From her trail-blazing role as Carmel Roberts in the BBC’s long-running soap Eastenders, to great comedy performances in shows such as The Real McCoy,Judith Jacob has made her mark as a talented actress and performer. Even before Eastenders she was a regular cast member on the hospital drama Angels and the sit-com No Problem! Most recently she starred as a prison guard in the drama Provoked, which told the true story of a Punjabi named Kiranjit Ahluwalia, who leaves India to marry a London-based man and eventually ends up in prison for murdering her abusive husband.
A graduate of Anna Scher Theatre Judith Jacob went on to co-found the Black Theatre Co-op (BTC), a London theatre group of black actresses. She remains a regular theatre performer and recently launched the show Judith Jacob Yabba Yabbas with friends, an evening of performance and chat. With the show about to relaunch at Bernie Grant Arts Centre after a successful run at Hackney Empire, BEMA spoke to her about her life as one of Black Britain’s most enduring performers.
How did you come up with the idea for the show? A friend of mine, Keith Palmer director of The Comedy School, thought I should do something that featured me. We were playing with a few ideas when Frank from Hackney Empire asked Keith if he had anything that he wanted to do at The Marie Lloyd Bar, next door to Hackney Empire. After a few debates, the chat show idea was the one we decided on. The format is a friend of mine performs, I interview them and then the audience gets to ask questions. I also feature an up and coming artist on the show.
Why Yabba Yabbas?
I thought long and hard about a name that suits me and conveys what the show is about. I played with the word labrish but too many people did not know what that meant but Yabba felt right.
How do you decide on your guests?
I think of people that I love to watch, who I can contact personally and who may be someone the public would want to get up close and personal with. I am excited about interviewing all of my guests but it will be really interesting catching up with Ninia Benjamin; we go back a looooong time.
If you could pick absolutely anyone who would be your ideal Yabba Yabba guest?
Hmmm, I don’t know. It changes from week to week. Maybe Angela Davis, wow that would be deep…the stories she could tell. Or the chat queen herself Oprah Winfrey – that would be a coup.
As a performer you are a Hackney Empire regular, – how do you feel about its expected extended closure?
I love Hackney Empire and I cannot imagine it being dark for 9 months, where will all the shows go that have been performing there? Where will I go? I am at there at least once every 6-8 weeks. I hope that something happens so that it does not go dark.
How did you get into acting, were you a child performer?
I went to Anna Scher drama classes when I was 12 years old. I got my first job at 13where I played a girl who was a fan of The Osmond’s. Imagine that, there I was a young black girl playing a fan of the Osmond’s and not The Jackson 5. I guess that made me a child performer.
What performance or role are you most proud of?
The job I had the most fun on was No Problem. I was working with my friends and it never felt like work. It was a show that the cast, who were from Black Theatre Co-op, work-shopped and created. It was written by Mustapha Matura who was also part of BTC. I loved working on that show. But the role I am most proud of is probably Nurse Beverley Slater in Angels; I did a lot of growing then. My character was a bit like me to begin with, quite shy but she, like me, became more confident and the part became more challenging. Rumour has it you are an aerobics queen. Do you still teach and how did that start? I love training and I needed to add another bow to my strings so I trained to be a fitness instructor. I have done so many courses to ensure that I keep up to date. So if I am not treading the boards I am shouting at people to do just one more squat. I remember seeing Beverley Callard, who is in Coronation Street, on a video and I thought ‘I can do that’ so with the encouragement of friends and family that is what I did.
Thinking of your stint in EastEnders, does anyone still call you Carmel? If so does it bother you?
I still do get people calling me Carmel but not as much, or if they do they normally follow it with ‘Judith Jacob?’. I do not have a problem with it though. Actually I sometimes get called Sensi. I think that is just people wanting to let me know that they watched No Problem. Love dat.
Most embarrassing experience whilst performing?
I don’t know if it could be called embarrassing, but I was working on a play and on the first night of the show one of the actresses decided that she could no longer act with one of the actors so after her scene she left the stage. The next scene was with her and me. I walked onto the set and of course she wasn’t there. At first I tried to wing it by saying my lines and then hers but I couldn’t remember any more of her lines so I walked off stage crying. The audience wasn’t sure if that was part of the play or not but my man who was in there knew that my crying was for real. The play was stopped and the audience were told to go for a break. So it was kind of embarrassing.
Any advice to aspiring artist/performers?
I suggest that they learn their craft through either college or drama school if they can afford it. Go to the theatre, get a programme so that you know the name of the director, that way you are informed. You have so little control of your acting life so don’t be afraid to recreate yourself. Write or mix with people who write so that you/they could either write a play or create characters for you to perform. If you can sing and dance then there is so much more that you can do.
Join Judith and friends at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre from 18th October. Her friends are: Omar and Eddie Kadi (18th October); Don-E and Slim (25th October); Kwame Kwei Armah and Junior Simpson (1st November) and Chris Tummings and Ninia (3 non-blondes) Benjamin (8th November). Info/bookings:www.berniegrantcentre.co.uk or Box Office: 020 8 365 5450
Bema Arts Ltd 