how exactly but she’s very organised.

Who are you? This isn’t your full-time job, what else do you do?
Amy: We're both writers and comedians. Plus Sam is also an acupuncturist and Amy is training to be a doula.

What do you hope the show does for people?
Sam: We hope it makes women laugh and know they aren’t alone in their frustrations and fears. We hope that humour of this variety feels powerful- especially as comedy can be such a male-dominated sphere. The funny thing is that we’ve found it resonates a lot more with men than we’d expected. That feels good because it shows there are men out there who enjoy seeing themselves sent up in this way… without the need to threaten us with any kind of sexual violence. Progress!

Did any podcasts serve as inspiration for FeMANism?
Amy: All of the podcasts where it’s just two men loving the sound of their own voices and thinking the world needs to hear their opinions. Nothing specific/litigious….

How did the idea evolve? How different is the podcast than it was when you initially dreamed it up?
Amy:  I asked one day whether it would be funny if two white, male friends decided to be the first EVER podcast hosted by two white, male friends and Sam said that it might be funnier if they were mansplaining feminism. Then off we went. I think we thought of the title immediately too. Most projects I've worked on have taken forever to develop and even longer to name and this one was disarmingly quick. We made a teaser which got interest from producers and though I'd say it's improved with time, I don't think much has changed since the initial idea.

Sam: Our producer is Matt Lamont who we also met on Almost Royal. Luckily he’d started producing podcasts along with Scott Edwards (together they run a podcast company called Podmonkey) and they really got the idea and made it sound the right level of good and lame.

What was the initial response? Did most people understand that you were two women slowing down the audio to sound like men? (I did not!)
Sam: To us it seems unbelievable that we could actually be mistaken for men. Amy/Jamie sounds ridiculous to me but I think the alpha tone is so spot on that it sells. Weirdly I think Sam does sound like the type of man he’s parodying, gentle and also self-important. We had a few people experiment on their female partners at the start, they’d tell them to listen without telling them we were women and every single one of them hated us. Then they were told we’re women with voices pitch shifted and they listened again, able to enjoy it! People responded well to the first series, not in great numbers but those who listened to one episode tended to listen to them all and we really appreciated that. 

Do you ever break character and just lose it from laughing while you’re recording? 
Amy: Yes. Any time Sam brings up hemorrhoids I always lose it. But our soundtracks are separated so we can laugh at what the other is saying.

Sam: There’s an episode that’s just about to come out where Jamie is crying and talking about football but clearly he’s not talking about football at all. I couldn’t even be in Amy’s eye-line for it. I think I lay on the floor off camera so she could do it uninterrupted.

Do you imagine FeMANism will have a long term arc, where people should listen in order and follow the story? Or do you think people can pop in and out to any episode?
Sam: I think it can work either way- you’re not missing anything vital but if you listen to the series we have definite arcs, Jamie revealing over time why he’s not at work and Sam really messing up his wife’s cycle tracking are stories that feel more satisfying if you’ve heard them all.

Do you think podcasting is a healthy place for women creators?
Sam: I think Amy would agree that podcasting has been the most painless process we’ve encountered because there are no gatekeepers. We thought of the idea and then we made it. It’s so different from the TV pitching world that we’re used to, where you have to do so much work just to convince someone you’re worth taking a risk on. I think particularly for women podcasting is liberating because you don’t need anyone’s say so to do it. We need spaces where it’s possible to think like that.

Are you podcast listeners?
Sam: I’m probably more of a self-help podcast listener- it’s my perfect bit of me-time. I got quite into Pulling the Thread with Elise Loehnen, she has great guests but I also love The No Contact Club which is a pair of New Zealander sisters talking so much sense about family dynamics. In terms of comedy though we both love Joan and Jericha and The Beef and Dairy Network, which are quite off-the-wall.

Thanks, Sam and Amy!