STAND-UP ROB BECKETT King’s Theatre, Glasgow, Tue 19 Nov
Rob Beckett’s comedy has long been packing a solid, mainstream punch, so Wallop seems the ideal name for his latest blockbuster tour. ‘As a word, “wallop” just isn’t used enough but I use it quite a lot. I think it sums up me and my show: “here it is, have a bit of that”, we’ll enjoy ourselves and then go home. My show isn’t going to sort out Brexit, but it will take your mind off it for an hour and a half. Essentially, it’s about the funniest things that have happened to me or that I’ve thought of since the last tour.’ Perhaps that’s the kind of straight-talking, escapist
tactic this country needs as we veer from chaos to crisis on an almost hourly basis. A regular face (and voice) on our small screens, Beckett’s CV features the likes of Celebs Go Dating, A League of Their Own, The Jonathan Ross Show, and Rob Beckett’s Savage Socials, while he’s also co-hosting this year’s Royal Variety Performance alongside his buddy Romesh Ranganathan, which will air on ITV in December. As a father of two toddlers, the temptation for
Beckett might have been to make Wallop his ‘new-dad’ show. He’s more or less resisted that. ‘Though I have kids, it’s not my “I’m so happy to get out of the house" tour. It’s not really about the things my kids have said, it’s more about these new relationships I have with my in-laws and my own parents.’ Talking of family, his mum is also no doubt very proud of her lad’s achievements, but in his eyes she has a funny way of showing it. ‘My mum always likes to have a go: “if you could get a degree in annoying . . . you’d have a degree in annoying”. Thanks mum. If she could get a degree in analogies . . . I don’t think she’d get one.’ (Brian Donaldson)
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LOCAL LAUGHS AMELIA BAYLER 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 think it was the moment right after Marjolein Robertson and I did a comedy marathon on the top deck of Bob’s BlundaBus at Kelburn Garden Party. It was like the comedy equivalent of two DJs doing a B2B set. We then went to see Leftfield; I was completely sober but fuelled by adrenaline. Amazing!
Do you have any pre-show rituals you can tell us about? At the last Fringe I would walk from my accommodation to the Royal Mile to flyer for my show Emotional Bangers whilst listening to this song called ‘Hot Cop’ by Village People. After flyering and right before my gig I would eat two Rice Krispies Squares bars. They’re delish. What’s the one thing (good or bad) you remember about your very first stand-up gig? This wasn’t stand-up but I performed
my first ever comedy song at high my first ever comedy song at high school. It was called ‘McVities school. It was called ‘McVities Fittaes’ and it was a banger! Fittaes’ and it was a banger! What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received from another comedian so far? When I was a kid, I was obsessed with DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince. Their song ‘Boom! Shake The Room’ has this lyric: ‘my life is a cage but on stage I’m free!’ Will Smith didn’t give me that piece of advice directly but I’ve been thinking about this lyric a lot recently.
■ Gilded Balloon Basement Gilded Balloon Basement at Rose Theatre, Edinburgh, at Rose Theatre, Edinburgh, Thu 14 Nov, 5 Dec; Monkey Thu 14 Nov, 5 Dec; Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh, Tue 26 Nov, Mon 9 Dec; The Stand, Glasgow (Kids Club Christmas Special), Sat 14 Dec; The Stand, Edinburgh, Mon 13 Jan; The Stand, Glasgow (Red Raw), Tue 14 Jan. See much more of this q&a at list.co.uk/comedy.
88 THE LIST 1 Nov 2019–31 Jan 2020