Comedy duo's unlikely roots in Bristol Cathedral

A friendship at the centre of a BBC comedy drama has unlikely roots in Bristol Cathedral, one of the stars of the new series has revealed.

Bristolian actor and comedian Jayde Adams told BBC Radio Bristol how she first met Sophie Willan, creator and title character of Alma's Not Normal, as a teenager.

Ms Adams reprises her role as Alma's best friend Leanne in the upcoming second series, which debuts tonight.

"Sophie and I just started talking about this thing that's so specific, something that only if you were there would you understand, and then we discovered we were both in a big show at the cathedral together when we were kids," she said.

The pair, Ms Adams said, went on to meet as adults working in the queer cabaret scene and became firm friends after they "overshared in a car park over about 20 cigarettes".

Informed by Ms Willan's own experience of the care system and growing up in Bolton, Alma's Not Normal follows the title character as she navigates life with her eccentric family.

"Alma is chaotic, frenetic, she brings a lot of energy to a lot of places and she has a reason why," said Ms Adams. "[In the new series] We dig around and find that stuff out."

While the series deals with a range of difficult themes, Ms Adams said that the "heart" of the show gets "bigger and bigger" in the new episodes.

"We've all had difficult things happen to us in our lives and we all have funny stories about that," she said.

"Once the sadness and the grief breaks you see the humorous things in those situations. I don't know whether that's a working class mentality or not. I think it might be actually - just being able to laugh in the face of insurmountable odds."

While speaking to BBC Radio Bristol Ms Adams also criticised a lack of working class voices working in comedy, saying: "It's as bad as it has ever been. Nepotism has never been more prevalent."

"I'm not saying they are bad people, it's just that not everyone who is funny went to Durham for example."

"How are people going to see themselves in things?" she added.

While the experience of growing up working class is central to Alma's Not Normal, Ms Adams also explained how it was foundational to her friendship with Ms Willan.

"Sophie and I have had really similar lives, all the creative decisions we made as kids, as we got older, mainly because we're both working class and there's only a certain amount you can actually do especially if you're in Bristol."

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