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Gavin Webster

Seven Questions With… Gavin Webster

January 13, 2016 by Becca Moody 1 Comment
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…

Posted in: Comedians, Seven Questions With... Tagged: British Comedy, Comedy, Gavin Webster, Interview, Seven Questions With

Edinburgh Preview: Gavin Webster – The Sexist’s Sexist

August 11, 2015 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment

2015GAVINWE-SU-300Gavin Webster is a comedian I have very much looked forward to seeing in the flesh, having made him my Comedian Of The Month last August. I finally managed to catch a preview of this high-energy Geordie comic’s latest show The Sexist’s Sexist at the MAC in Birmingham.

Gavin begins with his tried and tested material; clearly the comic’s safety net of top-quality, trustworthy gags. From the early stages of the show, Webster showed an obvious competency, coming across as a man who gets the job done and gets it done well. He exudes natural charm and a genuine warmth, which came across progressively strongly as the hour passed by and references to friends and family were made, such as his late dad’s blunt life advice, which was a profound moment to say the least.

The Sexist’s Sexist is not what it may first appear from studying the poster or name alone: it is a well-crafted, personal hour which showcases Webster’s story-telling skills and admirable casual confidence. Talking of his delight at being crowned Comedian’s Comedian on Christmas Eve last year, Gavin demonstrated to us all why he received the award in the first place; not only is he a lovely guy but he also clearly understands his creative responsibilities as a stand up. He expertly toes the line between comfort and danger, teasing us with elements of the two.

Gavin Webster’s latest show is a satisfying blend of home comforts and absurdist anecdotes, making him one to watch at this year’s Edinburgh Festival.

Gavin Webster is currently performing his show The Sexist’s Sexist at the Edinburgh Festival.

SEVEN QUESTIONS WITH… GAVIN WEBSTER

MORE EDINBURGH PREVIEWS

Posted in: Comedians, Edinburgh, Live Comedy, Previews, Reviews Tagged: British Comedy, Comedy, Edinburgh Preview, Gavin Webster, Live Comedy, The Sexist's Sexist

Stand & Deliver

September 17, 2014 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment

In June 2014, a proposed magazine finally became a confirmed project as Stand & Deliver’s KickStarter campaign proved to be a huge success. Enough people (including myself) had pledged a donation towards the printing of the magazine’s first edition so the making and distributing of this beautiful product could get underway.

Stand & Deliver aims to fill the gap in the market for the comedy nerds of the world. It combines comedy, journalism, art and photography into one stunning package and I’m sure (well, I hope) that that is an exciting prospect for any reader of this site. One of the main reasons I supported this project was because the sheer amount of care, love and passion gone into it was painfully apparent. Seeing another person’s passion for what is most important to them in life will always, in turn, spark interest from me: I’m a big fan of hard work and effort.

stand & deliver

A page dedicated to all of Stand & Deliver’s supporters

As well as this, the magazine promises contributions from many of my favourite comedians and artists including Tony Law and Dave Brown in the first edition. I even spotted an article from last month’s Comedian Of The Month, Gavin Webster. That article in particular was of great interest to me, and really summed up what Stand & Deliver Magazine seems to be about: doing things for the love of doing them, namely: for the love of comedy.

Not only is the content of Stand & Deliver magazine made with care and innovation, the physicality of it is also of magnificent quality. The paper is strong and there’s so much of it that it’s more of a book than a magazine, and who doesn’t love a good book? Having read the first edition from cover to cover, I have already learned so much about obscure things like foreign comedy circuits, opinions on hecklers and my favourite: the Machynlleth Comedy Festival.

And finally, I would like to applaud the people at Stand & Deliver for their insanely hard work and can’t wait for next month’s copy to arrive! You can pick up your copy of the magazine here.

Posted in: Books, Comedians Tagged: British Comedy, Comedy, Dave Brown, Gavin Webster, Stand & Deliver, Tony Law

August: Comedian Of The Month #7, Gavin Webster

September 4, 2014 by Becca Moody 3 Comments
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.

With August being the month of the Edinburgh Festival, even those of us stuck at home have been introduced to many new comedians through various television and radio shows covering events there. This month’s favourite comedian discovery, Gavin Webster, was one of those who was lucky enough to be able to perform on the TV show, Edinburgh Nights with Sue Perkins, and he did a very good job of it too.

What I liked about watching Gavin Webster’s short set on this Edinburgh variety-style show was the way it had elements to suggest imminent derailment. Webster showed an interesting blend of comfort and mild danger, with a deceptively nonchalant delivery and carefree nature.

In this way, his style is similar to that of Tony Law: he gives the appearance of chaos whilst remaining entirely in control. The audience is lead to believe that he has run out of ideas or that the show hasn’t gone to plan. A mere few minutes into his Edinburgh Nights set, he announced: “I’m beginning to run out of material now,” which is the kind of thing that gets a big laugh but leaves an intriguing sense of anxiety in the air.

Webster is automatically likeable; he is a Geordie man of the people. His accent is wonderful (his own, and his impersonations) and he seems like a genuinely nice guy on stage: relatable and approachable.

Coincidentally, upon deciding that Gavin Webster was to be this month’s Comedian of the Month, my copy of the first edition of Stand & Deliver Mag (a post about of that will be up in the coming weeks) arrived with an article written by him within it. He wrote a brilliant piece about the roles within stand up comedy in today’s society and talked with true passion about a subject close to many of our hearts: genuine, clever comedy. Here, in 2014, we are surrounded by countless comedians: on television, in pubs, at art centres. Some, we follow on Twitter and others we pass in the street. They are everywhere and that is a fantastic thing but it is important that the passion and care for comedy by performers and audiences alike is kept alive.

For more information, visit Gavin Webster’s website and follow him on Twitter.

JULY COMEDIAN OF THE MONTH

Posted in: Comedian Of The Month, Comedians Tagged: Comedian Of The Month, Comedy, Gavin Webster, Stand & Deliver

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