What do your parents think of your job? 

Thankfully, my parents think what I do is pretty cool. They never really had an issue with me wanting to get into show business. You could say I’m lucky in that way, depending on how you look at it. Some might resent their parents for not pushing them into a more stable or lucrative career path. Though, nobody in my family ever graduated college, so I don’t think my formal education was ever such a priority for them. Maybe it should have been? I am conflicted about all this. I could go on about it but I’ll save the rest for therapy. 

What’s the worst thing about being a comedian?

I’ll make this one very specific to me, and I’ll state it plainly at first before elaborating: my brain. Ironic, because my brain is also the most important part of my being a comedian because it is everything, including my arbiter of my joke writing and story telling, but my brain is also an evil little bugger becuase it compares itself to every other comedian’s brain who has any number of things I want. I am full of self-doubt and terror and imposter syndome. It’s hell in here (my skull). This, to me, is the very worst part about being a comedian. Everything else is rainbows and lollipops…maybe I should call my therapist. 

I think you are very good at what you do (that’s why I’m asking these questions). What do you think of you? 

Oh my, well…We can refer to the above tirade to answer this question, but let’s elaborate a bit. First of all, thank you for saying that! I know I am the only person you have said that to this year, and I am flattered to say the least. 

I think I’m funny, talented, and I think I’m capable of a lot of many, many things if I really commit and don’t ever give up. That said, there exists another side of me that thinks the opposite of everything I just said, and, depending on the day, one of the two “Nicks” or “Pupos” will occupy my everything and either be a benefit or detriment to my own psychological health. These questions are getting pretty heavy, to be perfectly honest (or is it the answers that are heavy…?) I could go on for at least 200 years about this one, but I’m gonna call it quits here before someone has me committed. 

How much do you earn and how much would you like to earn?

In comedy? $12 a year and 40 free drink tickets. I would like to make $50,000,000 a year, and a couple extra drink tickets. 

How important is luck in terms of career success – have you had lucky breaks? 

I have had lucky breaks yes. They do happen. A lot of people say that luck is when opportunity meets preparation, and that can be…true. But also sometimes you’re not prepared at when an opportunity presents itself but you take a chance anyway and it changes your career, even though you had no real idea what the hell you were doing the entire time. I booked my first TV show called Halt and Catch Fire when I was 25 years old, and I had never done so much as a self-tape for anything ever. All I had were a few years of Orlando, Florida acting classes and 5 years of stand-up comedy under my belt, and suddenly I was on 17 episodes of a network television show. I was not prepared, and this was simply luck of the draw. Luck is certainly real, if you ask me. That said, it’s far more important to just work your ass off and be humble and kind. Okay bye. 

Alan Davies has said that comedians fall into two categories - golfers and self-harmers. The former just get on with life, the latter are tortured artists. Which are you – or do you think you fit into third category? 

With all due respect to Mr. Davies—who is not a household name here in the States—but I don’t trust anyone who splits a group of people into “two categories.” The perpetrators of this hackneyed sorting are trying to either 1. make a clever joke or 2. convince people that they’ve got life all figured out. I, for one, would never participate in such derision.

Anway, the golfing analogy is to say, what? The comedian plays the “game” of this business and takes everything in stride and plays by the rules no matter how many mistakes they make, they just get on with the game even if they knocked the ball into the sand or whatever? Sure. Those types of comedians certainly exist, and bless their hearts. 

The self-harmers/tortured artists? Those comedians usually come from traumatic pasts, they can’t get out of their own way, and often times their story ends in either an unfortunate way - like they give up in the pursuit and move back home and get a “normal job” or in a very tragic way - like they continue the pursuit of comedy and bum out everybody they ever come into contact with. You know what? I think Alan was kinda right. Smart guy. 

I fall somewhere in the middle. I am my own arch nemesis, but I also understand that the only way to keep going in this business is to delude yourself into thinking that, at some point, something with happen for you and you’ll have a great career, even if it’s just to spite the self-loathing chatter blaring in the back of your mind. If I’m a golfer, I’m the guy on the course who can’t stop talking about how he wishes he’d started golfing when he 12 years-old, because imagine how good my swing would be 22 years later. 

Who is your favourite person ever and why – not including family or friends or other comedians?

Considering you’ve weeded out every person I care about, I’m going to reach far into the depths of my psyche and say Jiro Ono, who was the subject and star of the hit documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi. I think he’s one of the most interesting people I’ve ever observed in my life. He left home at the age of 9 to become an apprentice for a sushi chef. That’s unbelievable. Nobody reading this has ever met someone in their life who is that hardworking. Could you imagine having an apprentice that is 9? You’re teaching the little lad how to use a chef’s knife to cut through the flesh of the most high quality fish in the world? The guy was born to sushi. I love Jiro. I hope to one day try some his his sushi. Pupo Dreams of Jiro. Love you.

Do you keep your drawers tidy and if not why not? (please think long and hard about this question, it's to settle an argument with my girlfriend. The future of our relationship could depend on your response).

These questions have been fun. I’ve never met you, but I like you. 

My drawers are somewhere in the middle. I like for my socks and underwear to be in the top drawer, t-shirts and workout clothes to be in the middle, and pants and shorts on the bottom drawer. In a perfect world, everything would be precisely organized with little bins and labels. I would love that, truly. I have ADHD and it makes me really happy to have everything in it’s right place. Sadly, this level of organization in but a dream. I am not a slob, but I’m no Marie Kondo, by any means. I don’t know what category you or your girlfriend fall into here, but I think that if you two meet in the middle and try the Pupo Method, it may be the perfect release to your relationship tension. Half-tidy. Be half-tidy. Best of luck to you and yours.

Nick Pupo’s ‘Addicted’ is at the Just the Tonic at the Bottle Room at 6pm from 3rd- 27th August (not 14th). For tickets go to www.edfringe.com