Isy Suttie – why I quit Facebook

Comedy — 14 July 2012

There have been some unforgettable moments throughout seven series of Peep Show, but one of the funniest ever was surely when Gerard caught Mark stalking Dobby on Facebook.“I didn’t actually have any photos of myself,” laughs Isy Suttie, who plays Dobby in the cult comedy series. “I had to get one off my best mate from school.” Gerard caps the scene wonderfully by admitting that, just like Mark, “Corfu ’06” is his favourite of Dobby’s online photo albums. This mainstream acceptance that Facebook (especially its albums of holiday snaps) have become a kind of post-modern lusty trip for the lovelorn, flat-bound geek was a moment of inspired observation.

It’s the creepy side of Facebook that persuaded Isy Suttie to leave the site herself – coupled with how much people show-off online. “I think if I had my way I wouldn’t be on anything. Facebook is a falsity. I think it’s nice to go to the pub and not have all these noises from your phone distracting you all the time.”

Nevertheless Suttie, charmingly geeky and always smiling, used the social network as inspiration for her latest show, Pearl And Dave, which she performs at the Greenwich Comedy Festival next week. “It’s about a couple who met once at Butlins in Skegness and he gets in contact with her on Facebook. I play both of them – they have this online relationship.”

The poignant pair’s romance is soundtracked by Suttie: “I wrote all the songs and play both of them,” says the multi-talented comic.
Suttie also playfully mocks her own romantic failures in the show, which she performed at Edinburgh last year to wide acclaim, and was eventually picked up by Radio 4. “It’s really fun to do, I keep finding little bits to change every time as well,” she grins.

But it remains that wonderfully understated performance in Peep Show which the 33 year-old from Hull has made her own. Filming for a new series begins on July 30, she reveals. “We have to keep everything a secret, we have to sign an agreement saying we won’t talk about it,” she tells Scout. “I haven’t even seen the new scripts yet. I’ve got no idea what happens.”

Let’s hope Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain – Peep Show’s writers – come up with more cringe-inducing corkers for Dobby. Such as the time she had to rub her posterior against David Mitchell’s groin. How was that? She laughs heartily. “Awkward. There was no bodily contact though. They used a mirror and were saying ‘Okay, move your head and your bum like this’.”

Mitchell has become an unlikely sex symbol – but not to Suttie. “When you’re working with someone, it’s not like that. He’s a lovely guy but no! I completely understand why girls feel like that though.” She thinks for a moment: “David’s like the male version of Carol Vorderman before she had that surgery.”