British Comedy

Ask The Expert: Bruce Dessau (Arts Critic)

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Bruce Dessau, the founder of the comedy website Beyond The Joke, is a very popular writer and arts critic. His career has seen him interview most, if not all, of the biggest names in comedy. His novel Beyond A Joke: Inside the Dark World of Stand-up Comedy, explores the hidden side of entertainment that is not necessarily widely known, and considers what it is about a comedian’s mentality that makes them want to take to the stage in seek of audience approval. Dessau has also written various biographies as well as writing a regular column for the Evening Standard
To learn more about Bruce’s work as a writer, I asked him a few questions…

1) Which aspects of your work make you the most proud?

I’m not sure if I would use the word “proud” about what I do, but I guess I’m reasonably proud of the fact that I’ve been going to the Edinburgh Fringe every year for two decades and I’m still relatively sane. It’s three weeks of madness but I’d recommend it to anyone. Comedy really does still excite me, it’s not something I think I’m ever going to grow out of. It amazes me when I meet people who say they have never been to a comedy gig. Yes, there are some. The fools.

I’m a little bit proud of beyondthejoke.co.uk. I was quite intimidated by the idea of setting up a website after years as a print journalist, but actually it has been pretty straightforward. Hard work at times, but not anyway near as scary or stressful as I expected.

2) Is there anyone that you regret never getting to interview?

I’ve been lucky enough to interview a few greats and heroes. Rik Mayall, Billy Connolly, Joan Rivers, Daniel Kitson. I’m not sure if I like interviewing comedians that much because they are rarely as entertaining one-to-one as they are onstage. Maybe they go onstage to avoid talking one-to-one. And they are often unable or unprepared to talk about the mechanics of their work.

I interviewed Bill Hicks when he was at his peak. My big regret is that I recorded over the tape* shortly afterwards.

beyondthejoke

Beyond The Joke

3) What advice would you give to people who run their own websites?

Don’t pay anyone to advise you on search engine optimisation. Use spellcheck. Make sure you post new original content every day, even weekends… hang on, I’m not giving my rivals any tips.

Save all your correspondence. I’ve thrown away personal hand-written pre-fame letters from Ricky Gervais and Russell Brand among others. And don’t record over/wipe interviews.

4) What is the greatest thing to come out of your work so far?

That’s an almost impossible question to answer. I’m a journalist. I’m not saving lives, striving for world peace or even attempting to make people laugh. I’m just lucky enough to have the opportunity to write about something that I really enjoy. I think John Robins might have tweaked a line in his show after he read my review a few years ago.

5) Are you currently working on any writing projects?

I’ve written a number of books about comedy, on Reeves & Mortimer, Billy Connolly, Rowan Atkinson and Red Dwarf and a few others, but I’m never completely satisfied with them. When I look over them I see some things I’m glad I wrote but mostly I wish I could start all over again. Books are a very long haul – so different to the rapidfire reviews I write for beyondthejoke.co.uk or the Evening Standard. They are a different discipline and I’m not sure if I’ll do one again. I’ve written unofficial biogs, semi-official biogs and official biogs and none have worked out as expected.

So at the moment I’m really concentrating on writing for the Evening Standard and running beyondthejoke.co.uk.

*What journalists who couldn’t do shorthand used in the olden days.

READ BRUCE DESSAU’S EVENING STANDARD COLUMN AND VISIT ‘BEYOND THE JOKE’

ASK THE EXPERT…

Review: Bramall Comedy Night, Bethany Black, Bobby Mair & Zoe Lyons

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Comedy nights at the Bramall on the University of Birmingham campus seem to be getting busier each month, and this is in part surely a result of the increasingly diverse nature of its lineups. The compère for last week’s event was Manchester comic Bethany Black; a performer with a subtle, untroubled confidence on stage that speaks for itself, without any need for an exaggeration of character to make up for underlying insecurities often present in the stand up business. I’m unsure as to whether she would be surprised to hear that she gives this impression, but Bethany has an incredibly cool and calm manner. She successfully balances sinister elements of narrative with a down-to-earth tone and her style of audience interaction is reassuringly laid back.

Bobby Mair

Bobby Mair, a previous Comedian of the Month on MoodyComedy, followed. Mair’s performance was surprisingly subdued, playing up to the persona of perhaps a vulnerable, oddly menacing child. Silences were more often utilised than shouting in this set, which is not an element of his performance I expected but gave his whole character a whole lot more substance and grit. With a host of near-one-liners, this comedian displayed a knack for making written material sound impulsive, whilst keeping an intriguing distance between his true self and the audience at all times throughout.

The final act of the evening was Zoe Lyons, a recognisable face from programmes including Mock The Week and Live At The Apollo. Her arrival at the Bramall was clearly well appreciated by those in attendance, with her accessible observations regarding the differences between cultures getting the biggest laughs. Lyons is very physically and vocally expressive in performance, indicating a lot about each person’s character and background through her depiction of their voice, and her impressions of various elements of British wildlife added an absurdist twist to her material.

BRAMALL COMEDY NIGHTS

Martin Pilgrim: Why I Quit Comedy

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Martin Pilgrim worked as a stand up comedian for six years before deciding to quit the profession in the summer of 2015. Although Pilgrim retired from his job as a stand up, this does not mean that he didn’t enjoy his fair share of success, with the comic performing his debut solo stand up hour Diary Farmer at the Edinburgh Festival in 2014.
So what is it that made him decide that the role of stand up comedian no longer suited him? To gain insight into the thought processes behind Pilgrim’s career change, I asked him a few questions…

1) What drew you to comedy in the first place?

I was in a lot of bands at school and I started to enjoy being on stage. I was never a very good musician but I always liked writing lyrics. I joined a ska band (the curiously named Damn Good Fondling), which allowed more scope for funny lyrics than the punk bands I’d been in before, where all the songs had to be about how much you hated George Bush even though you lived in rural Dorset. Strangely the drummer in the ska band was Jake Baker who is now a brilliant stand-up comedian in London.

I tried to carry on with music in my first year at university but I found myself suddenly surrounded by loads of amazingly talented musicians and I couldn’t keep up.  During the summer after my first year I started to think about other ways that I could get on stage with the minimum amount of hard work. I’d seen a great student comedian towards the end of that year and I was struck by how everyone wanted to talk to him and buy him drinks after his performance. He didn’t have to be funny off-stage because he’d already proved himself.

Martin Pilgrim

Martin Pilgrim

This seemed like a great system to me. I decided to try and emulate him so I wrote some truly terrible one-liners and I read them straight off my phone at an open mic night. All my friends came and it went surprisingly well, mostly because of the home crowd rather than the quality of the material. After that I started performing regularly around Exeter, where I was at university at the time. The city didn’t really have a comedy scene so I was a bit of a novelty at most of the places I performed. This gave me a false impression of how good I was which wore off pretty quickly when I started to perform outside of the city.

2) What was the catalyst for your decision to quit comedy?

I just stopped enjoying it really. I’ve got a fairly tiring day job and I was less and less willing to travel in the evenings. I realised that I’d begun to feel relieved when a gig got cancelled, which is not a good sign. I also realised that I didn’t have anything particularly new or interesting to say. As much as I enjoy listening to bearded young men moaning about being single, I didn’t feel like I had a fresh enough take on it to warrant my place on a bill, particularly at the expense of someone who might be trying to do something brave or different.

3) Were there any comedians that you felt you couldn’t compete with?

Most of them really. I’m a decent enough writer but I’m not a natural performer. I’ve got friends who are born comedians and I started to realise that I wasn’t talented in the same way as them. I could trick an audience into thinking I was comfortable on stage but I never really was.

4) Which element of your comedy career do you look back on most fondly?

The friends I’ve made along the way. I’ve met interesting artistic people in every corner of the country, and the great thing is I don’t need to be performing to maintain those friendships. I live with three people that I met through comedy and I actually go to more live comedy since I’ve quit. It’s great to enjoy stand-up from a civillian perspective without having to see the performer as a rival. I’m also proud that I managed to do an hour at the Edinburgh Fringe. The show wasn’t a massive success but just sticking it out for the whole month felt like quite an achievement.

5) Do you feel like you got what you wanted from comedy?

Pretty much, yeah. Obviously it would have been nice to progress a bit further than I did, but I got to do something I enjoyed for 6 years and then I was able to walk away when I stopped enjoying it. I’d like to move into comedy writing in the future and hopefully my time as a stand-up has equipped me for that. The idea that I can write something from the comfort of my room and then not have to go through the stress of performing it seems a bit too good to be true!

6) Do you see yourself returning to stand up in the future?

Probably not. A few things have happened to me since I quit which, in the past, I would have automatically turned into stand-up material, but now I’ve got a column in a local magazine and so I’m able to tell these stories that way instead. I’d only get back on stage if something absolutely life-changing happened to me and stand-up was the only way to talk about it. However, since I work in a Post Office and spend most of my free time watching Netflix, I think that’s unlikely at the moment.

MARTIN PILGRIM NOW WRITES A REGULAR COLUMN FOR BRISTOL 24/7

January: Comedian Of The Month #24, Gráinne Maguire

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grainne_new

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.

It is both refreshing and comforting to have a comedian who is politically active and outspoken but does not tell their audiences what to think or do. Irish stand up comedian and writer Gráinne Maguire is not an unfamiliar face on programmes like BBC Question Time, in fact, she appeared on the programme in January, discussing the need to lift the ban on same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland.

Maguire may be a comedian with a passion for political debate but she certainly doesn’t fit the mould of your stereotypical ‘political comedian’. Although there is an array of skilful comics producing bleak satirical programmes shows such as Charlie Brooker’s Weekly Wipe, Gráinne approaches from a different perspective; a pleasingly constructive one. She is yet another coherent voice in the media attempting to make political issues accessible to a wider audience, who doesn’t feel the need to make ridiculous requests such as that her followers abstain from voting in general elections.

Gráinne has even ventured into the land of forbidden material for female comics; she has spoken publicly about her menstrual cycle. Heaven forbid! Back in November 2015, Maguire made headlines when she decided to tweet the details of her period to Ireland’s prime minister, Enda Kenny, as a means of criticising the criminalisation of abortion in Ireland. She reasoned that if the Government could dictate what a woman does with her own body, she was perfectly justified in providing a little more information as to what being a woman entails.

Gráinne Maguire is brave, bold and tongue-in-cheek. She maturely tackles large social and political issues with humour, proving that comedy is an extremely valuable art form in today’s politically turbulent world.

For more information, visit Gráinne Maguire’s website and follow her on Twitter.

DECEMBER COMEDIAN OF THE MONTH

Seven Questions With… Lloyd Langford

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lloyd langford

© Andy Hollingworth

Lloyd Langford is a Welsh stand up comedian and writer who has worked with some of the of the biggest names in the business, as well as being a fantastic talent in his own right. Langford is a regular presenter on The Rhod Gilbert Show on BBC Radio Wales and frequently appears as a panellist on shows including QI and the late Never Mind The Buzzcocks. Lloyd will be performing his latest show  at Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival in February.
To find out more about Lloyd, I asked him these seven questions…

1) Are you a fickle person? 

I don’t know. I do get passionate about things for an intense period, and then move on to a new obsession, but I still enjoy the original thing. I guess it’s a combination of curiosity and also something which seems like a very male trait, and that is collecting. So I’ll buy a bunch of golden age hip-hop albums, rinse them, and then a month later I’m scouring eBay for Hwang Jang Lee Kung Fu DVDs. I need more shelves. (If you don’t know Hwang Jang Lee, he’s known as the “king of the leg fighters”. He’s basically the best at kicking the shit out of people.)

2) What was the last exciting thing you did?

I went cycling in Bruges. I’d never been to Bruges before, I hadn’t been on a bike in years, and those Belgian beers are pretty strong. Triple excitement. I was giddy from the new environment, the ever-present possibility of death and a particularly fruity Lambic.

3) Where do you most enjoy performing?

I enjoy performing to intelligent audiences. I feel like I can take more risks and that ultimately ends up being more fun. I did some gigs in The Classic, in Auckland this year, they were a lot of fun. It was a new club for me, I was a new comic for them, and so I think we were both testing each other’s boundaries a bit. That sounds really wanky. Sorry.

4) How did you choose your degree?

I had very little idea about what I wanted to do. I choose Film with Television Studies at Warwick because film interested me, I wanted to live somewhere new, and I didn’t want to lock myself into something vocational like veterinary school and then realise two years into the course that I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life shoving my finger into dogs. Not my professional life, anyway.

5) Who is your favourite comedian to support at gigs?

I’ve been lucky to support some good un’s. Tommy Tiernan, Greg Davies, Alan Carr. I just did a couple of dates in Amsterdam and Brussels with Jon Richardson and that was fun. I think Rhod Gilbert is the big one though. I’ve spent more time with him on the road than anyone else.

6) Are you scared of any animals?

I once went to Marlborough Sounds with a girlfriend in New Zealand, which is incredibly beautiful. We essentially had a bay to ourselves. But one time, just before I dived off the jetty, I noticed a massive stingray, directly beneath where I would have landed. It kind of ruined the rest of my swimming. The placed was riddled with stingrays. I’m not a fan of the stingray. It’s essentially a camouflaged underwater doormat with a poison dart for an arse.

7) Are you afraid of growing old?

No. Young people are dickheads. I know, I was one. Depending on your age, I still am one.

PURCHASE TICKETS FOR LLOYD LANGFORD AT DAVE’S LEICESTER COMEDY FESTIVAL HERE

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

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…

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.

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