Inside Lorna Rose Treen’s 24 Hour Diner People

Lorna Rose Treen has quickly become one of the most distinctive voices in British comedy. Known for her surreal characters and fearless sense of play, she has built a reputation for transforming the ordinary into something strange and compelling. After a sold-out Fringe run, her new show 24 Hour Diner People takes audiences into a surreal slice of Americana, filtered through her Midlands perspective. With awards already under her belt and a style often described as a “live cartoon,” Lorna continues to push character comedy into unpredictable territory.

What first drew you to set this show in a diner. Was there a particular image or idea that made you realise this surreal space could bring all your characters together?

I realised I spent most of my childhood putting on an American valley girl accent because of all the US culture I consumed through TV and film. My stuff is so stupid and playful I thought it would be fun to connect to that, and set it in a diner, a place so common in Americana and my favourite shows: Sabrina the Teenage Witch (original), Grease, Gilmore Girls, Twin Peaks.

From that starting point, your diner became home to some very odd lives. How do you decide which characters belong together in one show?

I just chase the funny. If they’re funny enough they’ll find a place. I am quite savage and kill a lot of ideas if they’re not funny enough. Maybe they would be funny enough if I followed through with them but sometimes I’m like NO I AM BORED, bin.

Your debut Skin Pigeon sold out quickly and won you Chortle’s Best Newcomer. How did that experience shape what you wanted to do differently with 24 Hour Diner People?

With my first show, it was a sketch show that could contain anything, but with the diner show I wanted to give myself an extra challenge to fit characters into the same world. It was fun to think who could be there.

You’ve said your passion is creating “weird women.” Which diner character surprised you most once you gave her the stage?

I had a trucker who wasn’t working, she was way too monologuey, it felt like I was performing a play. But then I gave her long arms and put her in front of an audience and wham it suddenly clicked!

You’ve also picked up awards along the way, from Chortle’s Best Alternative Act to Dave’s Best Joke of the Fringe. What have those wins meant for you, and what doors have they opened?

Funny Women was my break into the industry. I woke up the next day after my double win and I had 20 emails from agents and bookers and producers. It was insane. It’s this amazing competition that has the most insaneeeee alumni. (Go on the website and have a look, it’s wild!) From then on, my life hasn’t been the same. Not only was the win validating that I could be a comedian, but it was also the first step down a corridor of making this my career.

The Dave best joke of the fringe win in 2023 gave me the beginning of my sophomore show so I’m grateful for that.

Awards are SO useful if you win one, but it’s all just a laugh, isn’t it. Nothing actually means anything and we are all going to die aren’t we! He he he.

Some reviewers call your work a “live cartoon.” What do you think cartoon logic unlocks for comedy that naturalism never can?

Cartoons are good because they ground you in reality and then just move one step to the sideways. It’s similar to clown logic. You have to be so clear, and then you can surprise very neatly. I find something beautiful too about the way each of us would move if we move sideways, because everyone is different and that’s so beautiful. And how fun when you move the same! Sometimes me and my director will imagine the same thing as we go giddy.

This show was built with long-time collaborators like Jonathan Oldfield, Jonno, and Jimmy Slim. What did collaboration add that you could never have made alone?

I love working with other artists. I owe so much to the character comedians I watched on TV growing up, and to those I create alongside now. Being a solo comedian (not on stage) can be really lonely (travelling, booking, etc) so to have other people around you to jog you and inspire you can give me so so much joy.

You’re also co-creator of Time of the Week for Radio 4. How does writing for radio shape the way you think about rhythm and character on stage?

I love limitations, I find them really helpful to work to, around and break. Writing for radio (a medium I love and have always loved) is so inspiring because it’s all words and rhythms. It helps me be more ambitious when writing for stage, makes me want my jokes to be sharper and quicker, and makes me want to express myself bigger physically because I’ve been unable to on the radio! Series two is coming out at the end of the year!!

You’ve called the diner “fantasy Americana through Midlands eyes.” What is the most Midlands detail that sneaks into this American dreamscape without you realising?

I keep accidentally talking about pepperami!!!

And finally, with two sell-out Soho runs and this ambitious new hour, where do you see your comedy heading next. What feels unfinished or still waiting to be explored?

I want to continue with it all and just be better, and bigger, and funnier. And maybe Tina Fey will come to my next show too?????

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Lorna Rose Treen will be performing 24 Hour Diner People at Soho Theatre from 8–13 September.

Tickets here.