Comedy critics are supposed to be able to tell who is good and who is bad. But sometimes some acts simply defy the easy good v bad equation. When I saw Kelly Kingham at the New Act of the Year final in 2014 I was immediately struck by his oddness. He is not part of the Neil Hamburger anti-comedy brigade but neither is he a conventional jokesmith. Was he a slick comedian pretending to be nervy and neurotic, an old school camp comic having one last crack at fame or was he a raw newbie doing his best? Even his age was unknowable. From the back of the stalls he could have been anything from thirty to fifty. What I could see, however, was that Kingham has funny bones. He is one of those performers who you can’t stop watching. So all I can do here is recommend you see his free show and make up your own minds. His intriguing answers to our questions below might shed some light on whether he is your kind of thing.
Kelly Kingham is at Just The Tonic at the Caves, details here.
1. What is the last thing you do before you go onstage (apart from check your flies, check for spinach between teeth and check your knickers aren't sticking out of your skirt)? I remind myself that fear is an illusion born of superstition and ignorance and then I pull my pickle three times for luck.
2. What irritates you? When other comedians pull my pickle for luck and then do better than me.
3. What is the most dangerous thing you have ever done? I once rode a dragon through the flaming arches of Hell whilst pursued by Satan on a surfboard made of bones.
4. What is the most stupid thing you have ever done? Buying the ‘special’ mushrooms from that man in Camden has to be up there (see previous question for details).
5. What has surprised you the most during your career in comedy?
That I’m seldom the best judge of how well a gig has gone. I have to remember I can’t be the performer and the audience; I just have to do my job and trust them to do theirs. And some people don’t laugh that much; it’s nothing personal (unless it is).
Interview continues here.
