Review: Bramall Comedy Night Daliso Chaponda, John Robertson & Ellie Taylor

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It is always a signal of a friendly, supportive atmosphere at a comedy gig when the compère decides to sit with the rest of the audience and watch the acts. That seems to sum up the feel of the monthly comedy nights at Bramall Hall in Birmingham, and is perhaps why audiences are consistently keen.

Daliso Chaponda is not a comic I was familiar with prior to Bramall Hall’s most recent comedy night but he is certainly an example of someone with a great enthusiasm and respect for the craft of stand up comedy, frequently being the one laughing the loudest at the rest of the evening’s entertainment. Chaponda himself is an extremely endearing performer, speaking in hushed tones with the audience quietening in order to listen. This somewhat delicate demeanour contrasts delightfully against the occasional expletive or crude remark, making his set one that ticked all the boxes, as well as providing that little bit of extra shock factor.

john robertson

John Robertson

With this next act being the proud creator of live-action videogame The Dark Room (look it up if you haven’t already), I was unsure of what to expect from Australian comic John Robertson. I was expecting, however, that he would naturally require a microphone to amplify his voice across the relatively large music hall, but alas he did not. Robertson is the epitome of the naughty boy at school who everyone knows is an attention seeker (he is, of course, a stand up comedian) but is still the most popular boy in the class. Incredibly loud and well-articulated, this act surely won’t please every audience member but that didn’t seem to matter with so many people being on board from the get-go anyway. The next twenty minutes were a storm of unpredictability, shouting, audience interaction and ideas that weren’t always followed through, with the majority of us being left wanting more.

Ellie Taylor, last June’s Comedian of the Month and presenter of popular makeover programme Snog, Marry, Avoid, is a confident presence on stage, with an aptitude for audience communication as well as storytelling. Her height, while providing a space for material about her time spent as a model, allows Taylor’s stand up to take on a more physical element. The fact that this comedian is not afraid to be goofy or silly definitely works in her favour, with a warmth to anecdotes that ensures an immediate audience connection. Seeing a live performance from Ellie Taylor was something that had been on my to-do list for a long time and her set showed great promise for a fantastic new Edinburgh show in August 2016.

BRAMALL COMEDY NIGHTS

Seven Questions With… Gavin Webster

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As the proud owner of the title of Comedian’s Comedian 2014, an award voted for by comedians themselves, Gavin Webster has had a busy year. And rightly so; this comic is a true grafter with a genuine warmth to his performances. Gavin is currently working on series three of the popular Radio 4 sketch show, The Show What You Wrote, where material is written by the public and performed by comedians. He is also currently gigging across the country with his latest material.
To find out more about Gavin’s comedy, I asked him these seven questions…

1) What is your favourite kind of audience?

The best audiences are the ones that go with all the oohs and aahs along the way, the ones who like all the asides, all the attitude and all the exaggerated mimes and caricatured voices. They realise stand up for the pantomime that it is. The pay off isn’t too important to them. it’s the whole thing, the whole aesthetic, the being in the moment. Does that all sound a bit ponsey? It’s not meant to!

2) Do you consider yourself to be a writer or a performer first?

That’s a difficult one. I’d say writer because if I didn’t think of it and then write it down, how could I possibly talk about it with passion and enthusiasm?!! There are people who can do that on the comedy circuit but they’re not comedians in my view, they’re actors. They’re actors getting into the role of being comedians. It’s like ‘and here’s another thing that pisses off my team of writers!’.

© Alan Harrison

© Alan Harrison

3) Which nation has the best food?

It’s got to be Lebanon.

4) What kind of people do you avoid?

I’m getting worse mixing with people as I get older, it’s like I’ve lost my patience and tolerance glands. There’s a lot of silly billies at the Edinburgh fringe who seem to just surface once a year and talk confidently about what comedy is all about and then you never see them again. They’re probably boring some poor bastard to death as we speak. I don’t like it when people find out what I do and start ‘interviewing’ me. It’s like I’m stuck in some sort of local radio groundhog vortex at times. I always tell barbers that I’ve got a day off today from work.

5) Is there anything that makes you feel hopeless?

Well I suppose there’s the obvious, famine and flood and the fact that people earn shitloads of money in an afternoon in the city yet apparently we, the public, you know the people that get up 5 days a week and work our tits off, should feel responsible when we watch the comic relief programmes like it was mine and your fault that we live in a greedy heartless world. Having said that after the school run I tend to come home, sit down, have a glass of pop and watch Heir Hunters. That doesn’t make me feel hopeless, it makes me feel blessed.

6) What is your best trait?

It’s not modesty and it’s certainly not tidiness or cleanliness. It’s definitely not a penchant for hard work or patience. I’m not very empathetic and I can’t chill out like a Buddhist. I suppose I can keep things light and make jokes and stuff when things are pretty grim. At my mam’s funeral I think I was quite a good host afterwards in the pub. I told a great anecdote (it wasn’t even mine, it was about someone else) and it was very funny but no one laughed. Maybe it was a funny comics story, every comedian including some very well known ones really liked the story, no one in the pub laughed. They weren’t even sure if it was supposed to be funny. They were all my sister’s mates and they must have thought ‘my god and he’s supposed to be a stand up comedian’. Anyway the short answer is I don’t think I have any good traits!

7) What boosts your confidence as a performer?

When I do a theatre show in Newcastle (it’s the only place where I’ve got a proper following) and new people come and think it’s a terrific show and they then instantly become fans and at the same time other people come and don’t like it at all and never want to see my act again. For good measure they tend to reserve some personal abuse on social media. It means that I’m not all things to all men (and women) and that slowly but surely (very slowly, I’ll admit) I’m finding my crowd. Now when I perform at one of my shows on Tyneside, 300 people instantly get into it and another 100 tend to look at them curiously like they’ve stepped into an underground political movement.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT GAVIN WEBSTER’S WEBSITE

SEVEN QUESTIONS WITH…

December: Comedian Of The Month #23, Al Porter

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Each Comedian of the Month on MoodyComedy is a comic who has never previously featured on the website. Reasons for selection can include various current projects the comedian is involved with, or perhaps recent appearances on television programmes or podcasts. There is no strict criteria however, as Comedian of the Month simply stands as a collection of recommendations, highlighting interesting and original aspects of certain comedians and their work.

Al Porter is surely the epitome of a comedy success story, familiar to many as a result of his recent appearance on BBC’s Live At The Apollo, during November. At only 22 years of age, this stand up comedian has been working the circuit for just a few years and has been quick to establish a name for himself in Ireland as well as across the UK, even making it to the semi-finals of So You Think You’re Funny within a mere three months of his first gig. He also performed his debut stand up hour, Al Porter Is Yours at this year’s Edinburgh Festival.

Al Porter

Al Porter

It’s hard not to like Al. Maybe it’s partly due to the accent, or perhaps his unyielding enthusiasm for performance, but the pivotal reason, it has to be recognised, is Porter’s sheer level of skill that he utilises to provide entertainment that is full of energy and positivity. Clearly Porter is a born showman, with a talent for building a rapport with audiences. He’s chatty and flamboyant but slick with a manner and abundance of material that has an undeniably uplifting quality, making it clear that Al is a man who appreciates and understands the role of an entertainer and works tirelessly to fill that quota.

Surely I can’t be the only person to feel as though this young man has somehow managed to harness the spirit a strange but endearing Irish grandfather in his performance persona? Dapper in his pristine suit and tie and armed with a storyteller’s stage presence, Al Porter is not only accessible and enjoyable to watch, but he gives the impression of wisdom beyond his years, making him someone who’s stories are well worth a listen.

For more information, visit Al Porter’s website and follow him on Twitter.

NOVEMBER COMEDIAN OF THE MONTH

2016: Happy New Year!

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I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and are enjoying the prospect of another new year for yourselves, and for the world of comedy. 2015 has been an incredibly busy year for me, and that doesn’t look set to change any time soon, but it has also been a pleasingly productive one. I even turned 18 just before Christmas so will be able attend more of the events that MoodyComedy gets invited to, which I have often had to turn down in the past!

With things getting on top of me somewhat in the final few months of 2015, the quantity of posts on MoodyComedy had to be decreased. I will be continuing this certainly throughout the beginning of 2016 and most likely all the way through to next Summer due to the heavy workload involved in taking four subjects at A2 Level. However, one of my reasons for reducing the number of posts is so that I may maintain the level of quality to my writing whilst acknowledging my own busy lifestyle and various personal and academic commitments.

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But I definitely don’t want you to think that while MoodyComedy has been quiet, things haven’t been going on behind the scenes! The start of a new year sees MoodyComedy get a facelift, courtesy of the very talented Lucy Fletcher from Gabs Graphic Design. Lucy and I have worked to ensure that the new logo represents what the MoodyComedy brand is truly about, encompassing uncluttered, simple values with an artistic, homegrown touch, and I am immensely pleased with the outcome.

I’m very interested to hear what you all think of the new layout and encourage anyone needing help with the design-side of website maintenance to bear Lucy’s business in mind. I must also wish you all a very Happy New Year; here’s to another hectic twelve months of combining my two loves: comedy and crushing deadline pressure!

Seven Questions With… Patrick Monahan

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patrickmonahanPatrick Monahan is one of the most energetic performers to ever come out of Ireland or Iran or even Newcastle. With an uncanny ability to get audiences animated through singing, dancing and laughter it is perhaps unsurprising that Monahan’s demographic spans a large age range. His material is largely autobiographical: it’s honest, uplifting and immensely enjoyable to witness live. And the opportunity to witness the force that is Patrick Monahan live may come sooner than you think, as he is rumoured to be announcing a tour in the very near future.
To learn more about his comedy, I asked Patrick these seven questions…

1) Do you consider yourself to be proactive?

I think to survive as a stand up you have no choice but to be proactive, your material is constantly up on every social media on line, clips are put up on YouTube filmed by audience at gigs or by the police on CCTV and uploaded. So you have to keep writing and developing new comedy routines and gags and stories, cos if people discover you on line, and come to see you, it’s nice for them to see you doing something different. It’s not like being a singer that can do their greatest hits on line and on stage, I’d love to be Justin Bieber or Adele, but unfortunately stand ups can’t be.

2) Where does your love of dance come from?

I’ve always loved physical comedy from growing up watching comics like Robin Williams & Richard Pryor, who not only tell the story but re-enact every detail of the story. And I love comedy about real life things that have happened at clubs or music venues that instead of just telling it, I can express it through dance to the audience. I enjoy dancing but I don’t know how many people like watching me dance.

3) Do you love or loathe the concept of New Year?

I think the whole idea of having a new year its great fun, but in reality it doesn’t actually change that much from doing comedy a week before or a week after. Although people actually out on New Year’s Eve at a comedy show are a lot better behaved than people out in December cos most people out on NYE are mostly couples or family celebrating who want to listen to the show as opposed to office parties who want to sleep with Denise in accounts & roast Dave from finance who are out on a Xmas works do.

4) What would you define ‘lazy comedy’ as?

Anyone who nicks routines of another comic is obviously lazy and should be punished by being sent to a remote island with a laptop and not allowed off till they can write a one and half hour show of their own stand up. I have to write a new tour show every year and I didn’t even know my alphabet till I was 14. If I can write regularly then no excuses for anyone else.

5) Which subject bored you the most at school?

School was interesting for me cos I went to a couple of different schools, so before I could get too bored me family had moved to somewhere else. But I definitely think if I went back to school now, I’d get more out of it than when I was a kid. Also most schools give away a free tablet to write on.

6) Do you enjoy being busy?

I love it. I get 2 days off a year, which is Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, but to be honest, by the evening of Xmas I’m scratching around at home looking for an impromptu gig I can sneak onto!

7) Does the audience your comedy attracts ever surprise you?

My comedy audience range from 8 years old to 88 years old, mainly cos me comedy is non-offensive, without any swearing or anything too blue. So my audience will consist of couples & families who bring out their kids & grandparents. I love it, I’d never complain.

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH PATRICK MONAHAN’S COMEDY WORK BY VISITING HIS WEBSITE AND FOLLOWING HIM ON TWITTER.

SEVEN QUESTIONS WITH…

Comedy Circle #2 Why Do I Keep Laughing At Terrible Things?

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We live in a world where vile things have coexisted with, and been caused by, us for as long as humans have lived. Maybe horrific events are as frequent and as constant as they ever have been, but our exposure to them is arguably greater than ever before due to our heightened internet and media accessibility. It’s getting hard to avoid hearing about and seeing bloodshed on all corners of the globe, and rightly so. The suffering of others shouldn’t be something we are allowed to ignore. But with our ever-increasing knowledge of what really goes on in the world outside of our homes comes an overwhelming sense of hopelessness, fear and frustration at the inevitability of more depravity to come. So how is it that we deal with such feelings? For many people, myself included, the first place to turn is comedy.

The horrifying terror attacks in Paris just over a month ago shocked and sobered the majority of us. Nobody worth the time of day is finding humour in the death of innocent citizens. However, it is often suggested that the most effective way of conquering the threat of terrorism lies not in force or violence, but in laughter of a strange kind; in ridicule. There is no element of this tragedy that is to be found funny but it has, yet again, got me thinking about how our opinions are shaped by what we view on television and how exactly we are expected to process this onslaught of information.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oONoFFK5H0k

It can be claimed that the truth lies in the ridiculousness of it all. To laugh at something does, after all, disarm the thing that we are laughing at, rendering it inconsequential. Every waking moment revolves around the concept of death, regardless of whether we are aware of it or not. Everything in life essentially boils down to death but it seems, for the most fortunate of us, to be something we hear more about in the media than ever personally experience. Being eighteen, I have had limited encounters with the ill and the dying and that has left these concepts to be very abstract and distant in my daily life. My dog died unexpectedly at the beginning of November. I didn’t see her dead or even nearly dead and it felt strange to have her be there and then suddenly not be there anymore. Every time I talk about the fact my dog is dead, I laugh. My instinct now is to back this up by insisting that there is nothing funny about the fact my dog is dead, but if that was the case, surely I wouldn’t be laughing?

Laughter is perhaps our most relied-upon social tool, used to ensure a connection with others through the assurance that our communication is effective and our conversation understood. Laughing is also a means of deflecting stress and processing grief. It works as a defence mechanism when we feel uncomfortable or appears as a symptom of shock or fear. We also laugh when we feel connected within a community due to holding a common belief; it seems that we find humour in the good and the bad. I may, perhaps, view this topic from a biased perspective: I am, after all, a British citizen and we are particularly known for our droll humour. So is that why I haven’t been able to cry; because I am British?

Regardless of why we do it, it’s okay to laugh at things by way of processing information. Yes, it is often seen as socially inappropriate, but to laugh does not mean to laugh at something or someone. Perhaps it is the healthiest means we have by which to understand and digest the never-ending stream of atrocities we hear about in the news and maybe, as a result, it can become our lifeline. I won’t be seeing my dog again but I will continue to laugh at the fact she was an absolute moron.

Ask The Expert: Idil Sukan (Creative Director and Photographer)

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Idil Sukan is probably one of the most widely recognised photographers working in the world of comedy, which is no doubt down to her amazing work ethic and impressive back catalogue of portraits, having worked with Bridget Christie, Alan Davies and Katherine Ryan, as well as the likes of Terry Gilliam, Michael Gambon and Celia Imrie. Sukan’s latest exhibition project, This Comedian, was shown for the duration of this year’s Edinburgh Festival and she is also the creative mind behind many of the posters covering every surface imaginable at the Fringe each year.
To learn more about Idil’s artistic process, I asked her a few questions…

Why do you do what you do?

To show up how awful most photography and design is and what a detrimental affect that can have on culture and our industry. To show people how important photography is and how significant its influence can be, especially in this crazy, mixed-up Instagram world – how each and every one of us are cultural influencers every time we upload a shitty photo online. To demonstrate how far behind we are in photography and design in the UK comedy & theatre industry, compared to music, sport, film, beauty, fashion etc.

Idil Sukan

We’ve been so stagnant, it’s only finally in the last few years that we’re starting to take proper risks and think about interesting art direction and integrate with other industries like fashion. To show people photography and design with the comedy industry can be an exciting specialisation & to help carve a career path for new photographers entering it. To support, help and advise new photographers when I can – to not be secretive and competitive with other photographers like many were with me when I was first starting out. To show people that collaboration in photography e.g. with make-up artists and stylists is critical, and to show people that photography is at its very essence, multidisciplinary – it is not enough to just know how your camera works. To demonstrate that we have to be socially and culturally responsible with photography. To show people that greater investment in beautiful, strong, feminist photography translates to increased ticket sales, bigger fanbases but also a better fucking world. 

Also to finance my underground bareknuckle fighting habit, expensive vegan protein sources and to get people to actually pay me to hang out with them.

Did you plan your career at all?

No. I wanted to be an astronaut. I have terrible eyesight so that cocked that plan up. Then I wanted to be a psychiatrist. Then an ER doctor. Then I realised that my career choices were based on my favourite TV shows: Star Trek, Frasier and Embarrassing Bodies. 

What element of your job is the most stressful?

Diplomatically explaining to the occasional producer how they know nothing of life. 

4) Who have you most enjoyed working with?

My collaborator and stylist Lex Wood. The PR Amanda Emery. Neil Hobbs (Technical Director) & Stephen Greer (associate producer, performance academic) The British Independent Film Award directors Johanna and Theresa. The Royal & Derngate Theatre. Some actors I’ve photographed: Tara Fitzgerald, Peter Capaldi, Michael Gambon, Michael Fassbender. As for the comedians: Elis James. Isy Suttie. Brett Goldstein. David Trent. Bridget Christie. Sara Pascoe. Michael Legge. The Muppets. Katherine Ryan and her stylist and make up artist team. The sketch troupes: The Penny Dreadfuls, Harvey, Garvey & The Kane and Shirley & Shirley. There are many, many more. They’ve all realised how important photography is and they’ve all really appreciated how I work and why – but mostly because they all made me laugh so hard which makes work worthwhile. Laugh during the photoshoots I mean. They all may well be totally useless on stage. 

What are you the most proud of?

My right shoulder muscles and right hand grip strength. I am an animal. You should feel my cross punch. Dolph Lundgren died and was reincarnated as my right fist. This Right Hand of Doom only comes from years of tightly gripping a 10 pound camera at crazy angles day in, day out, plus hauling around at least 50 pounds of camera equipment up and down tube staircases, on and off trains, through rainy forests, up onto rooftops, into basement rehearsal rooms. There’s so much strapped around your body, you look like a Buckaroo. A sexy Buckaroo. 

This is what I have. You see, easily 90% of the work I do is digital – digital raw files, digital delivery, ending up digitally shared online – these days magazines and newspapers put more content online than in print, plus most stuff is shared on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. Sure there are some prints, book covers, and I am very proud of my exhibition, but 99% of my work is stored in hard drives. There’s no physicality. So really, my right arm is the most tangible evidence I have to show for the years of work. I don’t swan in, wrapped in a pashmina, click the shutter and laugh alone into a salad afterward. To do it well, you have to give everything to photography, it’s not just about mastering Photoshop shortcut keys. As I’ve said before, photography is a multidisciplinary physical job, you give your body to it. You have to eat a lot and you have to lift a lot. Do you fucking see this incredible deltoid? It shows I did the goddamn work.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT IDIL SUKAN’S WEBSITE AND FOLLOW HER ON TWITTER

Seven Questions With… Scott Bennett

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Scott Bennett

Charismatic Yorshireman Scott Bennett is an instantly likeable stand up performer, with an admirably relaxed delivery style on stage that enables audiences to trust his comedic judgement; he is a reassuring comic. Having recently taken his debut show to the Edinburgh Festival, Bennett is quickly moving up the ranks as a recognisable face on the circuit.
To learn more about Scott, I asked him these seven questions…

1) Why did you choose to write a show all about your father?

I should say that it was because I wanted a fitting tribute to my father, something that could unite us both and a piece of work we could both look back on with mutual respect and affection. The truth is that he is an endless source of material and I could have probably written a couple of shows. I love studying him, like a David Attenborough documentary, he’s such a rich and intriguing character. I don’t think I could have written a character as fertile with comedic value as my dad and the fact that his escapades have more than a ring of truth to them, just makes it even more attractive.

2) What is your favourite thing about Yorkshire?

Many things, the accent, the thrifty money-saving mentality, even the food – which other county can boast their own savoury pudding? We also got a stage of a major cycling race recently; this was a big deal. I was tempted to go up there with a whippet tied to the back of my Raleigh Grifter with a bit of string and join the leading pack as they passed through Ilkley.

3) Do you think it is important for comedy to be relatable?

I think it depends on the subject matter and how it is conveyed. I think as long as the audience are made to feel part of the comedian’s world that’s the main thing. I love many styles of comedy, although I do have a soft spot for pure observational stand-up comedy. There is a real beauty in the simplicity of it; you can get a bigger laugh if the audience can immediately understand the direction you are taking them in.

4) What has surprised you recently?

How much I enjoyed the BBC programme “The Great Pottery Throwdown” – yes, it’s just people making pots, but it’s bloody marvellous. I think I am definitely getting a potter’s wheel in the shed. Imagine how good that would be, nipping out to put the bin out and then come back in with an ashtray and a vase; amazing. I am also going to be a father for the second time in January, which is fantastic. I probably should have mentioned that before the pottery programme really.

5) Which job role would you hate to have?

The Prime Minister. Imagine the stress of that job, the decisions you would have to make would terrify me. I know politicians aren’t perfect but it’s not an easy job. I’ve heard the way they get grilled at eight in the morning by John Humphreys on the today programme; it’s brutal. I am barely functional at that time of the day; I often have to slide out of my pit like a hungover Gollum, it’s an effort just to form words. Also as a comic I wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to slip material into Prime Minister’s Questions, or slam the leader of the opposition like a heckler in a comedy club. I’d also definitely fiddle my expenses; forget the duck houses and moats I would be sneaking through obscene amounts of Ginsters pasties, Red Bull and caffeine eye rollers, the staples for any road comic.

6) Do you look forward to retiring or dread it?

I am looking forward to it, as long as I am healthy and comfortable it could be great. I’m going to follow in my father’s footsteps and start paying the world back for the misery it has caused me. I could spend the mornings just getting out into rush hour traffic and getting in other people’s way, sitting in supermarket car parks with my indicators on just waiting for spaces and clogging up the queues at the post office just to buy a single stamp. Afternoons would obviously be spent on the potter’s wheel. I’m hoping my children would keep me; I’ll have two girls who’ll be grown up by then. The first one has already shown some aptitude for performance and drama, so if I don’t hit the big time, I will be focusing all my efforts over the next few years living my dreams through her, like any good parent should.

7) Are you content?

That’s difficult to say. In my personal life I would say yes, I’ve got a lot to be thankful for. My wife is brilliant. People often forget about the partners of those who do comedy or any type of performance, it’s a thankless task and they have to be unwavering in their support. It’s not an easy sell, “sorry love, I can’t stay and change the nappies; I’ve got to go on stage in Liverpool and seek validation from a room full of strangers! Bye!”

With regards to my comedy career, I am proud of what I have achieved but I am always looking to push things on. I want to develop as an act, do bigger and better shows and take my writing up a level. I have many projects I am keen to try and get off the ground; sitcom ideas, new hour shows, the list is endless! I feel as soon as you feel content with your comedy career you become complacent, you have to keep the pressure on.

SCOTT BENNETT IS CURRENTLY PERFORMING ACROSS THE UK

SEVEN QUESTIONS WITH…

November: Comedian Of The Month #22, Jessie Cave

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Each Comedian of the Month on MoodyComedy is a comic who has never previously featured on the website. Reasons for selection can include various current projects the comedian is involved with, or perhaps recent appearances on television programmes or podcasts. There is no strict criteria however, as Comedian of the Month simply stands as a collection of recommendations, highlighting interesting and original aspects of certain comedians and their work.

Jessie Cave is a comedian with her fingers in many pies, epitomising the spirit of a naive school girl, with a style of comedy that borders on being uncomfortably honest. Recognisable from major franchises such as Harry Potter and Glue (Channel 4), Cave is an actress, artist, blogger, stand up comedian and all-round creative with a great deal of natural talent and innovation. It only takes a brief glance at her Instagram page to determine that here we have someone who is one of a kind, and is making a great success of that fact.

Though the amount of pure stand up available on the internet is extremely limited, it is easy to see that Jessie’s stage persona is very similar to the persona she presents through various other artistic mediums, such as through her cartoon doodles and short films. Her latest stand up hour I Loved Her has been praised for its truthfulness and bitter edge, describing the woes of neurotic obsession, possessiveness and extreme loneliness.

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© Jessie Cave

In 2012 Jessie Cave worked as essentially a part of Simon Amstell’s publicity team, creating a series of strange YouTube interviews with the aim not only to promote Amstell’s show Numb, but also as a means of attempting to make the comic as enthusiastic about the internet as Cave is. As well as being able to portray Amstell in a way that is more realistic than that of other comedy appearances (note his time spent as controversial Never Mind The Buzzcocks host), these videos demonstrate Jessie’s ability to derive humour from standard conversations, a side effect, no doubt, of her bubbly personality.

It is hard to avoid the fact that Jessie Cave is a character, or at least an exaggeration of the performer, but this is a character that audiences feel inclined to indulge. She is like being in the school playground; she is misbehaving in class.

For more information, visit Jessie Cave’s website, follow her on Twitter and subscribe to her YouTube channel.

OCTOBER COMEDIAN OF THE MONTH

Seven Questions With… Shazia Mirza

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Shazia Mirza 1 - pls credit Linda Nylind.jpegShazia Mirza is a comedian and columnist from my home city of Birmingham. Where others may stay well back, Mirza tackles difficult political topics head-on, effortlessly demonstrating to us all why comedy is so vital in this day and age and using her stand up as a platform to get us talking about important social issues. Shazia is currently preparing to take her 2015 Edinburgh show The Kardashians Made Me Do It on tour across the UK.
I asked Shazia these seven questions to learn more about her…

1) Is it important to you to find humour in serious subjects?

It’s not important, I just try to do material on whatever I feel something about. So if I’m angry, sad, happy about something, I’ll try and find jokes about that because at least I feel something about it. It’s when I don’t feel anything about anything that I feel stuck, which happens often, as you can’t care about everything and sometimes its tiring so I just think oh I’ll go to bed and have a cup of tea.

2) Which part of the country is your favourite?

I love the Midlands, because I was born in Birmingham and the humour feels very familiar when I go home. I feel like they get me, they are laughing with me, and I can make in house jokes that only we can laugh at. I can also talk ‘Birmingham’ – that is my lingo with my accent, which just makes people run from me if I do it elsewhere.

3) What is it that made you quit being a teacher?

The tipping point was when someone kept stealing my mug in the staffroom. I thought I’m not having this anymore. Also I was doing jokes in the classroom, which they just didn’t get, and I thought I could make more money doing this out in the clubs, so I did. 

4) Which month of the year is your favourite?

September. I can go on holiday, it’s cheaper but it’s still hot and the kids have all gone back to school so there is peace and quiet on the beaches of the South of France.

5) Are you usually early or late for things?

Late. Because I try to fit in 20 things in one day. For some reason I still think I can do a gig in San Francisco and Leicester on the same night.

6) Do you fear failure?

I’ve failed so much that I can’t imagine progressing any further without failure. If I don’t fail at something every few months, it feels weird. Everyone needs a car crash to remind them they are not invincible. 

7) Is 2015 a good time to be a comedian?

I have been a comedian in other years too, but it seems like now there is so much you can’t help but joke about. There is so much in your face that’s getting people angry and frustrated every day that there is loads to say. Everyone is being affected by something these days that can make them angry. 

SHAZIA MIRZA IS TOURING HER LATEST SHOW ‘THE KARDASHIANS MADE ME DO IT’ IN EARLY 2016

SEVEN QUESTIONS WITH…