TRIGGERnometry - Scott Capurro on Comedy, Offence and Politics in 2018

00:00:00.000 Hello and welcome to Trigonometry. I'm Francis Foster. I'm Constantin Kissin. And this is the

00:00:12.420 show for you. If you're bored of people arguing on the internet over subjects they know nothing

00:00:16.620 about, at Trigonometry we don't pretend to be the experts, we ask the experts. Our brilliant

00:00:22.440 guest this week is a fantastic comedian, Scott Kapuro. Welcome to Trigonometry. Thank you very

00:00:27.180 much and the first question we always ask people is how did you get to where

00:00:40.020 you are today you've been a comedian for a long time yeah I have I am I wasn't

00:00:46.060 an actor and I was doing a play and so the people I worked with were comedians

00:00:53.280 by trade and they suggested I give it a try so I went to a club with them I tried in LA but I

00:01:00.580 didn't really well I lived in LA when I was at university I didn't really like it because I was

00:01:04.760 closeted on stage and it didn't feel right anyway once in San Francisco with this play

00:01:10.460 I went to a club and there's some openly just alternative performers on stage and I found it

00:01:17.360 inspiring lots of women performing and all sorts of double acts and stuff and then a couple of

00:01:22.880 homos and it just felt fresh comedy it felt this the scripted quality of it felt really stale to

00:01:32.300 me when I lived in Los Angeles right after I left Irvine University I just felt like what I was

00:01:39.000 watching was more of a seminar or a lecture but um I mean I was being told things by you know

00:01:47.360 middle-aged white guys and that was the days of the open-colored shirt with the sleeves pushed

00:01:52.600 up like people please everyone was copying jerry seinfeld and um i'm sure they were talented i just

00:01:58.280 didn't find it it didn't touch me in any way and then starts to go seeing these people talk openly

00:02:04.080 honestly about themselves you know at a time when politics in san francisco were really charged for

00:02:11.300 all sorts of reasons you know the age epidemic and gay rights and women's rights and it felt very

00:02:16.540 relevant and very real and very now and that excited me so that's why i started doing it and

00:02:20.280 And then I kept acting, but then I came over here to do a coming-of-age play that had elements

00:02:26.420 of stand-up in it, and it won the newcomer, and then I just stayed on and off for the

00:02:32.520 next 24 years.

00:02:34.060 I just started getting a lot of work as a comic.

00:02:35.960 I had no intention of living or working full-time as a stand-up at all, and I'd been in a few

00:02:41.180 films and I was going to pursue that, but the comedy thing just sort of took over.

00:02:46.220 I liked not having to audition.

00:02:47.960 I liked working when I wanted to work and traveling when I wanted to travel.

00:02:52.500 And when you're young and you start comedy and they're tossing you from festival to festival,

00:02:57.440 it feels exciting because you're meeting new people every couple of months

00:03:01.880 and you're going to countries you could have never even thought of going to before,

00:03:05.300 especially as a work assignment, because that's exciting,

00:03:08.700 because you're meeting people who live and work there.

00:03:10.900 So I traveled before that, but that kind of traveling was more interesting to me.

00:03:14.340 and you feel as though you take part wherever you are.

00:03:19.720 You're not just taking something as a tourist.

00:03:21.180 You're actually adding as a comic in South Africa or Australia

00:03:24.660 or New Zealand or Hong Kong.

00:03:26.320 All those places are so glamorous.

00:03:28.260 But I probably would have never got off my couch

00:03:30.960 and planned to go there if I hadn't been sent there for it.

00:03:34.740 And have you seen comedy change since that time?

00:03:38.100 Or have you seen it regress in some ways or adapt?

00:03:41.680 You know, I mean, I think, from what I can see, because I mostly close shows, so I see, you know, the ends of shows.

00:03:55.520 I don't really, unless I'm working clubs out of town, I've seen a lot of actually new comics recently.

00:04:00.240 I've been really inspired by the storytelling and the narrative aspect, which I thought had been kind of lost for a while.

00:04:05.560 because i play places like you know i play mainstream clubs now uh mainstream to me but

00:04:11.260 maybe they're still alternative in a way they're not working men's clubs but there's something

00:04:15.200 there's an expectation for someone closing a show like that or even on the bill that you have to be

00:04:19.780 kind of joke driven and it's got to be bam bam bam bam you don't want to slow down or or the

00:04:26.640 temptation is to perform for the staff if you work there a lot because the bar staff get bored and

00:04:30.860 they're like are you gonna do that grenfell tower material and you know and then you do it and then

00:04:36.400 you never get the audience you never get the audience back and then you leave you know you

00:04:40.380 leave stage five minutes early you go to get paid and the guy who owns the club's like i can't pay

00:04:44.440 you get into your time what i did he said you know you're not working for the bar staff you're

00:04:48.800 working for me so don't take suggestions from the next time that didn't happen to me but happened

00:04:52.480 to a friend and it was a good story for me to hear but but i do sort of you know i've been

00:04:57.100 booking a lot of solo shows on the road not just to prepare for edinburgh but also because i want

00:05:01.640 the stage time because i want the chance to open up to an audience and see where they're at what's

00:05:08.920 going on locally and not just rush through it's not rush but you know it does become a bit a bit

00:05:14.660 rote because the audience wants jokes i mean i was the comedia this weekend and it's a great club

00:05:21.180 I mean, it's fine.

00:05:22.780 But the late show on Saturday can be a bit circumspect.

00:05:26.760 It's a much lesser price.

00:05:28.500 It usually gets a room, apparently, of drunken students, which I was looking forward to, actually.

00:05:34.060 Because I do a lot of universities in the U.S., and despite what I hear from other headliners, I like university campuses.

00:05:40.160 I think they're exciting.

00:05:41.080 I think these kids are really politically driven.

00:05:43.440 I think they know a lot about what's going on around them.

00:05:45.040 I think the social media online has really engaged them.

00:05:48.780 They feel a part of the world around them.

00:05:50.460 When I went to university, we all felt like we were in a bubble a little bit.

00:05:53.100 We wanted that, actually.

00:05:54.100 We wanted, you know, to party and take drugs and not really be involved with what was going on out there.

00:05:58.020 But now I think young people between the ages of 18 and 25 really want to be a part of...

00:06:04.160 I mean, the politics going on in the U.S. right now show that, and here.

00:06:06.400 So anyway, I enjoy it, and I look forward to it Saturday.

00:06:09.900 The shows have been great going up to that.

00:06:11.820 The other comics weren't really talking to me very much, and I thought I'd made people angry.

00:06:15.920 This happens sometimes when I just think, you know, does she fucking hate me?

00:06:20.500 Because I'm in a green room with some female comic book.

00:06:22.740 I'm engaging her, asking her so many questions about herself.

00:06:25.680 And my husband has to do this to get me to stop talking because I haven't realized that she hasn't asked me one question about myself yet.

00:06:31.700 Because what does she give a shit?

00:06:32.660 She's 23.

00:06:33.480 I'm 55.

00:06:34.460 I'm her dad's age or older.

00:06:36.040 And she doesn't care anything about who I am or what I'm doing.

00:06:38.780 And I just think comics are meant to be chatting.

00:06:41.460 Anyway, so I spent a whole weekend not talking to anyone backstage.

00:06:44.340 But the shows have been going well, and I went out late show Saturday,

00:06:49.980 and I did a bunch of news about Thai boys, and I lost them.

00:06:53.980 In the first four minutes, I lost them talking about Thai boys stuffed in a cave.

00:06:58.760 And I thought, it was okay now because they're fine.

00:07:02.140 But I said something about, you know, you can understand why the family's upset when that happens

00:07:07.140 because it's like losing a sewing machine.

00:07:08.340 All right, so if anyone who missed the story, some Thai young footballer's got stuck in a cave.

00:07:12.940 Yeah, anyway, the Thai boys are in a cave.

00:07:13.560 Some people miss the story.

00:07:14.420 The Thai boys are in a cave.

00:07:18.080 In case you were in a cave, the Thai boys are in a cave.

00:07:20.200 You're right.

00:07:20.740 But the audience obviously knew what I was talking about, right?

00:07:24.040 And I said some other jokes about Thai boys.

00:07:25.860 Anyway, some guy just took me on.

00:07:29.000 He's grooming me on Twitter right now.

00:07:31.620 He's stalking me on Twitter.

00:07:33.080 Really?

00:07:33.540 Yeah, currently.

00:07:34.600 And I don't mind.

00:07:36.880 People can say, you know what I mean?

00:07:38.120 It's like I dealt with him, but he poisoned the room.

00:07:40.700 Or our interaction did.

00:07:42.180 I was quite harsh

00:07:43.440 with him

00:07:43.900 so just to clarify

00:07:44.840 so what

00:07:45.420 so what actually

00:07:46.440 happened

00:07:46.780 I was closing the show

00:07:48.140 there were two comics on

00:07:49.060 I walked out to close it

00:07:50.420 it was late

00:07:50.860 around midnight

00:07:51.460 yeah

00:07:51.840 and the expectation is

00:07:53.600 it's 70

00:07:54.800 instead of 250

00:07:56.080 like they usually

00:07:56.760 pack them in

00:07:57.320 in the comedian

00:07:57.940 there were 70 people

00:07:59.000 in there

00:07:59.240 and I said wow

00:07:59.760 this is nice

00:08:00.840 it's intimate

00:08:01.220 the previous show

00:08:01.740 they packed them in

00:08:02.260 like Thai boys

00:08:02.760 in the cave

00:08:03.300 and I said

00:08:06.020 I mean the real

00:08:07.140 the people I felt bad

00:08:08.740 for was their clients

00:08:09.800 they've flown 5,000 miles

00:08:10.980 He's trying not to laugh and looking down at his feet right now.

00:08:14.180 And their clients be so horny.

00:08:15.500 Anyway, so you've got to get the little ones working.

00:08:19.040 Anyway, they're all fine, and now everyone's eating again.

00:08:21.620 The point is, I said that, and the crowd went a bit quiet.

00:08:25.280 And there are two people from, this is what I mean,

00:08:26.800 there are two people from Hong Kong in the front row,

00:08:29.000 and they've been identified as being from Hong Kong.

00:08:30.620 There were a couple.

00:08:31.420 And I started talking about, oh, I've been heckled recently

00:08:33.580 by someone from China.

00:08:34.400 Maybe you know him.

00:08:35.060 now from the audience

00:08:38.220 in fucking

00:08:39.640 cunting middle class Brighton

00:08:41.120 all those ethnic conservatives with no minority friends

00:08:43.840 of their own have you been to Brighton lately

00:08:45.540 it's very very white and by the way

00:08:47.980 the G from LGBT has been

00:08:49.960 removed because gay men are men

00:08:52.080 so they've taken the G out

00:08:53.820 I'm just telling you it's no longer a wild card I can play

00:08:56.120 especially with gay and lesbian

00:08:58.100 and transgender audiences they're the worst

00:09:00.140 but middle class people in Brighton

00:09:01.980 have heard the word that we're no longer

00:09:04.260 alternative. So, I'm playing

00:09:06.320 to a room full of people that think I'm like them.

00:09:08.460 Right? Yeah. So, they start

00:09:10.360 to turn. It's like, no! I got...

00:09:11.980 No! No! No! And I brought that show.

00:09:14.120 No! And the Chinese people are fucking lying.

00:09:16.460 She's a bit grouchy, arms crossed. But, you know,

00:09:18.080 they were fine. Yeah. They didn't

00:09:20.240 need anyone to defend them.

00:09:22.400 But between that and this cut

00:09:24.120 with the... Ah, by the way,

00:09:26.140 after he heckled me, more jokes

00:09:28.120 and I slammed him five times

00:09:30.360 in a row, he passed out.

00:09:32.320 Passed out. So, when

00:09:33.340 Was that the force of the put-downs or the alcohol?

00:09:36.500 Oh, yeah, whatever.

00:09:36.900 When the security fired him over to tap his arm,

00:09:38.840 they woke him up.

00:09:40.600 So I said, I'd hoped you,

00:09:43.040 they'd know what chucked you,

00:09:43.900 I'd hoped you were fucking dead, you cunt.

00:09:46.220 And it was that tone of the room

00:09:49.240 that I had to now complete the show.

00:09:53.540 It was 12.15 by then,

00:09:55.120 and they were really, really hammered.

00:09:57.080 And I've got to not just close the show,

00:09:58.440 but close the show,

00:09:59.120 because the host had left and said,

00:10:00.200 can you finish off the show?

00:10:01.660 And I thought, well, since we're finishing,

00:10:02.680 let's just finish now

00:10:03.560 so I closed it

00:10:04.500 in about 18 minutes

00:10:05.280 and I said

00:10:05.540 I told the audience

00:10:06.440 this is what you get

00:10:07.660 when you behave that way

00:10:08.880 you get this show

00:10:10.080 next time

00:10:10.860 go to a club

00:10:11.400 thinking I might want to laugh

00:10:12.860 because when you

00:10:13.520 I said

00:10:14.120 if you go to a comedy club

00:10:16.400 by nature

00:10:16.800 you're a cunt

00:10:17.440 the comics think that by the way

00:10:18.640 because you can't amuse yourself

00:10:19.580 but if you then go

00:10:20.680 and you're offended

00:10:21.800 you should blow off

00:10:22.600 your own pumpkin head

00:10:23.260 at sunrise

00:10:23.600 because things are only

00:10:24.280 going to get worse for you tomorrow

00:10:25.260 good night

00:10:25.940 so

00:10:27.940 I just

00:10:29.220 I fucking had it

00:10:30.900 I was tired

00:10:31.920 it was hot

00:10:32.520 i know but you know if you don't scream no at the comic don't yell no it's not about your

00:10:42.760 boundaries no one knows you no one gives a shit what offends you you're over there i'm over here

00:10:49.740 the lights are pointed this way i have the mic and the mic stand if you don't like it do it two

00:10:53.560 people actually did get up angrily scream at me grab your jackets and walk out angrily scream at

00:10:59.080 me what what have i possibly said that would elicit that sort of response nothing i wish i had

00:11:04.980 i felt i wasn't rough enough on them i kind of felt bad leaving early i should have stayed up

00:11:09.260 there and done the grenfell tower material i just fucking watched them just one by one walk out

00:11:14.800 but i i just you know at this point now i just i don't see the point of fighting that battle

00:11:20.400 i also don't want to turn people away from from that club the comedian is trying to you know is

00:11:24.360 yeah probably like every other comedy club in the country struggling to keep people i mean i from

00:11:27.880 what I can tell they're doing well. I think it's a great club. A lot of people do. A lot

00:11:30.880 of comics think it's the best club in the country. I think it's wonderful. You know,

00:11:33.760 you get to go to Brighton, you have a nice weekend. They put you up. They're really

00:11:36.140 generous. It's a great gig. I wanted it to go. I was really thrilled because I got there

00:11:40.520 on Friday night and the comics were complaining about the crowd. I thought that we had a nine

00:11:44.580 Welsh stag party in. I love a good stag party. I think they're fantastic. There's a way to

00:11:49.700 play a stag party. Hen parties are a bit, they can be touchy because with stags, you

00:11:54.000 can fuck with the stag you know make fun of him and the guys love it yeah oh yeah that's what

00:11:58.100 and they'll join in that's what they want yeah that's why they're there with hens you can't make

00:12:02.060 fun of the bride you can't call her fat or stupid because you do that the hen's all getting up on

00:12:05.900 you right yeah yeah especially with this voice right or really any male uh harassing a woman

00:12:12.180 people don't want to see it that's and that's fine but this stag guy was welsh i've got a load

00:12:16.040 of welsh material i did it all and then i i knew his name so i kept calling back to it yeah and

00:12:20.340 They fucking, they loved it.

00:12:21.940 Yeah.

00:12:22.320 So, oddly on Sunday when I was leaving, one of the comics on the bill I ran into at the

00:12:27.220 train station, he was really nice to me.

00:12:28.780 And I think he's just been distracted all weekend.

00:12:30.180 He's a great guy.

00:12:30.680 He's a really good comic, actually.

00:12:32.260 And he took me to breakfast.

00:12:33.480 And I thought, why is he being nice to me now?

00:12:35.080 Oh, it's because I failed last night.

00:12:37.560 He said he'd left the building.

00:12:39.600 That's why I didn't say goodnight.

00:12:40.360 But as I'm describing the late show, he said, yeah, I saw it.

00:12:43.080 I'm like, so you were there.

00:12:44.240 I think he was waiting for me to lie about it, like most comics would.

00:12:47.000 Yeah.

00:12:47.380 But I don't.

00:12:48.760 And he said, you know, you've got nothing to prove.

00:12:50.340 It's fine.

00:12:50.820 And I said, well, now you think that.

00:12:52.380 And now you like me because I fucked up.

00:12:54.200 Because the two shows before I had done really well, and I closed them.

00:12:57.040 And I guess that's seen as intimidation.

00:12:58.880 I don't know.

00:12:59.800 I don't know why anyone responds the way they do to anything.

00:13:02.180 I say to a lot of comics on the road, hey, what are you guys doing this weekend?

00:13:04.960 Oh, I'm working on material in my room.

00:13:06.680 Well, I can't wait to see the way that reflects itself.

00:13:08.940 And you're set tomorrow night.

00:13:10.100 And then I watch the set, and it's the same schtick in the same place to the same seat.

00:13:14.880 And that's fine.

00:13:16.060 I don't care.

00:13:16.760 But it's like, well, let's go to a movie or have a drink or go to dinner or something.

00:13:20.340 It's Cardiff, there's nothing else to do.

00:13:23.000 But no one wants to socialize with me.

00:13:24.580 I guess because I'm a cunt.

00:13:25.680 I guess.

00:13:26.460 I don't know.

00:13:27.420 Well, I was going to say, you've demonstrated some of it already,

00:13:30.440 but I was going to say, do you think of yourself as an edgy comic?

00:13:32.860 Do you think you're edgy?

00:13:33.840 I just, you know, when you asked this comedy change,

00:13:37.280 it came to mind that when I first came over,

00:13:39.260 and this maybe, maybe I'm remembering this incorrectly,

00:13:41.860 but when I first came over, especially the Edinburgh Fringe,

00:13:43.600 because in those days, comics, most of us,

00:13:47.100 when we lost money, our management took a hit.

00:13:48.800 so a lot of comedians

00:13:49.980 took a lot more chances

00:13:50.880 you saw a lot more

00:13:51.700 double acts

00:13:52.140 there were more women

00:13:53.100 on the circuit then

00:13:53.840 really?

00:13:54.720 oh yeah

00:13:55.340 really?

00:13:56.180 yeah yeah yeah

00:13:56.680 I mean

00:13:57.060 young women now is good

00:13:59.000 because of the

00:14:00.580 what's happened

00:14:01.640 over the last few years

00:14:02.300 has really pushed

00:14:02.920 young women up

00:14:03.500 yeah

00:14:03.700 but for

00:14:04.800 there was like

00:14:05.780 10 or 12 years

00:14:06.500 there were almost

00:14:07.140 no women on the circuit

00:14:08.060 and when I first came over

00:14:09.000 there were absolutely

00:14:09.620 no openly gay comics

00:14:11.160 on the circuit

00:14:12.020 when was this called?

00:14:13.160 this was 94, 95

00:14:14.360 Julian was too famous

00:14:15.960 to do the circuit by then

00:14:16.960 way too famous

00:14:17.620 and that weird thing

00:14:18.540 It just happened on TV for him anyway.

00:14:19.900 He wouldn't have gone back on the circuit.

00:14:20.780 And there was nobody else.

00:14:21.620 I'm not saying there weren't gay people.

00:14:23.560 I mean openly once.

00:14:24.700 There's no one talking about it on stage, which was a benefit to me.

00:14:27.920 I don't understand why some comics complain about their gender now

00:14:30.680 or their ethnicity as being a problem.

00:14:32.420 It never is.

00:14:33.260 It sets you apart.

00:14:34.060 It's always a good thing to be different.

00:14:35.660 At least it was that there were a lot of different people then.

00:14:38.500 I mean, a lot of the larger clubs needed to sell, sell, sell

00:14:42.860 because the competition kicked up in the late 90s or late 2000s.

00:14:45.600 And so the shows became less of a rocking boat is the only way I can describe it.

00:14:50.020 It became less, I wouldn't say, it became more consistent in the performance you saw.

00:14:55.480 There wasn't, I wouldn't say that chances weren't being taken because comedy is always a risk.

00:15:02.140 It's not an easy way to make a living for anybody.

00:15:04.460 But I think what I did see was a lot more of a steady sail in every show I was performing in.

00:15:09.700 And the expectations on, at least I think on me, at least my management told me this,

00:15:15.020 was that I'd be as consistent as possible.

00:15:18.280 And to me, I felt as though I had to hit a hit every time.

00:15:21.280 Now, my husband works in the comedy club,

00:15:22.740 so I know from him, from his experiences with the owner,

00:15:25.620 who stands behind the bar with him and watches a lot of comedy,

00:15:27.940 it doesn't matter who you are.

00:15:29.460 If that club owner does not hear a laugh consistently every 15 seconds,

00:15:34.400 you're not going to get invited back.

00:15:36.200 You just won't.

00:15:36.660 Do you think people have become more sensitive over your time in this country?

00:15:40.600 That might have happened because of social media and constant influx.

00:15:43.200 But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

00:15:45.360 I'm not saying it is, but do you think it has changed?

00:15:47.400 Maybe, but you can prick at their sensibilities a bit more.

00:15:49.860 I think also comics have gotten older,

00:15:52.400 and their financial responsibilities have become greater.

00:15:54.760 They have kids now, they've got mortgages,

00:15:56.480 and they're less, I think, willing to take risks on comedy stages.

00:16:02.280 And maybe they never did.

00:16:03.580 Maybe that was never part of who they were,

00:16:05.620 but certainly they're not going to do it now.

00:16:07.480 And I think young people choose comedy now

00:16:09.540 like the way people choose law or medicine.

00:16:13.160 Like I described, you used to fall into it.

00:16:15.600 You never thought you'd be, you never chose it.

00:16:17.840 It just sort of happened to you for a lot of people.

00:16:19.920 People lived on boats or on the beach or slept on couches.

00:16:22.200 They didn't really, you know.

00:16:23.520 But now young people choose it.

00:16:25.960 And I think the exposure on TV and whatever, they see, they're myopic about their career path.

00:16:31.840 They want something specific and certain.

00:16:33.620 They want to be on BBC One on Saturday nights or they want to have a panel show or they want to be a compare.

00:16:38.740 And to do that, when they, their management, certain management companies kind of encompass them.

00:16:47.480 They, you know, take them to their shows and they watch them closely and they shape them, they form them.

00:16:52.900 And that seems to me to be sort of a different strategy than what I was accustomed to when I first started.

00:16:59.400 So, yeah, I think all of it's changed.

00:17:01.620 But the reason I'm asking you about whether people have become more sensitive is you clearly went into that gig that you've been talking about, right?

00:17:07.880 with an expectation that the Thai boy material or whatever

00:17:10.720 would be acceptable.

00:17:12.100 So there might have been a point, is what I'm getting at,

00:17:14.280 that would have been a point in some way in your career

00:17:16.660 where you would have gone to a gig,

00:17:19.100 you would have done that material,

00:17:20.240 and you would have felt absolutely safe to do it.

00:17:22.440 And I thought I was safe in Brighton as a gay man

00:17:24.620 doing something alternative at midnight.

00:17:26.300 I couldn't imagine that people...

00:17:29.900 Right, you're right.

00:17:31.220 But, you know, I have a lack of a stop button.

00:17:35.920 I don't have an off switch.

00:17:39.700 I could have gone on stage and done the set I'd done in the previous show,

00:17:43.200 which would have worked perfectly well.

00:17:44.860 But I thought I want to do something fresh, a bit different.

00:17:48.640 I want to do some of my Edinburgh Fringe material.

00:17:51.380 I want to do stuff about gun control.

00:17:53.700 I did tell a gun control joke that got absolutely no response.

00:17:58.520 What was the joke?

00:17:59.940 Well, it's more of a set-up.

00:18:00.940 But I say, I'm American, but don't worry, I'm not a cunt.

00:18:06.260 I mean, you know, I own a gun, but that's because I believe in gun control,

00:18:11.000 and I want to win the fucking argument for a change.

00:18:14.200 So it's a joke about what I do with my gun and how I don't really fire it.

00:18:17.860 Anyway, so, and they just fucking stared at me.

00:18:20.800 Now, it might have been just because it was late, and they enjoyed the joke.

00:18:23.920 But I think the whole thing, I could have had them,

00:18:26.660 had that interchange with that unhappy person,

00:18:29.660 those people storming out,

00:18:30.900 and then the Chinese,

00:18:31.580 had that not all happened.

00:18:33.240 But, you know, 18 minutes in,

00:18:34.820 I had soured that room.

00:18:38.280 And I'm not going to blame.

00:18:40.160 I've never, ever blamed an audience.

00:18:42.720 And I'm not going to fucking start now.

00:18:44.500 My job is to make my material accessible

00:18:46.680 to a room full of strangers.

00:18:48.800 It's not babysitting so much

00:18:50.540 as opening up their minds

00:18:52.560 about the way gay men behave,

00:18:54.120 changing their minds.

00:18:55.720 Because we're not just all there to decorate Brighton.

00:18:58.020 Some of us are there for other reasons.

00:18:59.200 So I want them to see that and to enjoy it.

00:19:03.440 And they had up until that moment.

00:19:05.040 And I think, you know, I think when you ask me, things change.

00:19:08.480 I think you're asking me, have audiences' sensitivities become more tender?

00:19:15.120 And about certain things they have, I think one good thing is I'm less likely to get, you know,

00:19:23.600 tattooed forearms crossed in Birmingham

00:19:26.180 with a glee when I walk out and say I'm queer

00:19:27.780 because that used to happen 10 or 15 years ago

00:19:30.080 but that doesn't happen now

00:19:31.180 they don't give a shit, especially young people

00:19:33.580 young people assume that gay men and women

00:19:36.120 have always been able to get married

00:19:37.060 have always been able to join the military

00:19:38.200 those things are not issues to them

00:19:40.740 so they'll cooperate with you on those subjects

00:19:44.080 and you have to find a different way

00:19:46.040 to make them funny if you want to

00:19:47.440 I think the challenge has always

00:19:50.140 been there to

00:19:51.280 if you're a comic like me

00:19:54.560 to find out what people's

00:19:56.440 sensitivities are and

00:19:58.040 elicit laughter from those and try

00:20:00.640 to illuminate their own hypocrisy

00:20:02.140 I mean like I say people fragile

00:20:04.560 about ethnic minorities and

00:20:06.380 I can bet that most of that

00:20:08.580 room in Brighton

00:20:09.900 doesn't have a close black friend

00:20:12.680 now whether that's true or not

00:20:14.140 it's funny for me to point that out

00:20:16.120 and point out what that could actually mean

00:20:17.960 I mean you know

00:20:20.360 I only read The Guardian for the typos

00:20:22.480 but I understand reading it

00:20:24.440 that people

00:20:26.580 they want to be engaged

00:20:28.780 and involved in current

00:20:30.680 political situations

00:20:32.560 so I don't see

00:20:34.640 how I can stand on a stage in front of strangers

00:20:36.440 for 25 minutes and not give them the chance

00:20:38.620 to be engaged in what I think of

00:20:40.020 about the political situation

00:20:42.360 right now

00:20:42.860 you know when it's funny

00:20:45.240 I did a show

00:20:46.280 in North London recently

00:20:48.860 And there was an American couple in the front row from the South.

00:20:52.080 But they were posh Americans.

00:20:53.600 They spoke well, and they owned guns, and they voted for Trump.

00:20:57.940 And they were not shy about telling us those things,

00:21:02.360 although they knew at first to not tell me.

00:21:04.200 They knew enough.

00:21:04.700 They'd been here long enough as tourists.

00:21:06.260 But then they decided to tell me.

00:21:07.760 And that was a room full of left-leaning Jews and these two people.

00:21:11.700 And they were about my age, and they were white.

00:21:13.860 And I know how to talk to these people.

00:21:15.140 the room that the British got tenser and fucking tenser because what I was doing was making fun of

00:21:22.480 them to their face but they weren't getting it I was performing to them for the rest of the room

00:21:27.340 and I was complimenting them I was I was I was flirting with them to make them think not that

00:21:34.500 I agree with them but what they were saying was okay and the rest of the room was completely

00:21:38.040 horrified with what they were saying right but it was making them tenser and tenser and I couldn't

00:21:44.020 tell what they were angry about but if you're not on the edge of your seat in a comedy show i don't

00:21:49.200 know why the fuck you're there are you there to have a mirror held up to you to show you how great

00:21:52.900 you are because that's why i don't perform in gay and lesbian clubs because that's what they want

00:21:56.260 and i'd rather chew on ground glass and perform at fucking at a club in south london and wave my

00:22:00.880 fist around say how great gay people are i don't give a shit about that if you want that then hire

00:22:06.020 a fucking tranny or a fucking a diva or a drag queen hire those people because that's what they'll

00:22:10.440 do for you. But that's not what I do. If you want that, get a juggler, go to a children's party.

00:22:15.500 But this, you're in a comedy club in 2018. And my president has just tried to have a coup in your

00:22:22.380 country. He's just tried to dismantle your governmental structure in three days. And he

00:22:29.180 almost did it. That's how weak your political system is right now. Does any of this mean anything

00:22:34.220 to you? So while I'm talking to them about Trump, you know, I'm talking about your prime minister

00:22:39.460 and the political situation here

00:22:40.660 and stuff

00:22:41.000 and they were laughing about it

00:22:42.640 about how casual all is

00:22:43.680 oh yeah people here

00:22:44.880 should buy guns

00:22:45.620 they should

00:22:46.020 we've been on the tube

00:22:46.820 and all

00:22:47.580 and the audience

00:22:48.260 you know

00:22:50.020 it was hilarious

00:22:51.020 what a great

00:22:52.100 what a goldmine

00:22:53.020 what a chance for them

00:22:54.320 you know

00:22:54.780 I try to take advantage of that

00:22:55.820 but don't you think

00:22:56.660 that there is

00:22:57.660 I've seen it more and more

00:22:59.360 and I gig quite a lot

00:23:00.680 to younger people

00:23:02.560 and I see it

00:23:03.180 and now that I'm 36

00:23:04.100 I see it in people

00:23:05.220 in their mid-twenties

00:23:06.560 their early twenties

00:23:07.280 certain words

00:23:08.060 they tense up

00:23:08.860 and the shutters

00:23:09.840 come down

00:23:10.320 I used to do this bit

00:23:11.480 about my mum

00:23:12.100 supporting Trump

00:23:12.980 and how she's a

00:23:14.260 disabled Latin American

00:23:15.220 woman

00:23:15.540 and I'm just like

00:23:17.120 you know

00:23:17.460 you like him

00:23:18.180 but he don't

00:23:18.620 fucking like you

00:23:19.360 and then a bit

00:23:21.060 about how

00:23:21.500 right and left

00:23:22.540 used to come

00:23:22.960 together

00:23:23.840 that bit used to

00:23:24.940 kill

00:23:25.120 I can't do that

00:23:26.140 bit anymore

00:23:26.600 the moment I say

00:23:27.600 the word Trump

00:23:28.300 everybody holds

00:23:29.960 bang

00:23:30.320 well he's a bit

00:23:31.040 of a downer

00:23:31.640 he is

00:23:31.960 I have to say

00:23:32.460 it's hard with him

00:23:34.320 because

00:23:34.800 you know

00:23:36.200 he's on the front

00:23:36.700 page of every

00:23:37.240 newspaper

00:23:37.540 he's the most

00:23:38.060 famous person in the world i think people are afraid he's going to win in 2020 probably well

00:23:40.980 yeah and i think people just they're just they're sick of it it might have been that response well

00:23:46.440 but i know what you mean about young people they do claim although i think it's all hype to have

00:23:51.020 trigger words and they do claim that um you know they want safe space and all that but if in the

00:24:00.740 first few minutes of your act like one technique i try to master although i'm not good at it yet

00:24:06.260 I'm trying to get a friend of mine is to dispel all of that the first five minutes so that we can

00:24:10.220 kind of move on if you can let them know that what a safe space actually is and what feminism

00:24:17.660 actually is because they're because some of them are too stupid to know what it means and um and

00:24:23.380 they think they know what a trigger word is but they don't so if you can tell them what democracy

00:24:27.060 actually is and what it would look like if they were actually practicing it and how miserable

00:24:31.340 they be then if you can get that all out of the way then they might cooperate i'm i'm worried

00:24:38.620 about edinburgh i have to be honest with you i am why because i'm fucking dreading it already

00:24:44.900 because um i mean i love the fringe it's kind of it shaped me as a comic in the first few years i

00:24:50.200 was here um and i'm not it's not for the reason some people are about the expense of all that we

00:24:55.820 take off that's all our decisions but I'm doing this thing with Bob Slayer

00:25:01.340 where you know people pay seven pounds online but there are extra seats I go up

00:25:05.060 to the bar upstairs and say they're empty seats if anyone's come down watch

00:25:07.460 the show and let me pass the bucket at the end but I don't know that I want I

00:25:10.580 don't know that I want let's just people that don't know what I do in that room

00:25:14.180 I don't want to spend a half hour on them working out there fucking fuck off

00:25:18.260 with your sensitivities and your sensibilities and you're drunk and loud

00:25:21.740 I'm on a 920 your loudish behavior it's not fair to the people who've paid

00:25:25.380 actually. Even if they're only 10 or 12, they've actually paid them. They want to

00:25:29.140 see what I have to say. I don't want to deal with those fucking bald cunts in

00:25:33.420 the back who couldn't wait to get away from their wives. Or five women in a pack

00:25:37.480 who've been out shopping on the island or sunburned and too tired to listen. Or

00:25:41.340 whatever. Or 25 year old who thinks they know anything. I just I don't I don't

00:25:48.000 want. The show isn't about you. At Ritz's 9-11 they all think their opinions are of

00:25:53.280 equal importance but they're incorrect unless they're on stage you want to write a check for

00:25:56.880 three grand get this room then fucking do it next year but for now shut your cunt but no one tells

00:26:01.240 people no anymore that's a problem to me no one says to them you might be wrong have you actually

00:26:07.660 asked yourself the question do i know anything because really it's about the questions and not

00:26:12.620 your fucking answers because nobody really gives a shit about your personal experience i mean my

00:26:18.060 problem with twitter is not the comics go on in her ass it's that they don't do it in a funny way

00:26:22.800 because your job is to write jokes about it,

00:26:25.420 not to tell me about, oh, in the second half of your show,

00:26:28.800 how you've been raped.

00:26:30.040 How is that my problem?

00:26:31.460 Why isn't this funny?

00:26:32.580 Why should I feel uncomfortable in your presence?

00:26:34.860 Why have you kidnapped me, locked the door,

00:26:37.700 and put me in this room to listen to your griping?

00:26:40.200 It's like, this is not, why am I pretending to enjoy this?

00:26:44.620 Why, why, why?

00:26:46.860 I just think if there's a narrative attached to it

00:26:50.680 that makes it interesting, then that's great.

00:26:52.280 And honestly, my first Edinburgh show where I won all that shit, it wasn't necessarily that funny.

00:26:58.620 I mean, you know, I think I had the narrative, that thing where you admit things to an audience, where you kidnap them.

00:27:07.200 I knew that's what I was doing when I was 30 years old.

00:27:09.540 I knew that those people couldn't leave the room because I was the first queer they'd ever sat in a room with and listened to tell a few jokes.

00:27:14.420 But really, that whole show is about my first sexual experience with my cousin in a trailer in California the summer Elvis had died.

00:27:21.620 that was what that show was about

00:27:23.300 and it wasn't funny

00:27:25.000 that wasn't funny at all

00:27:26.740 and they fucking stayed

00:27:28.020 because they felt an obligation to

00:27:29.420 I knew that

00:27:30.060 I knew I had them hogtied

00:27:31.620 I knew I did

00:27:32.180 and I've done that now

00:27:35.040 and what I'd like to do now

00:27:36.120 is I'm using an entertaining audience

00:27:37.480 for 55 minutes

00:27:38.840 because to me that's more of a challenge

00:27:40.200 but whatever you do

00:27:42.140 you know

00:27:42.780 don't assume when you go to a show

00:27:45.140 that that comic is actually there

00:27:47.320 to make you feel better

00:27:48.180 about who you are

00:27:49.860 so you sang

00:27:51.360 essentially that audiences have become more entitled well listen i really admire people that

00:27:58.260 make the sacrifice to go to live performance because i oftentimes don't i can't fucking be

00:28:02.840 bothered to you know but um but i you know what i say to people if they want if they ask me when

00:28:09.320 they see a flower show i see your show to me it's like what my yoga teacher tells me which is just

00:28:13.520 come with an open mind and an open heart that's all you got to do uh if you have any preconceived

00:28:18.620 notions about how things should be or whether performances

00:28:20.760 leave them outside. And believe me

00:28:22.880 I spend a lot of the show

00:28:24.600 every five or seven minutes reminding

00:28:26.660 them that. So I give them a lot of

00:28:28.600 red flags. And if

00:28:30.480 by the end they feel in some way

00:28:32.480 cheated

00:28:34.440 or, I don't know, harassed

00:28:36.460 I kind of think that's their problem.

00:28:38.760 I think if someone feels

00:28:39.960 if in an audience someone feels offended it's usually their

00:28:44.620 problem. I don't know them.

00:28:46.420 That's why I was asking about her sensitive

00:28:48.200 to because i'm from russia and i tell the story sometimes on stage about someone saying to me go

00:28:53.340 back to russia you packy right and the asian that's quite a that's quite a lot of boxes

00:28:58.580 and it's always the asian people that laugh the most and it's always the white people that look

00:29:05.560 around to make sure it's safe and and i always wonder what that's about i know you know i know

00:29:12.420 you mean I I tell the audience my husband's black in the first few minutes

00:29:17.540 of the show I used to I don't know and part of the reason is I can drop the

00:29:22.080 n-bomb about five times during the set and um because I do do you think of

00:29:29.500 yourself as an edgy comedian well what is edgy really I mean you know I think

00:29:36.000 My husband gets asked, he has accents from Brazil, what's your background?

00:29:47.160 And in Britain, people mean, you know, what are you?

00:29:49.380 And in Brazil, it's an offensive question.

00:29:51.280 So he just tells people now, I'm black.

00:29:54.760 And that shuts them the fuck up.

00:29:56.620 They don't ask any more questions.

00:29:58.580 Because people in this country are afraid of black people.

00:30:02.020 I'm from the U.S.

00:30:02.760 I'm not afraid of black people.

00:30:04.000 I lived in an integrated city when I was younger.

00:30:06.480 You think people are afraid of black people?

00:30:07.640 Terrified.

00:30:08.260 And I think that no one knows how to...

00:30:10.560 White people don't know how to talk to black people in this country at all.

00:30:14.120 All young people know how to do is impersonate them.

00:30:16.100 If they can.

00:30:16.920 And it's a pathetic attempt with all that stuff that young people try to do.

00:30:20.240 I can't even copy.

00:30:21.500 But you know, the lingo, the colloquialism, the young kids...

00:30:25.600 Like fam and all that.

00:30:26.540 Yes.

00:30:27.600 And these kids, it's the richer and whiter they are, the more they try to be that way.

00:30:31.080 And they think it's groovy and cool to be black,

00:30:33.720 which is so offensive.

00:30:35.580 It's so offensive that if I say my husband's black,

00:30:37.980 the audience allows me to talk about black issues.

00:30:40.480 I'm doing it so that two-thirds of the way through the show,

00:30:43.500 I'm like, you know, he's not black.

00:30:44.340 I just say that because I want you to like him.

00:30:46.600 And so after you've dropped dead.

00:30:48.260 Right.

00:30:49.020 Oh, that's beautiful.

00:30:49.720 I mean, and they can't embrace the idea that they, you know,

00:30:54.780 at some clubs in this country, the comp pair,

00:30:57.700 you'll be in a room full of 300 people.

00:30:59.000 there'll be a mixed race couple in the front row

00:31:01.720 he or she will talk to the white person

00:31:04.100 the white person, the white people

00:31:05.240 skip the black person

00:31:06.980 I've seen it happen so many times

00:31:08.700 so the first thing I do on stage

00:31:10.260 is say how you doing to the black guy

00:31:11.780 because he's probably offended that no one's talking to him

00:31:14.360 and wonders why

00:31:15.420 so anyway

00:31:18.480 so you think people in Britain are scared of black people

00:31:20.900 white people in Britain

00:31:21.900 yeah a little bit

00:31:23.060 that's incredible

00:31:24.380 well they're criminalized in every way

00:31:26.500 I thought it was in America

00:31:28.720 where race relations were worse

00:31:30.380 that's what I

00:31:31.580 you believe the hype

00:31:32.260 that's what I was told

00:31:33.180 you're from Russia

00:31:33.920 you know better

00:31:34.660 you know the way they talk about

00:31:35.560 people from Moscow

00:31:36.260 in this country

00:31:36.880 like you're all fucking criminals

00:31:38.240 and drug dealers

00:31:38.820 yeah it's because we are

00:31:39.580 well

00:31:40.120 that's why you can afford

00:31:41.620 to live here

00:31:42.100 yeah exactly

00:31:42.880 no of course

00:31:44.240 black people are represented

00:31:45.760 in I think

00:31:47.120 in a much more healthy way

00:31:48.200 in the US

00:31:49.120 I mean

00:31:49.660 and of course there are problems

00:31:51.000 but hi we had a black president

00:31:52.480 anyway so

00:31:53.260 you know

00:31:55.680 when black people are seen

00:31:58.780 in positions of power in this country

00:32:00.020 as randomly as it happens

00:32:02.740 they're either treated like

00:32:04.880 like they're lucky

00:32:06.520 or they're ignored

00:32:07.920 or they're belittled like that female

00:32:10.560 MP who's made some

00:32:12.740 mistakes but she's treated

00:32:14.800 like she's

00:32:15.540 like it's her fault the Labour Party are fucked up

00:32:18.560 like it falls in her lap

00:32:20.520 because she had I guess

00:32:22.600 a diabetic overthrow on the radio a couple of times

00:32:24.540 and lost her mind for figures.

00:32:26.240 I don't know what her excuse was.

00:32:28.240 But, you know, she made a couple of mistakes.

00:32:31.100 Jesus, Nigel Farage.

00:32:31.960 Anyway, so, you know.

00:32:34.320 Anyway, so, yes.

00:32:35.880 That's interesting.

00:32:36.560 So when you're playing a comedy club in New York or Seattle or L.A. or Chicago,

00:32:40.400 if you're on stage, you better talk to the ethnic people in the room.

00:32:43.660 You better be able to tell the difference between a Nicaraguan accent

00:32:46.820 and a Honduran accent and a Mandarin Chinese.

00:32:50.920 Someone who speaks Mandarin Chinese.

00:32:52.500 I suppose someone from my college.

00:32:53.260 you've got to do the accents correctly

00:32:55.140 and you've got to refer to them

00:32:56.300 or else they'll come up to you

00:32:56.980 after the show and say

00:32:57.580 why didn't you talk about me

00:32:58.460 I'm offended you left me out

00:32:59.460 really

00:32:59.800 yeah it's a different

00:33:00.500 does that really happen

00:33:01.180 of course it's happened to me

00:33:02.100 in New York

00:33:02.620 it's amazing

00:33:03.140 because in the UK

00:33:03.940 my certainly my experience

00:33:06.040 would be that if you did an accent

00:33:07.380 you would instantly be treated

00:33:08.800 but not if it's the accent

00:33:10.020 of the not the ethnic people

00:33:11.120 you're satirizing

00:33:12.520 they like it

00:33:13.500 they do

00:33:14.260 right but the white people don't

00:33:15.620 of course they

00:33:16.200 but you know

00:33:16.940 they've got to line up

00:33:17.940 I don't know what to tell them

00:33:20.760 I don't know what to say

00:33:22.020 Except, you know, pull the fucking cucumber out of your butt and live a little.

00:33:26.200 I don't know.

00:33:34.180 You mentioned politics.

00:33:35.600 You don't do political material so much in your set, at least from what I've seen.

00:33:38.820 I do, depending on the show.

00:33:41.020 There's a political improv show at the store that we do that's really politically motivated.

00:33:44.200 Some of that material leaks into my set.

00:33:47.980 Yes.

00:33:48.460 So what do you make of what's happening in politics right now?

00:33:52.020 Well, I feel like the world is turning right.

00:33:57.640 And I think that's the conflict audiences have when you bring up Trump.

00:34:02.040 Because audiences in comedy clubs, in central London at least, or most of London, tend to be left-leaning.

00:34:08.020 When I did a free speech comedy show, Comedy Unleashed, at the back...

00:34:11.040 Andrew Doyle, we've had him on the show.

00:34:12.400 Yeah, that's great.

00:34:13.080 And he might have mentioned that about half the audience in the first night were right-wing people.

00:34:17.060 And they showed up thinking that to them, free speech in a comedy show meant right-wing comics on stage,

00:34:21.160 finally talking what they can talk about.

00:34:22.980 Because comedy is so left-leaning in general.

00:34:26.680 So I feel like if you talk about politics

00:34:32.260 in a comedy show in London or Edinburgh or Birmingham

00:34:36.440 or, you know, in urban areas,

00:34:39.060 it might be a good idea to gauge where the audience is at.

00:34:43.460 But I had to, I mean, between the three of us

00:34:45.640 on these three cameras and that hot guy sitting

00:34:47.440 in Indian style, between all of us,

00:34:51.160 Again, I don't, and I mean this in every respectful way,

00:34:54.500 I don't give a shit what their politics are.

00:34:57.960 I don't care.

00:35:00.120 They're not my friends.

00:35:01.520 The show is about me.

00:35:03.440 Hashtag me.

00:35:04.620 Not me too, just me.

00:35:07.000 And if they want to disagree or get upset, well, good for them.

00:35:10.460 It's hard to react to anything now because everything's on an iPad.

00:35:12.720 So if you're in the room with me and you want to share your thoughts, that's fine.

00:35:17.760 Your feelings, not so partial about.

00:35:20.600 They're transient, right?

00:35:23.480 And I'm not dealing with your feelings.

00:35:25.100 Again, I don't know you.

00:35:25.940 This isn't a therapy session.

00:35:26.960 We're not going to break up into discussion groups

00:35:28.980 and talk about your abandonment, low self-esteem,

00:35:31.120 and your ego problems.

00:35:31.960 I don't give a shit.

00:35:33.100 But if you disagree with something I'm saying on stage

00:35:36.080 while I'm saying it, not five minutes later,

00:35:39.240 and you want to talk, I'd suggest you raise your hand.

00:35:42.340 But if you want to yell something out, then let's get into it.

00:35:46.080 That's why writing a show takes so long for me

00:35:48.080 because every political idea I express, I research.

00:35:50.520 I've got to have a backup for it.

00:35:51.740 I have made the mistake in the past

00:35:53.180 of saying things flippantly on stage

00:35:55.080 I didn't have a backup for.

00:35:56.580 And it's always those moments

00:35:57.640 when you get caught by an audience member

00:35:59.220 smarter than you.

00:36:00.240 And you, you know,

00:36:01.800 you've got to have a joke about it.

00:36:04.820 I mean, I think,

00:36:07.460 I think that you ask about the political situation.

00:36:10.000 I think the only place that we can deal with it now

00:36:12.300 is on a comedy stage

00:36:13.420 because it's the only place

00:36:15.140 that people can allow someone

00:36:16.600 the breath or the girth to bring up these wide subjects

00:36:22.600 and sort of lighten them a bit.

00:36:25.960 Pull the plug on them, let some of the air out.

00:36:28.300 Open a window so it's not so stuffy in here.

00:36:31.060 And actually discuss people's hypocrisy in a way that's lighthearted.

00:36:38.100 The thing is, people ask me,

00:36:40.360 I've done a few interviews for The Fringe,

00:36:41.680 and they're like, you know, do you hunt down offensive material

00:36:45.260 in this offensive economy.

00:36:46.800 I don't ever look for what I think is offensive.

00:36:49.180 I look at things I find are funny, you know,

00:36:52.280 like the cave boys or whatever.

00:36:54.740 You know, I find that shit hilarious.

00:36:56.260 So if I find guns funny,

00:36:58.520 if I find shooting teenagers in some way funny,

00:37:01.540 because, I mean, have you talked to an adolescent?

00:37:03.240 So if I find some of that, you know,

00:37:05.940 then it's my job, you know, to find out.

00:37:08.380 And if people, oh, how can you make fun

00:37:10.280 of a high school shooting?

00:37:11.520 I'd be like, how can't you?

00:37:13.420 What other option, frankly, is there?

00:37:15.720 I know this sounds grand and very kumbaya,

00:37:18.200 but what other option is there to survive any of this

00:37:20.320 other than to laugh at it?

00:37:21.740 Because really, the amount of control any of us have

00:37:23.600 over our destiny is so clearly not in our hands.

00:37:26.840 I think that's what upsets people,

00:37:28.360 is they realize the British Petroleum is the world, not us.

00:37:30.860 So it doesn't obviously clearly matter who you vote for.

00:37:33.840 Because that vote of last summer

00:37:36.460 didn't affect any of the outcome.

00:37:39.460 Theresa May is doing exactly what she wants to do.

00:37:42.220 I suspect that she brought Trump over knowing what he'd say

00:37:44.980 so that people turned against Brexit even more.

00:37:50.040 The more he supports it, the less the British public like it.

00:37:52.980 Whatever her journey is with Brexit, she may be playing all of us.

00:37:57.940 Voters might as well take their votes, their ballots,

00:38:00.280 and flush them down the toilet for all the difference they've made

00:38:02.500 over the last five years in the country and in the U.S. as well.

00:38:05.560 I mean, when Brexit happened, I knew Trump would win.

00:38:08.500 I know that those elections are fixed. I know they are.

00:38:11.120 and the gerrymandering by the senators fixes them anyway so it doesn't matter how you vote in

00:38:16.900 california they don't even come to california presidential nominees to do campaigns anymore

00:38:21.700 because they know that california the largest state in the union with one-tenth the population

00:38:25.380 the u.s it doesn't matter it doesn't matter how we vote and what do you think of trump and especially

00:38:30.660 i would like to explore as a comedian because as a comedian watching political comics and

00:38:36.740 inverted commas talk about trumps he's orange he's a dick he's got small hands i'm like really

00:38:41.360 this is the best that you can do as a professional comedian with your comedic talents i mean i thought

00:38:47.700 about voting for him because he's against gay marriage no i only way out no i talk about wait

00:38:53.460 is he against gay marriage yeah because i hear people saying he's like the most pro-gay president

00:38:57.440 america's ever had well i imagine you find that he he's he's seating the supreme court with judges

00:39:05.500 who don't feel that way.

00:39:07.320 So it may fall into their manicured hands

00:39:11.620 whether or not guys are able to get married in a couple years.

00:39:15.460 So whatever he says.

00:39:17.520 You have to follow Trump's actions, not what he says,

00:39:20.200 because you know he says a lot of bullshit from one day to the next.

00:39:22.700 So I look at what he does,

00:39:25.080 and it's really about the judicial appointments in the U.S.

00:39:27.060 more than anything that's the most frightening.

00:39:29.300 But, you know, I think he's a stand-up comic,

00:39:31.700 and I think he's a performer.

00:39:32.540 I think he's a populist.

00:39:33.360 I think he's about what comics do is he disrupts people and he creates chaos and he wants complete control.

00:39:42.820 And I think that he doesn't feel any loyalty and his ambitions are limitless.

00:39:49.320 And I think that he's a media and corporate mogul from New York.

00:39:54.620 He's a property developer from Manhattan, so he's a gangster.

00:39:58.060 So he has no loyalty to anyone, including his children.

00:40:03.360 anyone. You've seen him almost turn his kids out a couple of times. And his son-in-law

00:40:10.120 is one of the thickest, thickest piles of pig shit I've ever seen put in front of a

00:40:14.240 camera. And he likes that, because that's his spokesmodel internationally. He sends

00:40:20.080 that kid everywhere, so he doesn't have to go. And I think he's a bit of a genius.

00:40:28.800 Really?

00:40:29.800 Well, don't you think that?

00:40:31.220 He's manipulating the world right now.

00:40:33.300 I mean, if he's not smart, how fucking thick are we?

00:40:36.420 He came over here and almost completely disrupted

00:40:39.400 the entire political structure of this country

00:40:42.360 within a matter of hours.

00:40:45.500 That interview he gave the Daily Mail,

00:40:47.160 and then he got home and said,

00:40:48.820 Putin's saying, I meant wouldn't, not would.

00:40:54.380 And he has 90% approval ratings in the Republican Party.

00:40:57.700 That's the highest of almost any president in the history of the U.S., 90%.

00:41:02.720 He's doing something right?

00:41:05.440 I don't know.

00:41:07.160 For me to say that he's stupid seems weird because I don't—is he?

00:41:12.840 Or is he just a genius at manipulating the media?

00:41:16.080 And he knew that, like he said, if you ran for a Republican, they'd believe it and think the party's too stupid.

00:41:22.260 He's got them in the grip of his tiny hands.

00:41:26.160 I don't know

00:41:27.700 but you're right

00:41:28.520 I wouldn't

00:41:29.320 what I wouldn't do

00:41:30.340 is talk about

00:41:31.880 how

00:41:32.340 how stupid

00:41:33.320 or orange he is

00:41:34.260 because that's not the point

00:41:35.400 that's not the issue

00:41:36.520 these

00:41:36.800 what I'd rather not do

00:41:38.800 is dismantle his character

00:41:40.500 it's really his

00:41:41.100 his policies

00:41:41.900 I try to go after

00:41:42.680 because you said

00:41:43.640 that what he was doing

00:41:44.380 in America was terrifying

00:41:45.440 would you just expand upon that

00:41:46.680 he's trying to

00:41:47.260 he's trying to

00:41:48.600 he wants to expel people

00:41:51.440 who

00:41:51.620 who aren't white

00:41:52.920 he wants to cleanse

00:41:55.660 the u.s when he said um you know that um what is it cleaning the pond what is it you know that

00:42:05.520 where he got that quote from no that's mussolini so when he when he borrowed that quote from

00:42:09.940 mussolini he was speaking to not white people in california he was speaking to the same people

00:42:18.020 that elected reagan when reagan said when he was elected when he was nominated for the for the

00:42:23.420 office the first time by his party. He was in Alabama and he said, I'm putting my, or Mississippi,

00:42:28.940 I'm putting my, I'm putting my feet in the Mississippi mud, letting you know I'm with you.

00:42:34.660 And took his shoes off and put his feet in the mud. And what that meant to Southerners was he

00:42:38.920 hates black people. It's a coded term that meant a lot to a part of his party that he wanted to be

00:42:46.740 loyal to him. I mean, Reagan was famously a race baiter and I think Trump is too. But hold on,

00:42:50.560 Drain the Swamp is about Washington, it's not about the country.

00:42:53.240 Sure, sure it is.

00:42:55.760 If you're a neo-fascist living in the U.S.

00:42:58.220 or you're right of Mussolini in the Republican Party,

00:43:01.620 you know exactly what he means.

00:43:04.120 You know that when Gore Vidal called D.C. a swamp in two of his books,

00:43:08.340 people accused him of being racist

00:43:09.920 because he mentioned the swamps of Africa.

00:43:14.820 Trump is preying on people's minds.

00:43:17.260 He's creating imagery in their minds

00:43:19.640 that means something to them that it doesn't mean to you

00:43:22.080 because you're not from there.

00:43:23.680 But in America, if you're from Arkansas,

00:43:26.400 the swamp means black people running with chains on their ankles

00:43:29.980 away from prison with dogs chasing them.

00:43:32.300 It brings up imagery in their minds of all sorts of things

00:43:34.800 that don't make sense to you.

00:43:37.260 And again, it's a Mussolini quote.

00:43:38.640 So anyway, I think whether Trump is racist,

00:43:42.100 and he has proven business-wise that he is at least uncomfortable

00:43:45.420 doing business with black people because he wouldn't rent to them

00:43:47.660 when he was working for his dad.

00:43:48.720 So, and that, I think that he's a horrible racist.

00:43:56.460 That's what makes me nervous about him.

00:43:58.360 How you can live in Manhattan and be racist?

00:44:00.080 Although, frankly, when you go to Manhattan now, they've pushed, there's almost no ethnic community left on the island.

00:44:06.460 You know, even Harlem has been cleansed to the black community, like in San Francisco.

00:44:11.380 So, I think he's trying to urbanize and Clorox the entire country.

00:44:16.720 he wants people to live at his living standards but when you have a a capitalistic society like

00:44:24.560 that you're gonna have a lot of losers but trump doesn't care about the losers there's no safety

00:44:28.600 net in the u.s or it's diminishing and that's what freaks me out because i grew up with a single mom

00:44:33.140 we lived out of a car for a while we we grew up you know my dad left my mom she didn't have a

00:44:37.440 high school diploma she had to find a job in a way to support three kids and it was very very

00:44:41.140 difficult when I was younger so I know what it's like to grow up without a safety net and I know

00:44:46.760 how terrifying it is and my mom couldn't rent they didn't rent a single woman in San Francisco in

00:44:51.620 those days we had to move far away the commute it was horrible for her and I think it's kind of

00:44:56.400 what killed her young frankly and I think and she had a bit more support my mama might have lived

00:45:01.500 longer but you know there isn't that not the kind you have here and do you think we're going the

00:45:09.320 same way in this country i think with brexit maybe some of the people that felt vulnerable

00:45:15.920 that voted for brexit are going to be the hardest hit i think we know that now and i think when you

00:45:21.580 you know i think that the i think that the the health of any country however powerful they think

00:45:27.400 they are is not the way they deal with the wealthy it's the way you deal with the disenfranchised in

00:45:31.180 that country whoever they are and that's people with drug addictions or single mums or people

00:45:37.460 that don't identify themselves through identity politics,

00:45:40.620 but identify themselves in other ways.

00:45:42.500 If you speak to someone like your mother,

00:45:45.000 who's having a very difficult time,

00:45:47.780 the way you described her, she might be,

00:45:49.080 I don't know the way you described her,

00:45:50.280 and you ask that person how they identify themselves,

00:45:51.980 I think the last thing in her mind

00:45:53.060 is whether or not she's a Tory or in the Labour Party.

00:45:56.420 I think she thinks, well, I'm these things.

00:45:58.540 I'm a working mom, or I have these kids,

00:46:00.540 or I can't find a job because of these ailments I have.

00:46:03.480 She identifies herself by her circumstances,

00:46:05.520 not her fucking politics.

00:46:07.460 But when I'm in front of a room full of white middle class people

00:46:09.900 who are telling me what their political identity is

00:46:12.060 and how I should match that, that's when I get angry.

00:46:14.620 Because I think you don't know my fucking story,

00:46:16.620 and you're here to listen to it.

00:46:18.020 And if you aren't, then you should probably fuck the fuck off.

00:46:21.680 So I'm worried.

00:46:23.420 That's what I'm concerned with.

00:46:25.180 That Trump and Brexit are making people build fortresses around themselves.

00:46:30.880 And either you're allowed in or you're not.

00:46:34.200 And you're either on our side or you're against it,

00:46:36.180 that famous Trump-Bush quote that he said

00:46:38.880 when he bombed the Middle East in, you know,

00:46:41.580 the early 2000s in response to the bombing in New York.

00:46:45.000 He told Europe, you're either on a society or not.

00:46:47.180 And that was a real threat.

00:46:48.640 And I think that people now feel that way.

00:46:51.480 I think there's less discourse.

00:46:53.280 Frankly, I think, you know, a conservative audience,

00:46:55.900 politically, can be fun to perform in front of.

00:46:58.200 When I've done conferences, the Greens were good

00:46:59.980 because they know how ridiculous they are.

00:47:01.440 When you do a Labour Party conference,

00:47:03.120 performed it's really i gotta tell you the worst gig you can ever say yes to is the haze the haze

00:47:09.460 thing that that h-a-y-s that fucking guardian sponsored fucking i did it i oh my god oh like

00:47:17.660 300 people in a bleacher seating fucking staring at me i'm not kidding you i have never i was

00:47:24.300 chasing them around the stage trying to find what their what they what they would joke about what

00:47:28.980 what they found comfortable.

00:47:31.960 Nothing.

00:47:32.360 I found nothing.

00:47:33.200 I found nothing.

00:47:34.420 And then I come back,

00:47:35.640 and some of the guys from the comedy store said,

00:47:37.120 you did that gig?

00:47:38.380 I said, you should never.

00:47:39.760 That's the worst one.

00:47:41.460 I said, well, I wanted to go to that area.

00:47:43.100 I thought it would be pretty.

00:47:43.860 And I read The Guardian.

00:47:44.840 They're like, no, it's impossible.

00:47:46.220 You can't.

00:47:47.860 Did you think those people were just sanctimonious

00:47:50.040 and too serious and they care too much about?

00:47:53.060 Is that what it is?

00:47:53.740 Maybe.

00:47:55.340 Because there is a section of the left, isn't there,

00:47:57.260 that's gone a little bit apeshit right now.

00:47:59.620 Yeah, a little bit.

00:48:01.420 I was trying to put it gently.

00:48:03.100 There's no discourse.

00:48:04.340 There's no...

00:48:05.160 If I say to them,

00:48:07.200 if I say,

00:48:08.960 you might...

00:48:11.300 God, I got into the store.

00:48:14.600 When we were talking about

00:48:16.300 some of this yew tree stuff,

00:48:19.700 and I said, you know,

00:48:20.600 some of the allegations

00:48:21.600 are obviously incorrect.

00:48:24.660 And with someone who has three children,

00:48:27.260 told me isn't one enough isn't one enough and i said you mean one enough to destroy all the

00:48:36.780 careers it's destroying one enough to now the bbc has to pay that guy six million six hundred

00:48:42.460 thousand because they threw a flew a helicopter over his house and they were wrong i said i think

00:48:49.500 it's insulting to people who actually been abused or harassed that that's your stance

00:48:55.580 because you're saying

00:48:57.120 that it's all the same

00:48:58.540 and if you ask a victim

00:48:59.840 it's not the same

00:49:00.720 they want to hear their story

00:49:02.160 have their story heard

00:49:03.000 I'd talk him off the ledge

00:49:05.620 for like seven minutes

00:49:06.340 because we were doing

00:49:06.920 a show together

00:49:07.520 and I don't think I got him

00:49:09.240 I think he still thinks

00:49:09.900 I'm a cunt

00:49:10.300 I think he thinks

00:49:11.300 I'm a kiddie diddling

00:49:12.760 fucking retard

00:49:13.380 that I just don't get

00:49:14.520 I don't get it

00:49:15.520 I don't know

00:49:18.560 I don't know

00:49:19.760 whereas two

00:49:20.660 two Tories

00:49:21.660 friends of mine

00:49:22.300 came and saw my

00:49:22.740 Edinburgh preview

00:49:23.440 last Thursday

00:49:24.080 and went for drinks after

00:49:25.560 What did you think of that?

00:49:26.120 It was fun.

00:49:27.920 I did an hour and 10 minutes.

00:49:29.780 Just rah, rah, rah at them.

00:49:31.040 And some people, you know, it was fine.

00:49:32.620 I had three kids from Sri Lanka.

00:49:34.100 Thank God.

00:49:34.780 From Sri Lanka in the fourth row.

00:49:36.340 They were glorious.

00:49:37.640 They were Muslim, young Muslim kids.

00:49:39.960 And they, oh, they, there were four,

00:49:42.520 but one of them was living in London, a student here.

00:49:45.840 I'm like, what are you guys doing here?

00:49:47.100 My preview.

00:49:47.880 We want to see a comedy show.

00:49:48.920 And they were just, they were, oh, they were great.

00:49:51.580 But some of the, you know, other people,

00:49:53.200 white Londoners

00:49:54.320 we're not

00:49:54.740 I got a lot of tics

00:49:56.120 like

00:49:56.340 yeah

00:49:57.140 you know

00:49:57.700 yeah

00:49:58.180 yeah

00:49:59.540 and I asked the kid

00:50:02.060 was he a virgin

00:50:02.640 and they

00:50:03.840 the white people

00:50:04.800 they

00:50:05.940 and I said

00:50:08.460 and he said

00:50:09.140 no I

00:50:09.520 I fucked somebody

00:50:10.360 I said did you

00:50:11.260 and he said

00:50:11.560 not my girlfriend

00:50:12.200 I cheated on her

00:50:13.060 10 minutes later

00:50:17.520 we're talking about

00:50:18.580 well I didn't really

00:50:19.460 fuck her

00:50:19.860 I fingered her

00:50:20.500 you know

00:50:20.800 I couldn't really

00:50:21.240 stick it in

00:50:21.700 I'm not ready for that

00:50:22.500 but

00:50:22.680 I just

00:50:24.140 oh

00:50:24.820 and I'm on stage

00:50:25.900 singing

00:50:26.200 you know

00:50:26.780 gold dust

00:50:27.420 you know

00:50:27.840 making

00:50:28.900 all the

00:50:29.380 like this

00:50:32.100 but you know

00:50:33.280 but my

00:50:33.900 Tory friends

00:50:34.740 and their stance

00:50:36.560 on Brexit

00:50:36.940 is hilarious

00:50:37.300 because they're from

00:50:38.020 a very wealthy

00:50:39.000 part of Britain

00:50:39.760 the Chiltern line

00:50:40.840 I'll just tell you that

00:50:41.440 and their line

00:50:42.720 you know why

00:50:43.100 they like their

00:50:43.620 railroad better

00:50:44.480 because it's run

00:50:44.980 by Germans

00:50:45.440 which they prefer

00:50:46.280 that's what she told me

00:50:47.800 which I thought

00:50:48.080 was hilarious

00:50:48.380 so they

00:50:48.840 you know

00:50:49.560 they didn't take

00:50:50.520 any of it personally

00:50:52.160 None of it.

00:50:53.000 There's a lot of evidence, actually,

00:50:54.180 that conservatives are better able to understand

00:50:56.080 other points of view.

00:50:57.580 That's why they're in power right now.

00:50:59.520 Yeah.

00:51:00.440 I mean, that guy you have running that party.

00:51:02.780 That fucking idiot.

00:51:04.740 How he's not taken advantage of all of this yet.

00:51:08.420 Oh, fucking...

00:51:09.220 You're not a fan of Corbyn?

00:51:10.580 Well, I don't support Hamas, so no.

00:51:13.720 But he does.

00:51:15.920 I don't support Hamas.

00:51:17.480 I support the existence of Israel.

00:51:19.380 And I support Palestine.

00:51:20.780 Yeah.

00:51:21.020 but I don't support him as a political body ruling Palestine I think it's

00:51:24.260 probably a bad idea I'm not I don't support the government of Israel either

00:51:27.380 but if you go to Tel Aviv it's a lovely place and you feel very safe as a gay

00:51:31.640 man you know I don't feel harassed in any way

00:51:43.180 do you think you can get away with more on stage because you're gay because you're

00:51:47.460 Well, that's why I brought the G at LGBTIQ.

00:51:50.040 I think my G's been removed.

00:51:51.300 I really mean that.

00:51:51.820 I took her out in the show.

00:51:52.760 I don't think I can anymore.

00:51:54.040 Because I saw you do a bit at Comedy Unleashed,

00:51:56.700 this free speech comedy night,

00:51:57.780 about me too.

00:51:58.840 Yeah.

00:51:59.180 Right?

00:51:59.840 I don't see a straight man getting away with that.

00:52:02.860 It's actually me three.

00:52:03.920 It's my three fingers up a tranny's hole.

00:52:07.080 Hashtag me three.

00:52:07.860 So, yes.

00:52:08.920 These were raped.

00:52:11.840 I thought it was a guy.

00:52:12.960 And that's a true story, by the way.

00:52:14.640 Oh, God.

00:52:15.160 It seemed to me that you were also, you were making fun of Gwyneth Paltrow, and it was a very good bit.

00:52:20.500 My pussy's dry.

00:52:21.440 Right.

00:52:21.740 Why, Gwyneth?

00:52:22.400 Yeah.

00:52:22.900 Why is it like a flower arranger?

00:52:24.020 Why did it go dry?

00:52:25.080 Well, Harry Weinstein, all that.

00:52:28.840 And it's very funny, but I don't...

00:52:30.900 If you read her...

00:52:31.880 But I don't think...

00:52:32.620 If you read her...

00:52:33.100 Let me finish this question.

00:52:34.520 I don't think a straight man could get away with doing that bit on stage.

00:52:38.060 It's really the way you...

00:52:38.720 It's my perception.

00:52:39.780 You might be right.

00:52:41.420 Do you think I'm wrong?

00:52:42.280 No, I...

00:52:44.280 I'm wondering if I've seen anyone do it.

00:52:48.460 I haven't.

00:52:50.960 I hope I do.

00:52:52.520 I think the only way to show respect to that situation,

00:52:54.800 and I know that I agree with women.

00:52:58.300 Men can be incredibly harassing.

00:52:59.660 Absolutely.

00:53:00.260 And we do live in a rape culture.

00:53:01.480 If you think we don't, you're out of your mind.

00:53:03.220 Also, again, growing more than a single mother,

00:53:05.140 you know, my mom worked in a law firm at the front desk.

00:53:08.840 She wasn't a lawyer's secretary.

00:53:10.660 She wasn't a legal secretary.

00:53:11.620 She didn't have the education.

00:53:12.360 But she was the person that, and all, each lawyer had their own secretary, there were eight of them.

00:53:17.120 And they'd all, she said, I can't think of one secretary not fucking her lawyer, her boss right now.

00:53:21.680 My mom told me that, I was like 12.

00:53:24.140 I mean, I know that it's terrible.

00:53:28.580 That's why I try to make fun of it.

00:53:31.100 It can't just be something that people ignore in the press or in the media.

00:53:34.820 It can't just be something, it can't be in the media and they're not dealt with, you know.

00:53:39.780 So my backup story is if people come after me, I'd be like, again, you don't know.

00:53:45.560 When I came out of university in L.A., I was working for Dick Clark, who was a TV producer.

00:53:52.600 And we used to produce New Year's Rocking Eve in October.

00:53:55.160 And I was a PA, the weakest, the lowest of the low on the set.

00:53:57.960 And I had men try to push me behind bushes.

00:54:00.880 I had a guy jump on me in a car.

00:54:03.360 I got out from under him because I'm 6'2", but it was difficult.

00:54:06.500 so i i understand the abuse and harassment women women and gay men share a lot of things in common

00:54:12.220 that's what i try to draw in that also what happened that night was the telegraph critic

00:54:17.880 was there and she said i want to see some me too jokes she told that to andrew and she said i better

00:54:23.300 see some me too stuff so i told some me too jokes and she reviewed me badly and said my act was mean

00:54:27.800 but no yes i just i just yeah and i just written those me too jokes actually really was looking

00:54:34.320 forward to doing them and then when i wanted to do that story specifically said that at the bar

00:54:38.400 i better see some me too jokes no so she saw some and then she ignored them but the thing is

00:54:43.980 i was glad because i had a chance to try them in front of my audience willing to hear them

00:54:48.900 i don't know that for one i'm telling you i wouldn't do that me too stuff i don't think

00:54:53.220 that i'm there are some clubs i wouldn't do it definitely not do it in uh and i and i was i was

00:54:59.820 a coward about some of my stuff on saturday at the comedia maybe i should have gone all the way

00:55:03.940 maybe I should have done

00:55:04.580 five minutes on Gwyneth Paltrow

00:55:05.640 I do it in Edinburgh

00:55:06.600 I'll probably get

00:55:07.580 torn to shreds for it

00:55:08.360 I'll probably have people

00:55:09.020 walk out

00:55:09.460 and people won't come

00:55:10.380 and my husband

00:55:11.580 we will have that

00:55:12.320 conversation

00:55:12.720 my husband says

00:55:13.320 can you be a bit nicer

00:55:15.020 but I can't

00:55:19.620 and I think

00:55:20.800 you know

00:55:21.180 there's no point

00:55:23.140 us living in the world

00:55:25.360 and not talking about it

00:55:27.020 I can't believe

00:55:28.480 I have to say that

00:55:29.180 but

00:55:29.680 I think that

00:55:30.840 to answer your question

00:55:31.800 a straight guy

00:55:32.420 But if he were to, there's a way to do it, probably.

00:55:37.600 I'm trying to think of a comic, someone I think, someone like, who could really, although

00:55:43.160 trivializing it could be a problem, too, but someone who could lighten the load of it somehow.

00:55:48.420 I can think of two or three people that might, although they probably never would because

00:55:51.560 they don't need to.

00:55:52.580 That's the thing.

00:55:53.400 I feel the need to do it.

00:55:54.940 It's a vocation for me.

00:55:56.240 I can't ignore it.

00:55:58.040 I feel I have to do it.

00:55:59.380 I feel dirty after if I don't do it.

00:56:03.640 I feel like I've given in.

00:56:05.600 Like I've let down the team.

00:56:09.100 I do.

00:56:09.800 Which team?

00:56:10.980 The comedy team.

00:56:12.740 I think our job is to push them.

00:56:18.460 Is to push it.

00:56:20.160 Be assholes.

00:56:21.340 I mean, we're clowns.

00:56:22.660 We're annoying.

00:56:23.520 We're the annoying guy in the office or in the Shakespeare play.

00:56:25.360 We're that guy.

00:56:29.020 Or girl.

00:56:30.380 So, our job is to...

00:56:32.880 Here's the thing.

00:56:36.040 Playing all these clubs on the road this summer,

00:56:37.500 I realized a lot of comics want to be liked.

00:56:40.520 They won't be honest to like them.

00:56:41.660 I think that's so strange.

00:56:44.320 Why?

00:56:45.460 For one thing, you'll get nothing out of them liking.

00:56:47.420 You'll never see them again.

00:56:48.440 But what's there to like?

00:56:50.440 You're a stranger.

00:56:51.180 I think it's creepy.

00:56:52.460 It's needy to me.

00:56:53.700 When the comics start to say,

00:56:54.960 you know when you, an audience goes,

00:56:56.120 oh yeah, that's what goes.

00:56:57.020 I get embarrassed.

00:56:57.940 I don't want you to pretend like you know me.

00:57:01.680 I want to see your story.

00:57:03.020 What's your take on it?

00:57:05.600 And I don't necessarily want...

00:57:07.520 I want them to like the show and play along with what I'm talking about.

00:57:12.460 But us being friends, I've got enough friends.

00:57:15.240 The thought of you people liking me or even talking to you after the show exhausts me.

00:57:18.480 I don't mind doing the VIP shot where you do the photos and stuff,

00:57:20.840 but please don't clap at me on Twitter 18 times in a row

00:57:24.660 or like this guy stalking me from the comedian.

00:57:26.940 The show's over.

00:57:27.840 Lights are out.

00:57:28.800 The price of admission got you the set.

00:57:30.760 That's it.

00:57:32.200 I can't imagine why I'd be liked by those people.

00:57:34.300 It sounds exhausting to me.

00:57:36.180 Are you not liked enough in your life?

00:57:39.000 Probably not.

00:57:39.960 But I mean, is your biggest ambition to be on TV?

00:57:43.020 I just think cut your wrists.

00:57:46.220 I mean, TV's great.

00:57:47.320 It sells tickets.

00:57:48.300 Good for you.

00:57:48.840 I'm not saying it's a bad thing,

00:57:49.880 but I'm saying if you want to be liked or nice

00:57:52.660 so that people hire you to be on TV,

00:57:54.300 I just think you've got a missing cog up there somewhere.

00:57:57.720 Where you've forgotten along the way somehow that there's an art to what we're doing.

00:58:04.540 And it's important what we do.

00:58:06.260 And it's not about poo jokes or your mom.

00:58:09.700 It's about, again, do you have an onion in your hand?

00:58:14.020 And you strip back layer after layer until they see the nexus, the nucleus of something.

00:58:21.560 I don't know how people memorize their material.

00:58:23.780 I can't figure out what they're saying half the time.

00:58:25.700 I just

00:58:26.680 I mean

00:58:28.840 you know

00:58:29.740 the other night

00:58:30.160 as a comedian

00:58:30.640 there was a comic

00:58:31.180 I didn't mean to

00:58:32.500 but I just

00:58:32.900 and the security guy

00:58:35.260 next to me

00:58:35.580 said are you okay

00:58:36.080 I'm like yeah

00:58:36.720 I didn't mean to

00:58:37.260 let that noise out

00:58:38.180 but it was just

00:58:39.160 what I was feeling

00:58:39.940 was like

00:58:40.360 I just can't

00:58:41.000 fucking get on with it

00:58:42.220 I just

00:58:42.580 how do audiences

00:58:44.200 sit through it

00:58:45.100 I don't know

00:58:46.480 you know

00:58:47.220 it's why I don't

00:58:49.140 go to plays

00:58:49.600 because 10 minutes in

00:58:50.320 you know what the play's about

00:58:51.180 nowadays

00:58:51.980 the new plays

00:58:53.040 it's like

00:58:53.460 oh I see where we're going here

00:58:55.040 it's just like

00:58:55.460 I want to be changed.

00:58:57.620 I want to be alerted to something I didn't know before.

00:59:00.460 Or else I got a lot of shit to do.

00:59:01.880 I got boxes to take.

00:59:02.840 I got dry cleaning.

00:59:04.240 I got stuff.

00:59:05.360 So I want to bring something to the table.

00:59:08.740 But I want everyone to have a chair at the table.

00:59:13.660 That's what liberalism is.

00:59:15.260 We all give someone a seat, whether we agree with them or not.

00:59:19.820 And then we listen.

00:59:20.800 And we shut our fucking mouths for a minute.

00:59:25.160 if we're sitting in the audience and we listen.

00:59:28.040 I think that's the most reactionary but also liberal thing you can do

00:59:31.500 is to listen to someone you don't agree with

00:59:33.860 and let them explain to you what their point of view is.

00:59:37.740 Otherwise, we might as well just all wrap ourselves in Tupperware and be royals

00:59:40.660 and have no experience with the real world.

00:59:43.180 If you want to be those, I feel so bad for those kids

00:59:45.500 and those women who've married them.

00:59:46.940 If you want to live that life, because that's what that life is,

00:59:50.640 you want to turn yourself off from every human experience.

00:59:55.160 Then you do that

00:59:56.820 But that's I think a psychosis

00:59:58.820 So all right. Oh, that's a great way to end. Well, I mean the slit your wrist line. Yeah

01:00:04.660 Yeah, that would have been interestingly appropriate. That's also great. That shows how your mind works

01:00:12.920 Yeah, actually, I'm sorry I was late. No, it's all right

01:00:16.040 It's all right. Do you want to do the the famous final question concert in what yes

01:00:20.240 I do the question that we always ask people at the end is is there something that we ought to be talking?

01:00:25.160 about that we're not talking about we being society not just me and francis oh right well

01:00:31.640 if you asked me a few weeks ago i would have said kids in the cage in the u.s because they were

01:00:34.780 they were caging those kids oh right so i thought you said cave and that's where i thought you were

01:00:39.120 coming back to that no but there's so much stuff about trump and they were ignoring these uh people

01:00:42.880 talked about that quite a bit though yeah eventually but you know there's about a week

01:00:46.340 and a half we're no is that right i was like why and um and then uh oh that's been going on for

01:00:52.060 years actually but uh i think now it's probably it's probably the um the removal the the dismantling

01:01:03.780 of people's personal rights that the political system is your civil rights are being diminished

01:01:12.300 which ones well in the u.s it would it's things like abortion and you write your free speech

01:01:20.480 because Trump is trying to dismantle the free media.

01:01:23.140 But I think that's also,

01:01:24.320 I think those two things are going to be a problem here soon, too.

01:01:28.740 Yeah.

01:01:29.840 I worry about your courts and your judicial system.

01:01:33.640 I mean, I think, yeah,

01:01:35.620 I think people have become accustomed to living on breadcrumbs.

01:01:38.960 I think austerity has made people.

01:01:42.200 I think you should worry about the NHS.

01:01:44.440 I think the NHS is Britain's greatest hour.

01:01:48.440 That silly war and all that Churchill shit is bullshit.

01:01:50.120 I think you should be thanking Adolf Hitler, really,

01:01:53.260 instead of criticising him on the National Geographic channel.

01:01:56.940 Because without Hitler, you wouldn't have an NHS,

01:01:59.240 and that's the best thing Britain's ever produced, I think.

01:02:01.840 I'd worry about that.

01:02:03.100 But it doesn't seem anyone's...

01:02:04.960 I mean, people say they are, but are they worried about it?

01:02:09.540 There you go. Get worried about it.

01:02:12.960 Unless you've lived in a country with no health care,

01:02:14.780 you don't know what it's like.

01:02:15.620 I have lived in a country with no health care.

01:02:17.280 Yeah, it's terrifying.

01:02:19.340 It's absolutely terrible to watch your mother die

01:02:22.140 with a stack of bills on her desk

01:02:23.440 and not be able to do anything about it.

01:02:26.180 So, yeah.

01:02:29.380 God, that's so depressing.

01:02:30.760 I know.

01:02:31.940 You're supposed to be a comedian, Scott.

01:02:33.300 Jesus.

01:02:34.380 For God's sake.

01:02:35.500 My mother always said she was the funniest one.

01:02:36.940 All right, well,

01:02:37.640 if you haven't been utterly depressed by this whole episode,

01:02:41.500 do subscribe.

01:02:42.380 Comedy is great, though.

01:02:43.320 I really think that this is,

01:02:44.980 you know, you could talk about these things in a comedy realm

01:02:47.260 because it's only a place.

01:02:48.580 Yeah.

01:02:48.660 Well, you know what, cutting into our final bit, but actually that's why I got into comedy.

01:02:54.440 I remember watching people like George Carlin and Bill Hicks really talk about stuff.

01:02:58.640 And then I started doing comedy like three years ago, whatever it was.

01:03:02.580 And I started going to comedy clubs.

01:03:05.520 And I very quickly realized that's not what comedy is anymore.

01:03:08.840 But it really depends.

01:03:09.980 And I tried to do a little bit of that.

01:03:11.420 But I just find that, like you said, the audiences have gradually been trained to,

01:03:16.020 here's the tree, here's the tree, here's the tree, this is the tree, you know?

01:03:18.660 I might as suggest if you tour, tour with an alternative comic.

01:03:21.900 Because it will tune the audience's ear.

01:03:24.220 So that by the time you come out on stage,

01:03:25.680 they'll be much more open to different subject matter.

01:03:28.520 That's a trick I learned early on here.

01:03:30.540 Because this isn't new.

01:03:32.160 This limited expanse on audience.

01:03:37.560 It's your job to pry them open a bit.

01:03:41.780 And there's tricks you can use.

01:03:43.300 And one is, you know, have a black female comic open for you.

01:03:47.260 I mean there are loads of good ones

01:03:50.000 get a good

01:03:50.680 get a good

01:03:51.140 you know

01:03:51.640 get a great female

01:03:53.360 and if she's black

01:03:54.580 that's great

01:03:55.340 because then the audience

01:03:56.260 would be like

01:03:56.620 wait a woman

01:03:57.280 when I had

01:03:58.180 a woman open for me

01:03:59.460 they would announce her name

01:04:00.600 over the PA

01:04:01.540 and the audience would boo

01:04:02.460 her name being announced

01:04:03.420 because it was a girl

01:04:05.080 and then she would do great

01:04:06.620 and then they'd be like

01:04:07.600 oh okay

01:04:08.100 yeah

01:04:08.800 so do that

01:04:10.340 alright

01:04:11.320 and on that note

01:04:13.320 but it's your job

01:04:14.020 to train them too

01:04:14.860 it is

01:04:15.440 that is part of your job

01:04:16.720 but I actually

01:04:18.340 you know one of the biggest comments

01:04:19.720 when I do my set

01:04:20.960 and I talk about politics a lot

01:04:22.300 and Russia

01:04:22.860 and Russian politics

01:04:23.780 and all that

01:04:24.240 one of the most rewarding comments

01:04:26.220 for me that I sometimes get

01:04:27.420 is

01:04:27.640 oh someone's actually

01:04:28.980 talking about real stuff

01:04:30.060 and it's not

01:04:32.480 every gig necessarily

01:04:34.000 that might happen

01:04:34.880 but when I get that

01:04:36.020 I'm like okay

01:04:36.480 there's actually an audience

01:04:37.540 out there

01:04:38.020 that's interested

01:04:38.660 in more than poo jokes

01:04:40.100 you know what I mean

01:04:40.640 yes

01:04:41.040 there is

01:04:42.260 and again

01:04:43.540 I might suggest

01:04:44.540 that you spend more time

01:04:45.740 amongst the alternative

01:04:46.640 comedy scene. You will see comics working on that subject matter. I started in the black comedy scene

01:04:52.340 in San Francisco because I couldn't find any clubs that had booked me, and black audiences were

01:04:56.180 fantastic to me. They were very all-embracing. I didn't have to be closeted around them. They

01:05:00.260 didn't care about any of that. They didn't care about my politics either or where I came from,

01:05:03.980 and the comics I worked with were incredibly supportive because at the time, you know,

01:05:11.200 Being queer was such a difficulty in 1988, 89, 90.

01:05:15.200 All my friends were dead.

01:05:16.560 You bring that up in front of a black audience,

01:05:17.980 and they get what you're talking about.

01:05:20.240 Middle-class white people in San Francisco

01:05:21.360 had no idea what I was discussing,

01:05:22.740 and it was right down the road from them.

01:05:24.620 So you can probably find...

01:05:27.720 I found a group that you need a bit of support to

01:05:32.700 when you first start out.

01:05:33.740 I know that it's hard for new comics

01:05:35.280 because they want to get work.

01:05:38.060 And they don't want to put...

01:05:38.660 You know, it's not really...

01:05:39.380 Even the audience they're so worried about,

01:05:40.360 but the promoters and producers and the club owners there's only so much you can push them

01:05:44.000 before you get banned i know that because i i've had an experience with some of them recently

01:05:48.320 these young people i think are fucking brilliant what were you playing oh i i've been banned from

01:05:52.540 two clubs and one club called my employer and stuff and alerted them about how my politics

01:05:57.580 were my comedy set and i'm like so i know you have to be you know you're powerless when you're new

01:06:03.200 although you have your youth on your side you should utilize that as much as possible

01:06:06.900 so

01:06:07.940 just find a supportive

01:06:10.260 you know

01:06:11.300 or create it

01:06:12.100 you know

01:06:13.020 create a club

01:06:13.620 that's what Izzard did

01:06:16.980 yeah

01:06:17.620 you know

01:06:18.240 he started a club

01:06:19.360 so

01:06:20.720 awesome

01:06:22.080 well this

01:06:22.600 five minutes of free advice

01:06:23.900 for me

01:06:24.160 but you can imagine

01:06:25.480 what it would have been

01:06:25.820 for someone like Eddie

01:06:26.920 when he started

01:06:27.480 what an anomaly

01:06:28.820 right

01:06:29.220 where would he perform

01:06:30.060 so of course he started

01:06:30.760 or Julian

01:06:31.460 yeah

01:06:31.960 you know Clary

01:06:33.080 had to have a bodyguard

01:06:33.920 and shit

01:06:34.280 because you know

01:06:35.660 it was tough

01:06:36.180 all right if you're still with us subscribe to us and uh tick the little bell next to the

01:06:43.460 subscribe button then you'll actually get a notification of our new videos uh follow us

01:06:47.180 on twitter at triggerpod scott before we let you go uh you you hate people clapping you on twitter

01:06:52.400 but if people want to follow you on twitter yeah it's just my name scott capuro at scott capuro

01:06:56.280 yeah yeah and is there anything else uh we need to plug this probably will go out after erinburgh

01:07:01.120 No, no.

01:07:02.360 I'll be in California

01:07:03.440 October.

01:07:04.700 We have fans everywhere.

01:07:06.080 All right.

01:07:06.780 All those states

01:07:07.480 are on my website.

01:07:08.400 All right.

01:07:08.740 Perfect.

01:07:09.180 Go to Scott's website.

01:07:10.260 Check him out.

01:07:10.920 He's a fantastic comedian.

01:07:12.100 But talk about

01:07:12.580 a touchy bunch of cunts.

01:07:13.900 California.

01:07:17.300 See you there.

01:07:18.280 Very, very funny guy.

01:07:19.540 I'm on Twitter

01:07:20.060 at Constantine Kissin.

01:07:21.140 Francis.

01:07:21.760 I'm on Twitter

01:07:22.280 at Failing Human.

01:07:24.740 Absolutely appropriate.

01:07:26.040 And there we are.

01:07:26.980 We'll see you next week.

01:07:27.660 Thank you.

01:07:30.360 We'll be right back.

TRIGGERnometry - August 06, 2018

Scott Capurro on Comedy, Offence and Politics in 2018

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