Charm. offenswe
After 20 years in showbusiness, you’d think the bitter, twisted comedy genius that is JERRY SADOWITZ would have mellowed somewhat. Not on your life. Allan Radcliffe finds him in oaustio form.
t's been remarked belin‘e (and he‘d despise
me Iot‘ saying it) btit there‘s something very
Jekyll and Hyde about .lerry‘ Sadowit/. On stage he's the quintessential nasty bastard. baiting liberal audienees by pouring bile and prol‘anity over sueh eontroversial issues as AIDS. rape and multieulturalism. Yet. those who meet Sadowit/ outside the arena are relieved to diseover that a lar more measured eharaeter has supplanted the aggressive ligure in the top hat.
'I‘hat‘s not to say that. ol'l'stage. Sadowit/ doesn‘t have his eeeentrieities. ()n making arrangements to interview him. I‘m told the ideal time to ring is l l.3l)pm on a I‘riday night. ‘Well. it‘s the only time there‘s peaee and quiet.. is the eomie's slightly enigmatic explanation. Sadovv‘it/. who was born in New Jersey and spent a ‘hard'. lonely ehildhood in (ilasgow. grudgingly admits to being impressed by the ntnnber ol’ eomedy opportunities springing up north ol‘ the border. ‘When I was starting out I had to eome to London to have a eareer. vv'hieh I'm not partieularly proud ol.‘ he says. ‘You ean‘t trust linglishmen to organise anything properly. they ‘re l'ueking erap. But all the stul‘l' in Seotland is really new.’
Sadowitx. who ol'ten takes time out ol‘ eomedy to work on his lirst love ol‘ elose-up and eard magie. was in Seotland last year as part ill a mini-tour organised by Tommy Sheppard at the Stand (‘liv'erything went l'ueking really well. You ean't get that from an Iinglishman . . . ‘l and he wanted the poster to earry a legend billing him as the ‘Most ()l'l‘ensive (‘omedian in the World‘. Iior Sadowit/. whose reeent stage subieet matter has ineluded voting for the BNI’ and expressing sympathy for Ron Atkinson‘s transgressions. the eatehy eaption is a pragmatie neeessity. ‘It‘s lor the sake ol- elarity. I‘d rather someone walked out beeause they weren‘t ol'l'ended. l ean't be arsed with people who are going to moan about it afterwards. saying. "Oh my god. my kidneys are falling out and my eyes are bleeding."'
lnevitably. even those admirers ol' the eomedie loose eannon have been left to ponder how mueh ot‘ a line there is between what he says onstage and what he really believes. 'lt’s very muddled
up. I ean‘t even be bothered to think about it. ll‘
you want to believe that's what I think. that’s line. It you want to believe it‘s a persona. that's
‘IF YOU WANT TO BELIEVE IT'S A PERSONA, THAT'S FINE, I DON'T CARE'
line. I don‘t eare. \Vhat inspires me in eomedy is to lind .stllll nobody ‘s spoken about bel'ore. I'm not interested in lattndry eomedy or airport eomedy'. ;\ eouple ol' years ago I was drummed out ol a gig in :\U.sIl';tII;t for making jokes about paedophilia and now everyone's talking about it. It pisses me UII.’
l’rol'essional jealousy is a reeurring theme with Sadowit/. who has always tell he never reeeiv ed the due plaudits l‘or some ol his more groundln‘eaking moments. Ile 'telev ision' eomies sueh as the ubiquitous .limmy
despises
(‘arr. I’resumably then. the man who ealled Nelson Mandela a 'l‘ueking eunt‘ was irritated by
the l‘ront-page Itlss surrounding lellow (ilasvvegian eomie Billy ('onnolly's ls'en Iligley laus pas. ‘\\'e|l. I think Billy ('onnolly would like to be me a wee bit.‘ he gt'nllses. 'I Used to like him baek in the 70s. He wasn't everywhere then.'
Sadowit/ himsell has almost given tip trying to get baek on the small sereen sinee his ('hannel live show Iii/1U l’t'up/v l'\ .lt'rrv Sui/unit.“ was eaneelled. 'I‘ve eome to the eonelusion that television‘s a bit ill a elosed shop. lt's lull ol publie seltoolboys giving eaeh other jobs; they it'e not looking for anything originalf Ile pauses. relleetiv'ely. '()r it may inst be beeause they hate me.'
They should meet him. He's a pussy eat.
The Academy, Fri 1 1 Mar. ‘ . THE LIST 17