Weekend with Esther Manito: ‘Every morning I feel like I’m being pulled from the depths of a coma’
The comedian speaks ahead of her UK tour on Sunday roasts with family and how she’s not the funniest person in her daughter’s life
Esther Manito is a comedian from Essex and lives with her father, husband and two children. Her comedy revolves around motherhood, identity and her Lebanese father’s hilarious takes on life.
A former teacher, she began her comedy career in 2016 and became a finalist for the So You Think You’re Funny? award. She frequently appears on TV and radio, including BBC Radio 4 and ITV’s The Stand Up Sketch Show.
After a critically acclaimed, sold-out UK tour in 2024, Manito is on the road again with her show Slagbomb — tales from the life of a mixed-Arab woman juggling kids, ageing parents and embracing the joy of chaos.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What does your Saturday morning look like?
It’s the morning that parents dread, because it’s full of activities. We grew up in a time where you just went out on your bike or watched TV. But now we live in a culture where you spend a lot of money to make sure your children do Mongolian folk dancing and calligraphy and fencing for hours.
So me and my husband just spend Saturday morning ferrying the kids to different activities. They don’t want to go. We don’t want to pay for it. But we all still do it.
What about after all the activities?
We tend to have lunch at home. And then I will prepare for my gig on Saturday night. This involves just looking at what I’m going to say and the pre-show poos. Classic.
What’s for lunch?
I tend to do all the cooking, but when I’ve given up and I’m just knackered, the kids call it “Mum’s kitchen crap”. And that’s when I just find crap from the freezer and we have fish fingers and waffles.
Eating out or eating in?
Going to restaurants with children in this country is sheer hell. When I’ve taken my kids back to Lebanon, it’s a lot easier. The kids can go off and play a bit, then come back and eat, and chat to other kids. But when we go to restaurants here, it’s kind of expected that your kids will sit and behave like adults. So immediately they just stand on their heads and roll around and behave like total arseholes.
When we don’t have the kids, I like Ariana in Mile End, and Tayyabs and Needoo in Whitechapel. That’s a good date night.
Do you like to cook?
Yes. I cook a lot of curry because we used to live in India. But the meals my kids really love are lamb kofta and potatoes, which my dad makes for them.
Recently, I told my son he had to learn some life skills. He lives off a lot of hummus, so I’ve taught him how to make it now. Hummus is actually really straightforward, but for some reason we’ve been made to feel that we need to go and buy it from a supermarket and have it flavoured, which is offensive.
What is your perfect Sunday?
Put something in to roast. Lamb or chicken, or a slow roast beef. Pop that in and then go for a good old trudge around Epping Forest with a coffee, and come back and have roast dinner together as a family. Then we watch something incredibly crap on TV, like Dance Moms.
Early riser or late sleeper?
I’m not an early riser. I feel every morning like I’m being pulled from the depths of a coma to the point where I think I need my blood levels checked.
Are you looking forward to your tour?
I am quite excited to do this show because it’s something a little bit different. I’m off to do about 25 dates, so I’m quite nervous.
What makes it different?
I’ve always talked about family, but I’ve entered a new phase of my life now: kids are getting older, your parents need a lot more support. The show is hopefully very relatable, but it is a reflection of that very chaotic and unglamorous phase.
Any comedian recommendations?
There are so many that people should be going to see. Hayley Ellis is on tour with her show Silly Mare. Lily Phillips has a show called Crying, which is brilliant. Harriet Dyer as well. I took my daughter to see her and she was crying with laughter, to the point where it was actually starting to upset me, because I should be the funniest woman in her life.
And my daughter said “Harriet is my favourite comedian.” I was like, “Fine! Why don’t you get her to raise you, then?!”
Esther Manito is on tour with her show Slagbomb now.
