IF you’ve been active on Scottish TikTok or X in the past year then the words West End Mum probably conjure up image of comedian Zara Gladman’s hilarious alter-ego. 

Zara, who first did stand-up comedy back in 2011, says the past year has been the first time she’s "properly committed" to comedy and to doing her own hour-long show.  

Described as "an evening of silliness and song", Zara Gladman and Friends will feature the comedian and a host of her hilarious characters as she makes her first appearance the Glasgow International Comedy Festival in March. 

Glasgow Times:

Zara says it is "surreal, exciting and terrifying" to be part of this year’s festival and says they have been "super supportive" of her comedy.  

"It’s my first ever show for starters so it’s quite a big deal for me," she says.  

"I’ve been doing comedy on and off for over the years but this is the first time I’m finally committing to an hour [-long show].  

"There are going to be various characters that might be familiar to people that follow me on social media, and there’s going to be live music as well.  

"I’ve always loved musical comedy which is controversial, sometimes people hate musical comedy, but I’m a big fan of parody especially.  

"There’s going to be some special guest appearances that I’m very excited about, and maybe some explosions as well depending on my budget."

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She added: "What I think the festival does an amazing job of is supporting new acts and new talent and trying to diversify comedy.  

"The Glasgow International Comedy Festival have a very Glasgow friendly approach personal approach, and that’s given me the boost to go for it." 

Praising the work of comedy legends such as Billy Connolly and Elaine C Smith, Zara credits Glasgow with having an "amazing history comedically".  

Glasgow Times:

"We’ve got a really interesting social history when it comes to being quite a radical city, quite a political city," she says.  

"I think a lot of the time comedy is about challenging the status quo, it’s about challenging the people in power and I think that’s something that comes out in a lot of comedy in this city.  

"Its certainly something that I try and tackle in the joke I do, taking the p*** out of the people in power."

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Zara Gladman and Friends comes after the "recovering scientist", who has a PhD in crayfish, decided to commit to comedy as a New Year’s resolution last year.  

She has since gone viral on social media with her hilarious videos parodying, amongst others, West End mums, Scottish singer-songwriters and news reporters. 

Zara said: "At the start of last year, I thought I’m going to make a personal commitment to make one TikTok a week and to protect my time and do comedy, because I do love it.  

"I work full time as well, life takes over and you don’t always make time for those kind of things so I set myself that as a challenge and did that every week.  

"And it started to take of it’s quite heartening.  

"I think a lot of the time it’s not even about talent, it’s about putting in the time and making a comment and having the confidence to keep at it.  

"And that’s how it led to being here."

The Glasgow International Comedy Festival will take place from Wednesday, March 13 until Sunday, March 31. 

Zara Gladman’s sold out show Zara Gladman and Friends will take place at the Oran Mor on Tuesday, March 26 and Thursday, March 28.