Born in London in 1982, Cariad Lloyd is a comedian, actor and podcaster. She met comedian and musician Rachel Parris, born in Leicester in 1984, through improv comedy. Along with six other comedians, they formed Austentatious. The show is an improvised Jane Austen novel, based on an audience’s suggestion for a title, and is currently on at the Vaudeville theatre in London. Beyond their stage work, Cariad hosts the podcast Griefcast and is a co-host on Weirdos Book Club and Rachel worked on The Mash Report and publishes Introducing Mrs Collins: A Pride and Prejudice Novel on 6 November.
Cariad
The photo was taken at Ham House in Richmond on our first Austentatious photoshoot. Rachel was having a proper picture taken and I jumped in. That’s why she’s laughing. It wasn’t posed – it’s a genuine moment.
I met Rachel through the comedian Amy Cooke-Hodgson, who one day said to me, “Rachel Parris is thinking of doing Jane Austen improv, are you interested?” I assumed it was a stage name. Rachel Parris? With two Rs? I nearly didn’t go, thinking it might all be bullshit. But as soon as I walked into the rehearsal room and watched the group improvising, I realised they were brilliant.
Rachel and I gelled straight away. We were both obsessed with the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and wanted to make our own version. She was happy to talk about ribbons, dresses and boys, and in many ways we formed a Lizzy and Jane dynamic. I’m very mischievous, sometimes filthy, whereas she’s beautiful and believes in magic. Jane is boring sometimes – Rachel isn’t, she’s very funny – but she’s also taught me how to be a bit classier with my comedic choices. If we’re rehearsing, she might say, “You could play it like it was a real romance” and I encourage her to be a bit cheekier. We call each other the Bonnets, which I know is so cringey.
Over the years, I have played Rachel’s sister, mother, cousin, aunt and child. Out of all of them, I’d say our bond is like cousins who really like each other. I was surrounded by boys growing up, so to finally find someone that I could have a conversation with about blusher with nobody interjecting “This is pathetic” was euphoric.
We started Austentatious in 2011. Our first show was in a room in a pub and there were 12 people in the audience. The next week there were 20. Then we had to move the venue as we couldn’t fit people in. The first year we went to Edinburgh, the queue was around the block. People were turning up hours before to get a space. We lived together in Edinburgh; she was in the room next to me. We’d chat until 2am about what we’d seen and done that day. She was clean and travelled light, yet still looked immaculate. She could have survived on a mangle and two dresses for a whole summer; very strong Austen vibes.
Because we have spent so many years improvising together, I can read Rachel pretty well. I have spidey sense – I know when she is upset before she tells me. If she’s having a bad day, there’s often no time before we go on stage to properly work through it but I can tell her, “I got you if you need me”, and she’ll know I can support her. It’s a really deep connection.
Improvisation requires being vulnerable and emotional with whoever you are with on the stage. That means you can’t always be polite. You have to get under the skin of someone to get the magic alchemy going. Even though we occasionally wind each other up, Rachel never makes me feel as if I’ve done something wrong. I corpse all the time and she never gets annoyed with me. Some other comedians might ask, “Why did you do that?”, but she always makes me feel as if I am being funny. I never leave any social event with her worrying that I’ve said something stupid or acted weird. We are truly ourselves around each other. She also likes being teased, which I find such a charming quality, especially as I’m not so good at laughing at myself.
For a show that started in a pub, wearing costumes we found in charity shops, it’s staggering that we are now performing at the Vaudeville. The fact that we all still like each other 14 years later is even more amazing. It’s an unusual setup for a creative venture. Normally the book, show or play ends and you move on. For me and Rachel, we choose to keep choosing each other.
Rachel
It was freezing cold and we were in a draughty stately home wearing tiny old bridesmaids’ dresses with no insulation. But it was great fun. We were at that age where we were trying to make things happen without any money or contacts. I don’t think we even got permission for the pictures. We just did it cheekily while National Trust members were milling around.
In 2011, me and a few other comedians had got together to see if a Jane Austen improv idea would work. I was excited that Cariad was interested. She had a reputation as an excellent improviser. There was an element of intimidation there, but as soon as I first saw her improvise, I was instantly struck by how fun she was to be around.
after newsletter promotion
Cariad and I had a real honeymoon period when we first met. We were travelling a lot with Austentatious and had one memorable trip to Lyme Regis, where we really delighted in each other. We were giddy and giggly the whole time. There’s a great snap of us at the beach, quite pissed, really cuddling each other. I had assumed I had met all of my friends for life, so Cariad was an unexpected discovery.
From the minute Cariad walks into a room, I can tell if she is anxious or excited. Doing our hair and makeup together before a show has become quite therapeutic. Maybe it’s because we are not looking directly at each other, and we’re partly preoccupied with what’s happening in the mirror, but we do a lot of sharing.
Cariad wears her heart on her sleeve. She is passionate and very in touch with her emotions. I can be more reserved and quiet – I hold back. Of course there are fallouts – we perform together and run a business, as well as maintaining a friendship. There have been times where I’ve pissed Cariad off, and Cariad’s pissed me off. But we are always going to make up. That picture was before we had ever pissed each other off. There is so much water under the bridge now that we are for ever bonded together.
We’ve both been through a lot in the last 14 years. Trying for children, losing parents. She was the first of the group to have a baby, and I often think how hard that must have been, as she would have experienced that massive impact alone. I had a baby loss before I had my first son. It was during Covid, so I was isolated in the hospital, but Cariad was amazing. A constant contact on the phone. She is fierce in her friendships. She understands grief so well, and she wants to be there for you.
This photo has been on my mum’s mantelpiece in a frame since it was taken. She must have recognised it was important. In the years since, boyfriends have come and gone but Cariad has stayed put. When I look at it, I think of the fun we had then – and the fun we still have now.
