By Michelle Tiwo
Better known by her stage name, Miss London, Kingston alumnus Dionne Hughes has rocked up a storm in the comedy world in just under three years.
Now she is already in talks with the BBC and American networks, Universal studios and NBC.
She says: “I’d like to be like the female Jamie Foxx. The big goal would be to go over to America and make it big. I think that is everyone’s dream, but that’s where I’d like to end up.”
“I’ve done stand-up and I love it, it will always be a skill that I have but my next big goal is acting. I want to be in a film and if it has to be, I will write the film myself,” she said.
At a young age we all choose what career path we hope to go down. For some, their parents have the last say whilst others rebel to do their own thing.
But for Dionne, comedy was something that chose her. She admits not being the prettiest or most popular of students but decided that this should not stop her from doing what she wants to.
Falling more or less mouth first into the comedy circuit, Dionne’s career really began to take off five days after performing at the annual Roehampton’s Got Talent show. This was the reason why she ended up becoming the host for one of London’s most popular entertainment nights, The Sunday Show.
Since then, the interest in her grew quickly for three reasons: She was a girl, she was young and she was fresh to the scene.
“It kind of just snuck up on me really, I didn’t think in a million years it would catapult me the way it has into mainstream,” she said.
Dionne, now 22, describes how her agent, Vivienne Clore, helped take her to new heights when she bagged her CBBC gig: “I used to see Angelica Bell presenting it and I wanted to be like her, so working there was a dream come true.”
When the BBC headquarters moved to Manchester, no one including Miss London herself believed she could work up north, so she set out on her own path to empowering women whilst making everyone laugh like her biggest inspiration, Beyoncé.
“To all girls,” she says “never, ever, ever, EVER second guess your talent. We get a lot of jibs for being girls. Don’t let people tell you that you’re funny for a girl. No, you’re funny full stop.
“I think there would be a lot more female comediennes if we didn’t get put down so much. So if you’re a funny girl and you’ve made your friends laugh and can make one stranger laugh then you can make a room full of strangers laugh – think of the logic.”
Now working closely with the BBC on her own “mockumentary”, a documentary that takes the mick, the Kingston graduate is focusing on her acting, comedy and writing.
“I can’t really reveal what’s coming up next but I’ve got the mockumentary coming and a lot of new stuff. I’m very much still in the game.”