“That is in itself, for me, therapeutic because I’m putting it all out there”
Online sensation Serena Terry, aka Mammy Banter, is putting a difficult year behind her as she heads out on her biggest stand-up tour to date.
In 2024, the Derry woman was on a roll, becoming the first ever female comedian to sell out Belfast’s SSE Arena, millions of adoring fans on social media and two books under her belt.
However, last year she found herself facing some difficult battles, including the death of her father, and wants to show the world the reality behind the TikToks in her new show.
READ MORE: Mammy Banter creator Serena Terry on her upcoming ‘biggest tour to date’READ MORE: Mammy Banter Serena Terry announces SSE Arena Belfast show as part of ‘biggest tour to date’
Speaking to Belfast Live, Serena said her new tour ‘Therapy’ shows audiences that it’s ok if you don’t know what you’re doing and that sometimes we have to “just laugh about it and have a bit of craic”.
A description of the show reads: “Over the last 6 months, Serena has tried and tested 22 different types of therapy in a bid to improve her physical and mental health and calm the chaos that comes with being a busy mum on the cusp of turning 40, resulting in some diverse, embarrassing and hilarious outcomes.
“She’ll take you through her journey of self improvement. Park your worries at the door and strap in for a night of honest hilarity that’ll leave tears of laughter streaming down your face, providing a little bit of your own therapy in return.”
Returning to the SSE Arena stage on May 16, Serena is also performing three hometown gigs at Derry’s Millennium Forum on April 24, 25 and May 9.
She said: “It is essentially a recap of my 2025 where life threw a few curveballs, including depression, ADHD, divorce, my dad died and a few other things in between, whilst being a parent and going through perimenopause.
“It does not sound funny on paper, but it really is about talking through the quiet parts out loud and hoping that people recognise themselves in the chaos.”
With 2.5million followers and over 80million likes on TikTok, she is no stranger to making people laugh through their phones.
However, she described transforming likes and comments on her video to real in-person laughter while performing stand-up as “surreal”.
“I don’t think it even feels real to me anymore – it just kind of meshed the transition from online and doing everything behind my phone never felt like it was the actual real people who were commenting or engaging with my content,” Serena explained.
“So whenever you go out and go on stage to be actually in the place where people are and see their faces and see their reactions in real time, do your jokes, it’s incredible – it’s really, really addictive.”
While her two children are slightly too young just yet to be able to enjoy her stand-up content, she said being able to take her daughter behind the scene of her previous SSE Arena show as the “proudest day of [her] life”.
She added: “I will never, ever forget that as long as I live.”
As for stepping into the world of stand-up after years of creating skits, Serena said it pushes her to new levels which has meant to much to her while facing the darker times.
“It’s such a raw nature that you’re exposed to – you’re live, if you make a mistake, it’s not like online, you can’t just edit your video or hit stop. You’re there and you have to be vulnerable.
“But that is in itself, for me, therapeutic because I’m putting it all out there.
“I’m putting it all out on the line and when people laugh and appreciate it and relate to it, it makes me feel like I’m normal as well.”
Serena said that she hopes people “recognise themselves” in her stories on tour and leave knowing they can relate to someone, while also doubled over in laughter.
She concluded: “I want them to recognise themselves in those little life instances and traumas and curveballs and plot twists and understand that they are normal and how they survive it.
“A lot of us, we do struggle alone with things so if I can bring that out and have people relate and be able to laugh at the absurdity of how relaable it is and how actually we’re not alone, we’re all going through the same thing, then that to me means that people feel that they belong and they are doing better than they are.
“That’s what it’s about.”
You can find out more and get tickets to her tour shows here
VIDEO BY JUSTIN KERNOGHAN
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