Podcast episode 359ish: Sean Lecomber

When God gives you lemons, make lemonade. When God makes you push the wrong microphone setting on your recorder, make special bonus material for your podcast listeners. It's a rule I live by. So if you listened to the radio version of this conversation, you've only heard part of it. The intro, outro and half-hour in the middle are all brand spanking new for this podcast. Oh, I should mention who I'm talking to. It's Edmonton-based comic Sean Lecomber, a very funny guy. Not to be confused with another very funny guy, Shaun Majumder. He's also a super guest. He'll go anywhere and have something interesting or funny to say about it. Among the many topics we discuss in this 78-minute behemoth are his geopolitical cheese theory, North Korean Netflix, the possibility of throwing his comedy career away, play dates, rostering at an elementary school, being adopted, and smart audiences in England.

Have a listen, here or elsewhere. This audio player below won't show up on your phone so then you'll have to do a search for What's So Funny? at iTunes or Stitcher or PodcastLand or Player.FM or TuneIn or... you get the idea.

Podcast episode 358ish: Tim Rykert

Tim Rykert joins the 5-timers' club with this appearance on What's So Funny? He joins the very special ranks of Ian Boothby, Steve Bays, Graham Clark, Dylan Rhymer, Will Davis, Harry Doupe, Richard Lett, Darcy Michael, and Kliph Nesteroff. Welcome, Tim. This podcast episode drops the week his web series, Who is Jimmy the Bag?, debuts. We spend the bulk of the hour talking about it. It's a good concept with endless story lines. Check it out.

And check out our talk. Right here or on iTunes, Stitcher, PodcastLand... You know the drill. Go subscribe somewhere.

Sept. 28: Dana Alexander

This show's very first guests back in April of 2004 were Dana Alexander and Paul Bae. You'd think we were going alphabetically, but that was not the case. I'm not sure when Dana moved away first to Toronto and then to the U.K. but it couldn't have been much after that. Now here we are in 2014 and Dana's back with us. She just spent the weekend headlining Yuk Yuk's so we scooped her up to reminisce.

We're on the air at 11 pm, exactly the same time slot as a decade ago. Different frequency, though, since we moved to 100.5 FM a year or so ago. You can livestream us in Edmonton, Toronto or London (or anywhere fine internet is found) at coopradio.org.

Podcast episode 357ish: Darcy Michael

It's always fun having Darcy Michael guest on the show. This marks his fifth appearance. Glad he still has time for the little people now that he's a big star. He's on a prime time network sitcom, afterall. Sure, it's Canadian, but it's still something. Michael stars as the lovable goof Gordon in CTV's Spun Out, which also stars Dave Foley. Darcy talks about all he's got on the go, from getting recognized on public transit, to doing standup, competitions, and opening for Russell Peters at Rogers Arena (aka GM Place to me).

Listen to the episode right here, if you like. Or subscribe at iTunes and it'll just show up in your feed automatically. Or Stitcher, if that's how you roll. You've got options is all I'm saying.

Sept. 21: Sean Lecomber

Tonight we've got Edmonton-based comic Sean Lecomber on for the first time. We had a great talk. What you'll hear on radio tonight will be different from what you'll hear when the podcast version drops. Why? Because I'm an incompetent doofus. The first half-hour of our conversation was recorded with a room mic rather than our hand-held ones. So that'll be the bonus material for the podcast. Tonight you'll just hear the 45 minutes we recorded after that with the good microphones, buttressed by an audio clip of Lecomber performing. We talk about kids, retiring from comedy, winning Just For Laughs' Homegrown Competition, being adopted, the myth of British audiences, and the Canadian Comedy Awards.

Tune in tonight to CFRO 100.5 FM in Vancouver at 11 pm. Or livestream us at coopradio.org. It'll whet your appetite for the extendo version on podcast.

Sept. 14: Tim Rykert

Tim Rykert's back for another kick at the can. Like Darcy Michael last week, tonight will mark Rykert's fifth time on the show (although he shared two previous visits, one with Jamie Hutchinson and one with Will Davis). Tonight he's here to talk about some dude named Jimmy the Bag. I have so many questions, like what kind of bag? Dirt? Scum? Douche? Paper? Plastic? Actually, I think it's of the douche variety. Check out the trailer below. This is a web series he's been working on for a while. In what capacity, we'll find out. But the series stars former What's So Funny? guests Sam Easton, Damonde Tschritter, and Toby Hargrave. Maybe more. Tune in and find out tonight at 11 pm on CFRO 100.5 FM or livestream us at coopradio.org.

Who is Jimmy the Bag? airs on your computer screens on Sept. 26 and runs for 26 episodes. In the meantime, check out all their teasers at jimmythebag.com.

Podcast episode 356ish: Denise Jones

Thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Denise Jones a week or so ago. She cleaned up. The Vancouver TheatreSports League vet talked about being King Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar, Taco Bell commercials she hasn't done, washing away her Kiss makeup with tears, her Newfie heritage, and doing improv on the high seas for months on end.

Here's your link. If you don't like it, how about iTunes? Maybe Stitcher? PodcastLand perchance? It's everywhere!

Sept. 7: Darcy Michael

Tonight will mark Darcy Michael's fifth appearance on What's So Funny?, having done shows in 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2012. But this is his first as a big-shot TV star. Darcy still does standup (he's headlining the Comedy MIX Sept. 18 to 20, is in the finals for the XM Top Comic in Toronto, and is opening for Russell Peters at Rogers Arena on Sept. 27) but he's also one of the stars of CTV's Spun Out starring Dave Foley, which is coming back for a second season. So as you can see, we'll have lots to talk about. But even without all that, there's always tons to talk about with Darcy.

Check us out at 11 pm PT on CFRO 100.5 FM or livestream us at coopradio.org. Got it?

Podcast episode 355ish: Garrett Clark

Garrett Clark (aka Gazzy) is a Canadian who sounds Australian. He has his reasons, which you'll learn if you listen to this episode. He's a standup comic now but at one time he was a squeaky-voiced teenager on TV. And then he was a flight attendant. Now he plays stages all over the Dominion of Canada and the United States of America. He also has his pilot's license, which terrifies me and my new manservant, Colleen. But he talks us through it.

You can hear the whole episode by clicking below. Or you can download it at iTunes, Stitcher, PodcastLand, PlayerFM, etc. Go ahead and subscribe, too. And leave a comment. Do you know that we have more comments on the American iTunes than we do on Canada's? That's not right! Rectify that. (Although we have more ratings on the Canadian page. Go figure.)

Podcast episode 354ish: Chris Gordon

Hey, kids. I've got a new episode of What's So Funny? for you right here. And it's a fun one. Infuriating if you've got somewhere to go, but fun nonetheless. It was the episode that never ended. Yes, it eventually ends, but you get the idea. If you make a drinking game out it and take a swig every time I try to draw it to a close, you'll be passed out before we get there.

It was an interesting night. Usually when I record a remote interview, we go to a vacant club, or a hotel room, or a hotel conference room, or even my car. Calgary's Chris Gordon was eager to do the show, but didn't have a place where we could record. I met him after his show at the Comedy MIX. We hit the streets looking for a place and settled in across the street at the Wall Centre. We got the go-ahead from the front desk to sit in the lobby and do our chat. No sooner did we sit down and hit record than a live band piped up behind us. No worries. It's great ambience, even if the band over-used what we called a "dream machine" for lack of knowledge on its real name. Then halfway through a burly security guard approaches and tells us we're not permitted to record there for the obvious reason that, um... no reason. But we kept it rolling and strode out the revolving doors to the great outdoors, where we plopped down immediately to finish our conversation. Eventually.

Here it is for you. Click below. If you don't see what I'm talking about, chances are you're on your phone. Get off your phone, get yourself to a computer, and you'll see it. Of course, you can always subscribe at iTunes or Stitcher or PodcastLand. If this particular episode isn't there yet, it will be very soon. And then there's Comedy Couch, which is where they're all housed and available for your inspection.

Aug. 31: Denise Jones

After years of seeing her improvisational brilliance at Vancouver TheatreSports League, tonight I'll meet and talk to Denise Jones. She doesn't have the biggest internet presence so my knowledge is limited but I have a feeling we'll get to know lots about her. Afterall, the one interview I found on her, the writer said she was "uncomplicated, interested, and talkative." Perfect. This much I know: she's also the artistic director of VTSL, is from Newfoundland and Saskatchewan, acted in the short Preggoland, which will be at VIFF this fall, hosts the online series People of the Port (which sounds like a horror film but it isn't) and likes whiskey and wearing shorts.

And joining us again, as she did last week, is my new manservant, Colleen Brow, a former guest and guest host of the show. She replaces Kevin, who's leaving after ten years to spend more time with his family. That's not the real reason, but I always love when the media says that.

So tune in tonight to Co-op Radio 100.5 FM at 11 pm. You can also stream us at coopradio.org.

Aug. 24: Garrett Clark

I'm back refreshed from two weeks off. We played a couple of special encore presentations the past two weeks: Ryan Hamilton last Sunday and Paul Hooper the preceding Sunday. Tonight, though, we've got a live one for you. And a first-timer, to boot. Garrett Clark is a standup comic with footprints all over the map. That hint of an accent you'll hear is Australian, where he grew up. Then there was Toronto. Next was a stint in Kelowna. And now Vancouver. Somewhere in between he spent a fair bit of time interviewing people in Manitoba. And he performs standup all over the place. And I'm not just saying that. He was booked to be on the show several weeks ago but he was asked to go on tour with Iliza Shlesinger in Vermont, or some such place, so we excused him. No excuses tonight, though. He'll be in studio and we'll get his full story. And if we're lucky, we'll play a clip from his new album "Boner Comedian." I'm getting excited already. I'd tell you he also has a podcast, but who doesn't these days? (For the record, his is called Shits n' Gigs.)

Tune in to 100.5 FM in Vancouver or livestream us at coopradio.org at 11 pm until midnight.

Podcast episode 353ish: Gerry Swallow

It's always fun having Gerry Swallow join us on the evening zoo. The guy's a legitimate triple-threat: a successful Hollywood screenwriter (Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, The Babymakers, Black Knight, and Say It Isn't So), novelist (A Whole Nother Story, Another Whole Nother Story, No Other Story, and the upcoming Krool), and standup comedian (five times on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, several appearances on Evening at the Improv, and a finalist on Star Search). Sure, he hasn't done standup in 15 years, but who's counting? Well, I am. I badgered him enough that shortly after appearing on this episode, he got up on stage and did seven solid minutes at The Comedy MIX. Will he do more? Time will tell. In this episode, I also badger him to write a how-to book for screenwriting. Even if he never does, we got enough tips out of him to get you started.

The episode can be heard by clicking the gizmo below. If you don't see it, chances are it's your server. Or you're on a phone. Get over to your computer and it should be there. If not, don't panic. Simply head on over to iTunes, Stitcher, or PodcastLand. It's at all those places, too.

Podcast episode 352ish: Alicia Tobin

Here's a very charming episode featuring the very charming Alicia Tobin. We find out lots about her in the hour. For example, do you know that this animal lover will stomp and kill innocent wolf spiders? That she once won a Macho Man competition? That an ex-boyfriend of hers is a "jerk"? And of course we talk about standup comedy, Alicia Tobin's Come Draw With Me, and her very funny health blog Hashimotopotato.

It's all right here. Listen now (that's a suggestion, not a command), or download at iTunes, Stitcher or PodcastLand (or anywhere else you can find it).

Tommy Tiernan interview (2013)

This is it for this batch of long-forgotten interviews. It's with the great Irish comic Tommy Tiernan. In checking to see if I'd posted this one before (I hadn't), I noticed my first interview with him was two years to the day earlier. This one is from April 5, 2013; the previous one was from April 5, 2011. Maybe that's the day he sets aside for press every year. Each time I speak with him I come away impressed at how much thought he gives to questions.

Tommy Tiernan

April 5, 2013

"Hey, look, I just throw the stuff out there; other people decide if it’s controversial. I certainly don’t!"

– Tommy Tiernan

Tommy Tiernan: Hello.

Guy MacPherson: Hello, Thomas.

TT: Hi, how are you?

GM: I’m okay. Our power is out so I’m on my cell phone.

TT: Oh, my.

GM: Anyway, how are you?

TT: I’m more powered up than that. I’m fine.

GM: How are the Maritimes treating you?

TT: The Maritimes are great. I’m in Moncton today.

GM: Lucky you.

TT: Really? (laughs) No, Moncton is fine. I can cope with Moncton. It’s okay.

GM: I was talking to Brendan Grace, your countryman, a few weeks ago. He said when he plays in Newfoundland, it almost feels like a part of Ireland that has sailed away. Do you get that impression?

TT: There seems to be an appetite for things Irish there. Newfoundland is about the size of Ireland anyway. Yeah, I definitely get that sense. The show that I’m doing right now is very Irish. I spend most of my year touring rural Ireland. Forty weeks of the year, I’d say, I spend going around performing shows in places that normally wouldn’t have any stand-up comedy in them.

GM: In theatres?

TT: No, it’d be hotel function rooms, which, strangely, have turned out to be more enjoyable than performing in theatres. I’ve noticed that there’s an obedience with a theatre crowd. It’s a formal event, practically. Whereas in a hotel function room, the audience have been in that room for other things. The chairs aren’t permanent fixtures; there’s usually a bar in it. So it’s much more of a community hall feeling about it. And the energy is better in those rooms. People feel more confident and they’re more boisterous. There’s just better energy in them.

GM: But not to the point of disruption, I would imagine.

TT: Oh, verging on it sometimes, yeah. Absolutely, God, yeah. I mean, it’s not quite the Blues Brothers scene in that chicken shack with bottles being thrown at the chicken fencing in front of them, but they can be wild. I prefer them, to be honest with you. The shows I’m performing here are full of stories from that kind of touring and full of stories that appeal to people in those venues. There was a real genuinely fantastic response to the show in St. John’s. In Moncton tonight where the flavour is more French than Irish, I will be curious to see how well received the stories are. I’m ready for the adventure of tonight to see what happens.

GM: You do these tours throughout Ireland doing other material, but along the way you gather material about doing the tour. It’s kind of meta.

TT: The show is very much about being Irish. There’s stuff about family in it and there’s stuff about religion and all that, but a lot of the curiosities in the show are about being Irish and what that means to be Irish. And I’m not able to change it suddenly. Like, I’m not going to walk out in front of the French Canadians in Moncton tonight and spend an hour and a half talking about their lives. I guess maybe I’m turning into a folk act. If Buffy Saint-Marie can come to small-town Ireland and sing songs on the Native American modern Canadian experience, then there’s hope for me. I guess it’s turning more into folk comedy.

GM: Here’s some good trivia for you: New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province in Canada. Most people think of Quebec.

TT: Of course. Is New Brunswick therefore more French than Quebec?

GM: No. Their government uses both French and English. In Quebec it’s only French and in the other provinces it’s only English.

TT: Oh. I’d always pigeon-holed Quebec as the French epicenter of Canada. There you go.

GM: Oh, it is. It’s just that New Brunswick is the only officially bilingual province. Anyway, is it because you came up in the clubs, which I assume you did, that you like this more raucous atmosphere than the staid theatre crowd?

TT: I think so, yeah. Those hotel venues have limitations as well. You can’t go all crazy jazz hands on them. They want it delivered to them in simplified, easy ways. They are predominantly small towns, big rural hinterlands, so there’s no meta with them. You’re there to make them laugh. You can talk about whatever you want as long as it’s funny. Whereas in the theatres, I think you’re allowed to be a little bit more theatrical. The audience are a bit more indulgent of you in the theatre.

GM: You can take your time.

TT: I think so, yeah. Physically there wouldn’t be alcohol in the room. The theatres have their plus sides and the hotel rooms have their limitations. I think the adventure for me is trying to make the hotel rooms work. It’s more of a marketplace kind of stand-up. It’s more like standing on a few fruit crates and trying to get the attention of passersby in downtown Marrakesh (laughs). And I think that’s better. I prefer that.

GM: When you do the larger towns in Ireland, it’s not still a hotel, is it?

TT: Oh no, it is, yeah. Yep, absolutely. In the larger towns you do a hotel room that might fit a thousand or 1500 people in it. And when you’re in the smaller towns, you’re probably talking about somewhere between 4- and 700. So that’s the only difference, really.

GM: Some comics of your stature might say, ‘No, I’m not gonna do that. That’s beneath me.’

TT: Oh, God, well if you can imagine a comic from St. John’s who spent his life touring Newfoundland, that’s where I’m at. My ambition is with the show really rather than with global domination. I know global domination is possible for some people and it’s financially rewarding and all that type of stuff. But I just enjoy that more. I find it demanding and challenging and lovely all at the same time. We do the show, we go for a few drinks at a local pub afterwards and then we drive the next day 20 or 30 miles to the next town. And we do that 40 weeks of the year. I just enjoy it. It means more to me. It seems more relevant to who I am and to my countrymen and –women. It’s ambitious but in a different kind of way. I’m ambitious for the material rather than for my profile, I guess.

GM: You mentioned you talk about what it means to be Irish. I know you have a whole show on that, but can you tell me in a nutshell what it means?

TT: Oh God, no, I couldn’t tell you in a nutshell. I might be able to show you a nutshell and say, ‘That’s what it means.’ (laughs) I guess one of the questions I have is I’m not sure that we’re European. There’s a huge history of pre-Celtic trade between north Africa and the west coast of Ireland. I have a theory that Irish people are part-Celt but that’s not the whole story. We’re also part anemic Algerian. So just throwing stuff like that out at an audience and seeing if it has resonance. We have stuff in common with other Catholic countries like Italy and Spain and Mexico, but we’re not really European in the sense of Belgians or French or Germans. I think the north African kind of laziness, wildness, slightly uncouth… That’s more who we are, really, than complicated, cosmopolitan Parisians, you know?

GM: You gotta be careful now. You don’t want to court more controversy, Tommy.

TT: Hey, look, I just throw the stuff out there; other people decide if it’s controversial. I certainly don’t! (laughs)

GM: “Tommy Tiernan says Africans are lazy and uncouth!”

TT: I know, but, see, that’s more misinterpretation. I meant north Africans! (laughs)

GM: And yourself, as well.

TT: Yes.

GM: And is this why you don’t seek out the trappings of superstardom? Because the Irish are more of a modest people?

TT: No, without any kind of intellectual rationalization for it; it just feels right. It just feels that this is the place I’m supposed to be, this is what I’m supposed to be doing. You can only call it in the moment. And it’s curious because I very much enjoy talking to Irish people when I’m abroad. And it’s more so in Australia than in Canada. When I tour Australia, it’s mainly Irish exiles that come to the show. I have a fierce sense of pride in talking to them. I’m glad to be a representative of Ireland for them, or something like that. So this tour in Canada, where I play mostly to Canadians, is kind of a stepping into the unknown slightly. Like I said, the show in St. John’s might have been kind of a cultural place to start because of the Irish connection there, but it’ll be really interesting going from Moncton now across to Victoria over the next two or three weeks. I suppose what will emerge, hopefully, is points of contact between Irish people and Canadian people. It’s more like I’m coming to this culture with stories of another culture and looking for places where we can shake hands, but laugh most importantly. I don’t want people leaving the show thinking that was very civil. Let’s meet in the wild places. Let’s meet laughing would be my aspiration for the show.

GM: When you were talking about your theory that Ireland isn’t really part of Europe, you were sounding serious. Is it that this is a serious thought of yours that you’re making funny, or is it a silly thought that you’re making funnier? You know what I mean?

TT: I know what you mean, yeah. No, a silly thought would be we’re the Inuits of Europe. That would be a silly thought. But maybe there’s truth in it, as well, you know? It sounds right. There’s some unchartered part of my own head and the heads of the people who come to see the show when I say it. They go, ‘Yeah. Yeah, we agree. We hadn’t thought of that.’ We know you don’t claim responsibility for thinking about it yourself, but it seems right. Like, if I had said, in terms of an Irish crowd, we are the Nigerians of Europe, they’d go, ‘No.’ There’s no resonance in that. So I don’t know if it’s a serious point made funny or a funny point told funny. I know it wouldn’t be in the show if it wasn’t making people laugh, but there seems to be more to it than that, though.

GM: Do you come up with these theories and bits when you go for drinks after the show?

TT: Sometimes, yeah. Bob Dylan had an album a few years ago called, Love and Theft. It was full of references to stuff that he’d read. He even lifted a couple of lines from a Japanese crime writer. I magpie stuff. I come across an idea somewhere in a conversation or in a book and I say wow, that resonates with something I’ve been feeling and then I try and spin it into something that’s useful on stage. The prime quality something needs on stage is that it’s funny. If it’s not funny then no matter how clever it might be, it doesn’t belong in the show. I have offices full of that kind of material (laughs), stuff that’s just not funny. The comparison of stuff that I come up with that’s funny compared to not funny, it’s even more extreme than an iceberg, where one-tenth of it is above the water. It’s huge. So I have tons of unfunny material.

GM: And you just know it or is it tested unfunny?

TT: No, I don’t know it. I come up with the idea on my own or whatever and then I go on stage that night with the ideas that I’ve collected during the day and I just know without even saying the words which of them are funny and which of them are not. I think it’s the pressure of the performance. It gives me a perspective on the material that I don’t have just walking around during the day, unless I was cornered by hoodlums  with baseball bats saying, ‘Make us laugh or get pumped.’ Then that might produce a necessary perspective. But no, during the day just by collecting ideas, as many of them as I can. It’s rare that more than 10 percent of them actually work on stage.

GM: I heard Eddie Pepitone on Marc Maron’s recently.

TT: I love Eddie.

GM: He was raving about you.

TT: Really?

GM: He thinks you’re the best he’s ever seen.

TT: Oh, my God, well he’s not in his right mind, though, either, is he? (laughs) That’s a great compliment. He’s a great comic.

GM: You might not consider yourself a celebrity, but you are, right?

TT: Uh, not really. There’s nothing in my life that would back that up.

GM: No?

TT: Well, not really. I travel with four grumpy men in a van around Ireland and I work three or four days a week and I’m home three or four days a week. There’s nothing in my life that would suggest that word. And Ireland is a great place, as well. I’m well-known in Ireland. But being well-known in Ireland just means being available to people if they see you in the street. I would say Irish people like Colin Farrell or the guys from U2, Liam Neeson, they’re celebrities and they work that world. I certainly don’t.

GM: You don’t live in a castle?

TT: Uh, no. (laughs) I don’t live in a castle, no! And even if I did, I would still be just down in the shops at 9 o’clock looking for carrots. (laughs) It’s something I’m very grateful for. That kind of life is the kind of life you imagine somebody like Colin Farrell might live. That’s a great adventure. Stories about that type of life and the awfulness about it as well are stories that I’d like to hear but it’s certainly not the life I’m… There are people that are well-known in Ireland and not too well known outside of Ireland. Once you become a global phenomenon, even in Ireland stuff changes for you. But I’m just well-known in Ireland and am able to work in other countries. I’m not anywhere near those guys in terms of experiences they’ve had to go through. Nor would I want to be. I’m challenged enough by my life as it is.

GM: You’re still a man of the people.

TT: Oh, I wouldn’t even qualify it like that. I’m still struggling. I’m still shuffling from day to day trying to cope with my own head. One of things about my stuff being shown on Canadian TV and people liking it is an opportunity to come and work here, which is amazing. I’m very grateful for that.

GM: How long have you been doing stand-up?

TT: Since about 1996. So what’s that? About, good God, 17 years, is it? Good Lord.

GM: Does it get easier or harder as you go along? I would imagine the easier part is you’re more experienced, know how to deliver jokes and have a good feeling about what will get a laugh. And on the other hand you might wonder if you’ve said everything you can say.

TT: Yep, yep. It’s both of those things. And that’s why I think if you keep going, in a sense you should get more adventurous because you’ve already explored one type of thing. You have to keep exploring so what will I do next? If your commitment is to the work rather than to maintaining your profile, then I think that’s easier because you’re in a better position to take chances. You can say, ‘Here are the stories I want to tell now I don’t care how many people want to come and see the show but these are the stories I want to tell.’ I absolutely would not be free from maintaining my profile desires, but the way we kind of sometimes think: the way Picasso was able to change his style, his commitment was to the work rather than, say, a boy band whose commitment seems to be for staying famous and keeping people dancing. It goes back to the hotel room thing: If I’m going to stand in front of a thousand people in the hotel room who’ve had two or three drinks on them and are moving freely around from seat to seat and there’s great energy and excitement, I’m obliged to make them laugh. That’s the deal. There’s a contradiction there, or there’s a tension there, between you don’t want to be repeating yourself, you don’t want to feel staid, you don’t want to feel as if the stuff that you’re doing has been done by other people, you want to keep taking chances with your stories, you want to keep yourself interested in your own material, keep developing. But you also have to try and make the thousand drunk people laugh.

GM: You want to stay true to yourself and not pander, so you’re walking that line.

TT: Yeah, and that kind of tension means you’re neither completely pandering nor are you completely self-indulgent. And maybe that tension is demanding but this is where you walk so you’ve no choice, really.

GM: Comedy is so popular now and there are so many comedians that of course we see some who are competent but their material doesn’t seem true to them. They’re saying only what will get a laugh.

TT: I have sympathy for them. I don’t particularly want to watch them but I have sympathy for them. (laughs) And the vast majority of stuff we see on television isn’t interesting anyway. It’s kind of generic. I guess the hope when you go to see a live show is that you get a bit more than you will on the telly. Success can be a bad thing for a comic, as well. It’s been a curse for a lot of comics. Their material just seems to get worse and worse and worse. Maybe it’s that thing where you start doing stand-up and you get good at it, then you’re rewarded and you’re hugely famous but you’ve said everything you’ve wanted to say. And then the promoter says you should really go on tour again; you’ll make $12 million on your next tour, so get a show together. Deep down you know you’ve said it all already so you say it again but in a … Randy Newman has this great line: He said, “Each album I make is like one I’ve made before, except not as good.” (laughs)

GM: I interviewed Russell Peters years ago (2007) and he said his next tour back then would be his last using racial humour. Then I spoke to him a year or so ago and asked how that went. He said he couldn’t stop! They wouldn’t let him.

TT: Yeah. Well, you know, that’s Russell’s cross (laughs). He carries it well.

GM: You have five kids?

TT: Six.

GM: Your website says five. Is there a new one?

TT: There’s a new one, yeah, but he’s a year old so I don’t know why he hasn’t made it onto the website yet. Maybe he’s too young.

GM: What’s the age range?

TT: Nineteen down as far as one.

GM: Wow. So this is why you like to go on the road?

TT: I’ve come up with the idea of endless touring, yeah. (laughs) At the moment it’s half and half. It’s three or four days on, three or four days off.

GM: The kids are all at home with you?

TT: They’re all in the same town. The 19-year-old lives by himself and the next two live with their mother but they’re all over at our house two or three days a week, as well.

GM: Is the 19-year-old interested in show biz?

TT: No, he comes on the road with me, though, in Ireland. He’s kind of apprentice tour manager and he’s getting an education in sound engineering or sound technician or something. But he’s getting sort of an apprenticeship in both those things. I’m delighted to have him on the road with me. It’s great.

GM: Stray Sod is the title of the tour. Do you come up with the title after the show or do you develop a show around an idea of a title?

TT: The show is constantly developing so it changes all the time. So I just needed a title for this one and I like a phrase that seems symbolic of the show rather than has a literal meaning. So Stray Sod is a notion that exists in parts of Ireland that part of the Earth is enchanted, and not necessarily in a good way. You can stand on a stray sod and become confused and lost and unable to find your way home. And what you need to do in order to unwork the curse of the stray sod  – ‘curse’ is probably too strong a word; unweave its power – is put your jacket on inside out and then you’ll be able to find your way home. I just liked the idea of Ireland being the stray sod of Europe, that the whole country is enchanted. And again, not necessarily in a good way. That there’s an opportunity in Ireland to perceive things differently and not just via alcohol! (laughs) I like that idea, that notion. It’s not one that’s too literal or too pin-downable. It maintains an energy so I like it.

GM: As you were describing it, I was thinking it probably was made up by a drunk Irishman to his gullible wife.

TT: Well, there you go. That may well have been where it came from or that may just be one of its other purposes.

GM: Tommy, it’s always nice talking to you. Thank you very much.

TT: My pleasure.

Sabrina Jalees interview

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