Nat Luurtsema

As a child

I was born and raised in Watford. I was a quiet bookworm, blessed with a thick fringe, even thicker glasses and a growth spurt that threatened to never stop.

As an adult

I studied English at Oxford, and I always wrote in private until I was twenty five, when I did my first stand-up gig and my life changed so fast. It become normal to gig to a thousand people, sleep in my car at Leigh Delamere services, live off crisps and have NO idea how to pay my rent.

As an artist

I like to work on the bus – I’ll often sit on the top deck and ride a scenic bus in a circle a few times, to listen to people chat and magpie their interesting bits. Unless it’s raining and then I’ll write in bed and slowly fill it with toast crumbs.

Things you didn't know about Nat Luurtsema

1. I cut my own hair. You can totally tell.
point2>I used to sleepwalk – I think I’ve stopped now but I always wear pyjamas just in case.
2. I used to have 11 body piercings – my mum was delighted.
3. I reverse parallel park so well sometimes crowds gather to admire it.
4. My brother lives in Thailand and has a pet Slow Loris called Doris.
5. I share my neighbour’s cat. My neighbour doesn’t know about this.
6. My greatest fear in the world is vomit. Which is so stupid. There are snakes that can spit poison 6 feet, but I’d rather someone produced that on the bus.
7. I used to sub-edit a magazine called Concrete Monthly. I think you can see the influence on my writing.
8. I once swam with a shark, though I didn’t know it was there at the time.
9. I’m in a film with Meryl Streep. I’m still not sure how that happened.