Joey Page is a comedy one-off, a mix of dandy, absurdist and dream-weaver. Noel Fielding once said "he's a fine comedian with a head like a fantasy hand grenade" and I'm not sure if I could put it better. He is doing his latest show Afterlife (no relation to Ricky Gervais) at 2Northdown from Saturday, 30th March to Friday, 5th April (Except 3rd) at 7pm. Buy tickets here.
1. What is the last thing you do before you go onstage (apart from check your flies and/or check your knickers aren't sticking out of your skirt and check for spinach between your teeth)?
I normally just have a moment where I widen my eyes as much as I can for some unknown reason I guess it makes me feel silly, That and I have to empty my pockets- so if you were floating around backstage you could probably steal my keys.
2. What irritates you?
Adults on push scooters , that and the startling lack of working class people in the media, on our screens and in Westminster
3. What is the most dangerous thing you have ever done?
After I finished doing festivals in Australia my wife and I went to Borneo and stayed in a hut on stilts in the middle of the sea - about half an hour away from land by speedboat and its where lots of gullible tourists get kidnapped by pirates and we didn't find that out until we arrived - so every time we heard speedboats going past in the dead of night I was braced for capture.
4. What is the most stupid thing you have ever done?
Once at a free drinks party on Halloween I befriended a millionaire's son and ended up back on his balcony somewhere in Posho west London and in my drunken state we got into an argument because he used the classic line "I don't think you're a proper a comedian and you haven't said anything funny in the time you have been here" I said he wasn't a proper millionaire - I don't really remember what happened but apparently I may have kicked his balcony and cracked the glass - all dressed as a Ghoul. I had to return the next day as my girlfriend left her phone ID and bank card there. The guy was still partying and made me do a shot with him. I could quite easily have been thrown over the balcony, he was quite sinister.
5. What has surprised you the most during your career in comedy?
How quickly it can all change, just when you think the game is up a brand new amazing thing will crop up or just when you have cracked it, it rears up and bites you. Its a bit like trying to master a craft in the middle of the sea.
Interview continues here.
