• What do your parents think of your job?        

My parents were a bit resistant at first, and I didn’t actually tell them I had started doing comedy until the first time I took a compilation show to the Fringe. I think as I started to obtain pieces of work they could relate to and that felt significant to them - like working as a comedy writer for the Labour Party General Election Campaign, and getting booked for TV - they became much more happy about it. They’re very supportive now to be fair; in fact my mum’s bringing the family dog up to Edinburgh for several days this year, so I can have him with me whilst I flyer for my Fringe show. I’m hoping having a friendly golden retriever with me as co-flyerer will entice people to stop and chat and consider my show as one to see.  

• What’s the worst thing about being a comedian?

Including the travel, admin, writing, social media etc. comedy eats up more hours per week than a full time job. And then with the cost of living skyrocketing and the difficulty of getting a mortgage if you’re self-employed, more comics still need to have PAYE day jobs even once they’re reasonably established. It’s quite hard to see friends or date if you’re gigging most evenings and weekends, and it's difficult to book time off for holidays, as some vital gig or other pressing piece of comedy work could come in at any time. I haven’t thought of a funny ending to this answer; in fact I’ve just made myself a bit sad writing it. 

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

I think I’m an underrated, under-watched comedian. But so does probably every comedian in the world (i.e. every comic thinks this of themselves, rather than thinking that of me specifically). In a wider sense, I always used to feel - to paraphrase Time by Pink Floyd - like I’d missed the starting gun of life; I often couldn’t believe how old I felt and how little I thought I had to show for it. Whereas I now feel the reverse for having pursued comedy, it’s sort of helped me ‘catch up’. I occasionally still wonder if I should have done things differently, but overall I feel much better about how I’ve used the time that’s been given to me.

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

I’ve been doing this a few years now, and earn just over my rent and utility bills every month from comedy. So I’d be fully self-sufficient from comedy if I didn’t want to eat food, ever do anything fun or get a mortgage, or pay for the ever-increasing raft of Holland & Barrett magic beans which help mask the medical problems that are starting to appear in the old age of my late 20s. I still have a part time office job to supplement my income; but actually feel like that helps quite a lot with comedy, in terms of meaning that you can write material that’s more relatable to ordinary people. 

I would nonetheless like to earn considerably more, and I rather suspect that’s the case for anyone answering this Q&A. You’d have to be one hell of a contrarian comic to profess a desire to earn less from comedy.

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

I think that luck is significant in this regard. Factors like knowing someone famous or having an extensive social media following can have a big impact; but comedy does at least seem more meritocratic than some other sectors I’ve worked in. 

One lucky break I had was being asked to be on the return of the show Shipwrecked a few years ago - but that didn’t quite go as planned (for the full details of that come and see my Edinburgh show). Also I suppose the microwave not exploding when I was using it to heat up all that metal cutlery as a kid probably has to go down as a series of lucky breaks. 

• 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?

I used to be the latter when I first started comedy. I was in my early 20s, and in hindsight still a bit angsty; I recall a lot of listening to Radiohead and bemoaning the state of the world etc. etc. 

Whereas now I’ve become much more the former as I’ve gained gigging experience and become healthier generally. Except I don’t think I’ve played golf on a full size course, only ever on various mini and crazy courses respectively.

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

In terms of a name that jumps to mind, the author Terry Pratchett was incredibly influential for me when I was growing up; the sense of humour in his writing helped inform my own, but I also felt there were huge benefits to reading his work in terms of the development of my wider character. Having been raised religious (in both household and school), and not having questioned the whole ‘give us money, and you’ll go to heaven’ premise until relatively late in my upbringing, I think reading the recurrent satire and criticism of religion in his writing - and being able to access a differing view in this regard - was vital for me. I feel like the negative mental health effects of a religious upbringing aren’t scrutinised enough, and his writing helped change my mindset in a way that I’ve found really beneficial and conducive to greater quality of life. 

• 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).

I think I’m somewhere in the middle. I like them tidy but they often aren’t. I’ve seen an inordinate number of people cite Marie Kondo’s show on Netflix, and I’ve resolved to watch it at some point soon to try and get me hyped for tidy drawers (I also can’t help but feel that’s a remarkable occurrence of nominative determinism on her part). 

Sachin Kumarendran's show ‘Deceit’ is at Just The Tonic @ The Caves – Out Of The Box at 6.00pm from 3rd – 27th August (not 14th). For tickets go to www.edfringe.com

Picture: Steve Ullathorne

Sponsored post