Chloe Petts is thinking about bedbugs, or, to be more specific, they were thinking about bedbugs right before I spoke to them.
The day I graced Chloe’s laptop screen, they were set to appear on Have I Got News for You, and were quite literally doing their homework before that night’s show when I called.
‘I think bedbugs get top billing and then plague,’ the 32-year-old joked. ‘Unfortunately, the bedbugs are funnier [than plague].’
In any other context with any other interviewee, trying to find a joke about an infestation of creepycrawlies would be a bit odd. But this is all very in character for the comedian who’s cheerful, high energy, and clearly very smart.
‘I love blending the stupid and the smart,’ the star, who’s currently competing on Taskmaster, tells me.
‘That’s my favourite thing: having a really smart idea and then expressing it through a poor joke. I think that’s because comedy audiences have come to see comedy; they haven’t come to see a lecture.
‘But you also don’t need to talk down to them. So you can express these big ideas if you package them in a stupid way; that’s my preference.’
It’s this attitude to presenting ‘big ideas’ in stand-up that’s allowed Chloe to regularly explore nuanced topics like gender fluidity in their routine while remaining, to paraphrase their words, ‘a bit laddy’. (Chloe uses them/they pronouns)
Chloe credits their increased confidence and experience with helping them be bold enough to talk about ideas that might seem a bit deep for a comedy club, although they do think we underestimate audiences sometimes.
‘I want to give myself a bit of credit for working really hard and knowing how to talk about stuff and being brave enough to kind of go on stage and say: “This is who I am”,’ they explained.
‘But I also want to give credit to the audiences that come. I think maybe part of why it’s easier now is because my heart’s a bit more open in terms of just going, “Don’t judge this audience; you don’t want them to judge you, so don’t judge them.”’
Interestingly, despite noting their increased confidence, Chloe was reluctant to hear that they were the fan favourite on the latest season of Taskmaster.
I know that in this industry, if you allow your self-esteem to ride on arbitrary praise, then it’s going to be good sometimes and bad at other times, they explained when I asked about their embarrassment.
‘I just try to always be myself and make the work that I’m proud of and hope that people respond to that. I’m so grateful that people are responding to that.’
One thing that they’re happy about, though, is how audiences have reacted to them using the correct pronouns.
‘[Taskmaster] is the first TV show that I’ve done with my correct pronouns,’ they said. ‘Everyone being so cognisant of that and respectful has been very nice for me to feel.
‘You can say you don’t like me as long as you’re using the correct pronouns, like trans-inclusive abuse.’
Chloe noted their Taskmaster co-stars were all very considerate of their preferred pronouns, something they were a bit worried about.
‘There’s always a fear that anyone of a certain generation’s gonna be stuck in their ways. I think that was paranoia for me, right? But everyone has either just been cool or curious,’ they said.
‘It’s really cool that people don’t want to be philistines stuck in the past. They genuinely want to move with the times and understand things.’
Sadly, Chloe admitted that despite their co-stars understanding them, they (like most of us watching) never really understood Richard Ayoade.
‘You’ll have to ask him,’ Chloe laughed when I asked if Richard knew he was making a TV show.
‘You will not get a straight answer. Listen to this Taskmaster podcast (you’re welcome for the plug, Ed Gamble), because it is so illuminating. He says everything like it’s a character, but you can tell everything he says is true.
‘Richard’s great. He’s so powerfully funny. Everything he does, because he knows that character so well, he’s so funny. But I do always ask myself the question: Are you getting a kick out of this? Do you genuinely feel like this is national service?
‘I think Richard, from what I can now understand, had naughty schoolchild energy, whereas I had good schoolchild energy, desperate for the approval of my teachers and desperate for every single point.
‘But Greg [Davies] is just not a version of AQA or something. I just wanted him to think I was good and give me all the points, because I’m a nerd.’
Despite being a nerd (again, their words, not mine), I did point out that Chloe has started pushing back against the titular Taskmaster.
‘The thing about Greg is he just wants to f**k around,’ they grinned. ‘I really recognise that in Greg; he’s like: “We’re here to do the work, but the way we’re going to do the work is by having the maximum amount of fun.”’
Still, just because Chloe’s having fun doesn’t mean they’re not there to win, and they’re arguably one of the most competitive players since Ed Gamble.
‘I went in with a very philosophical attitude and was thinking, “By being on Taskmaster, I’ve won”,’ they said when I asked them about their competitiveness.
‘Then I think something happens to me where my brain sniffs the possibility of victory and goes, “Well, if I don’t get it, then my life will be over, and then everyone will hate me.”
Luckily, Chloe is winning, and their life is far from over. In fact, it feels like it’s only just beginning.
Chloe Petts 2027 UK and Ireland stand-up tour, Call Me By My Surname, runs from January 21 through May 27, 2027. Tickets are on sale now.