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PREVIEWS & REVIEWS | COMEDY
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STAND-UP JAMES ACASTER: COLD LASAGNE HATE MYSELF 1999 O2 Academy, Glasgow, Sun 29 Sep; King’s Theatre, Edinburgh, Sun 3 Nov. Reviewed at O2 Academy, Glasgow, Sat 20 Jul ●●●●●
Sloping onstage with shades on before kicking over his drinks table, James Acaster’s shiny-new tough-guy persona lasts all of about a minute and a half. Announcing throughout that this gig might be the weirdest on his tour to date (bet he says that to all the cities), the Kettering comic delivers a dizzying two halves of typically inventive nonsense. Except there’s one shift in the Acaster live experience: he’s now giving us an insight into his
personal life in a way he’s barely attempted before. Gone are the extended pretences of being an undercover detective or a juror, as we learn about the tricky situations he's had to deal with in recent years such as the time his ex-girlfriend began dating Rowan Atkinson, or when the relationship with his agent fell apart, leaving Acaster genuinely depressed at the way his life was panning out.
Not that the daftness has been entirely abandoned. He discusses his admiration for the various workings of the moon and merges the personal with the fantastical in a sequence about his wholly unethical dealings with a therapist. Jamse Acaster may have been spurned by the Edinburgh Comedy Award judges down the years, but it has done little harm to a career that’s evolving and improving with each new show. (Brian Donaldson)
MY COMEDY HERO SINDHU VEE Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Mon 30 Sep; Glee Club, Glasgow, Wed 2 Oct; Adam Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy, Thu 3 Oct
It’s past my bedtime but I don’t care because I’m watching the one thing on television that I’m willing to get into trouble for: a show that has many funny people in it but is, actually, about one extremely funny woman. As an eight-year-old, it’s lost on me what a monumental feat it is that she has her own show, on primetime TV, in the 1970s. And that it’s a comedy show.
All I know is I cannot get enough of her. Of Carol Burnett. She is my comedy hero(ine) because she was a ‘girl’ on TV who was making people laugh by being silly and weird and slightly crazy. Being weird and feeling slightly crazy was the space I pretty much occupied 24/7: I was a stammering, awkward outsider whose family had moved from India to the Philippines, so I was the only non-white kid in my class. My packed lunches smelled ‘gross’ blah blah blah . . . you get the drift.
But I was also a kid who loved telling jokes. Mine weren’t well-received all the time but Carol
Burnett gave me hope. To see her on TV, strange and different, sans any glam (like Charlie’s Angels or Wonder Woman) meant that just being funny counted. She showed me that I can create laughter and thus be counted, just like Wonder Woman (minus the looks: my class called me ‘blackie’ and my mother cut my hair herself, so I knew my limits). (As told to Brian Donaldson)
LOCAL LAUGHS JEANNIE JONES ANOTHER UP-AND-COMER HAS A GO AT OUR Q&A
Can you tell us about the moment when you thought: ‘stand-up is for me’? I can tell you the exact moment: I was watching Sandi Toksvig’s Edinburgh Fringe show in 2012. Sarah Millican was sitting behind me. At the end of the show, Sandi said she is often asked what she thought would be different now from when she started in comedy and she said she thought there would be a lot more female comedians. After that I said I am going to do this! So I started writing jokes and did my first gig six months later. Do you have any pre-show rituals you can tell us about? I like to always have my bright red lipstick on. I don’t wear make-up offstage so putting my face on gets me gig-ready.
right in the middle of the punchline. right in the middle of the punchline. You learn to think on your feet. I try to be playful and tease people rather than go on an all-out vicious rather than go on an all-out vicious attack.
Where do you draw the line when it comes to ‘offensive comedy’? As a comedian, you have no internal filter so sometimes it can be hard to remember what civilians find offensive. However, I try to stick offensive. However, I try to stick to the rule about punching up and not punching down. No topic and not punching down. No topic is off limits but I am very aware that sensitive subjects need to be that sensitive subjects need to be handled carefully. What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received from another comedian so far? Slow down. Wait til the laughter dies down before your next gag.
How do you handle hecklers? Most hecklers just want to join in and be part of the show. When you are hosting, it is good when the crowd interacts as long as it’s not ■ Jeannie Jones appears at Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service, The Stand, Glasgow, Sun 22 Sep. See more of this q&a at list.co.uk/comedy
1 Sep–31 Oct 2019 THE LIST 59