An absolutely fabulous evening is in store for attendees at a Cumbrian business networking event this month when comedian and actor Helen Lederer joins them as a special guest.

She will be appearing at The Gather’s opening evening of 2026 which will take the form of a book club discussion, at The Venue, Kendal on Thursday, January 22.

Best known for her role as Catriona in Absolutely Fabulous, Helen will be drawing on her acclaimed memoir Not That I’m Bitter to bring a story familiar to anyone who has ever felt underestimated, sidelined or quietly told they were ‘too much’.

It has won praise from fellow comics including Ben Elton who called it “funny, wise, brilliant and brave – just like its author” while Jo Brand said: “Her progression through the comedy swamp of the Eighties is fascinating, poignant and laugh-out-loud.”

In the book, Helen traces her journey from childhood, when her mother dismissed her early comic instincts as being a ‘show-off’, to becoming one of the few women to break through the male-dominated world of alternative comedy in the 1980s. 

It’s a period often remembered as ground-breaking and rebellious, yet Helen’s account reveals how choppy the waters really were for women trying to be heard.

There may have been a comedy revolution under way, but there was only limited space at the top, and plenty of resistance to women daring to write scripts, pitch ideas to the BBC, or simply take up space on stage.

Not That I’m Bitter is funny, frank and deeply human.

Helen writes with warmth and wit about the absurdities of success and the quiet devastation of failure, often existing side by side. 

There is also a strong sense of perspective shaped by her background as the child of a Czech wartime refugee.

Never quite part of the mainstream, she reflects on how feeling like an outsider sharpened her observational eye and fuelled both her comedy and her resilience. 

Talking about her ability to find something funny in any given situation, Helen previously said: “If I think I’m going to get a laugh, I bloody well do it.

“To me, laughing is everything and I’ve been quite ruthless with myself.

“The book is a little window of time gone by where I hope I am, in my new, original way, trying to find humour in life.”

At The Gather, formerly LA23Net, Helen will also speak about the multiple strings to her bow: as a comedian and actress but as a writer, campaigner and founder of the Comedy Women in Print Prize, which has helped dozens of women into publication. 

The Gather with Helen Lederer is at The Venue, Castle Mills, Kendal, on Thursday 22 January, with tickets available here.