British Comedy

Michael J. Dolan is an infamous comedy Miserable Guts; past shows of his have considered themes such as the futility of human existence, so that may give you an idea as to what this comedian is all about. With an incredibly dark wit and bleak outlook on seemingly all elements of life, Dolan is preparing to embark on his latest stand up hour, where he discusses more existential queries he has about his personal life as well as the inevitable demise of humanity.

I asked Michael these seven questions to learn more…

1) What item is most personally valuable to you?

That would be my 3DS, specifically for my Animal Crossing town which is on the memory card. I’ve probably spent more time talking with those animals in the last two years than I have talking to my wife. I live in mortal fear of losing the console, or having it stolen, although if I’m honest things in my little town haven’t really been the same since Rizzo the rat moved out about a month ago. He was my favourite, he’d been my neighbour since I arrived. He didn’t tell me he was going until he’d packed everything up because he knew I wouldn’t let him leave. Now I feel like you’re judging me but you can stick it up your arse, I love that town more than any real place I’ve ever been in my life.

2) Do you believe in fate?

Fuck no. Is that a trick question? You might as well open with ‘are you an idiot?’ I’ve never believed anything really, I’m not even totally convinced that this is real but you can’t live your life like that so I try not to think about it. When they’re demanding a council tax payment you can’t just shout ‘how do I know this isn’t a simulation?’ at them, they’ll fine you eighty quid.

© Drew Forsyth

3) Where do you want to be right now?

In bed. Always. I love my bed. I think I might be a bit in love with my bed. Shame about all the nightmares though, they put a kind of a shitty tint on things but then nothing’s perfect, not even the sweet escape of unconsciousness.

4) Do you have a tidy workspace?

My whole house is a shit tip, but I don’t really have a workspace as such. Out of myself and my wife I’m probably the tidiest and I’m not remotely tidy. I have to follow her around picking up discarded tissues and orange peel so we don’t end up on one of those fucking hoarder programs. The other day I found a balled up tissue behind a fucking picture frame, how does that even happen?

5) Do you find routine comforting or boring?

Maddening is probably accurate. Free time is an incredibly valuable thing, it’s remarkable to me how little we’ll sell our own for. When are you meant to do all your thinking? The Edinburgh Fringe is probably the closest thing I get to a routine all year, doing that many shows in a row, but there’s plenty of other stuff to offset the horror, the sudden prevalence of Bratwurst sellers in the street for one thing.

6) Who will you be going to see in Edinburgh?

Probably nobody, I’ll have a list of shows to see and then see none of them because I’m too busy gnashing my teeth in the dark and playing video games to distract myself from my own wails. On the list of shows I mostly won’t end up seeing would be Milo McCabe, Chris Stokes, Peter Brush, Nick Revell, so just loads of white men apparently.

7) What makes you passionate about comedy?

Hahaha, what? That’s the hardest question I’ve ever been asked. The end of it? I’d love to witness the death of comedy, which is a very real possibility at the Fringe. It’s easy to forget what inspired you when you began, you can grow very weary of comedy when it’s all you do. The best thing is to hear a voice you’ve not heard before, when somebody shows up with a new perspective on things. Katherine Ryan’s most recent tour show was probably the last thing I saw that felt revelatory, watching somebody be exactly what it is you think a real comedian is meant to be, even if I can’t ever quite put my finger on what that is. Socially relevant, a little transgressive, and just really fucking funny. Something like that.