Lloyd Langford is one of those comedians who could probably be a lot more famous if he could just be bothered to engage with the modern world. He doesn't seem to do much on social media, but get him onstage and he will obliterate you with funny lines. Over the years the offbeat Welshman has cropped up on TV shows including QI and Celebrity Mastermind (which he won), but he really should crop up more. He comes to Edinburgh on a bit of a roll. An early version of his latest show Why The Big Face? won the Best Show Award at the 2018 Leicester Comedy Festival. Warning: may contain jokes about balconies, terror, acid and robins (his words, not mine)..
Lloyd Langford: Why The Big Face? is at the Banshee Labyrinth from August 4 - 26. Info 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 did a gig once in the Rose Theatre in Kingston and they didn’t show me the way from the dressing room to the stage. And so when I heard on the relay that I was about to be introduced, I didn’t know where to go, panicked, picked a random door and ended up on the balcony. I had to shout down to the audience to be rescued, like a stubbly Rapunzel. So now I always check I know how to get on to the stage.
2. What irritates you?
Loads of stuff. Littering, adults riding bicycles on the pavement, commercial radio, graffiti, cosmetic plastic surgery, people who clip or varnish their nails on public transport, walking behind a prolific vapist, rail replacement buses, Kent.
3. What is the most dangerous thing you have ever done?
I once had my photo taken next to a firework I’d just lit. It was New Year’s Eve and I was drunk on possibility. I was also drunk on alcohol.
4. What is the most stupid thing you have ever done?
In comedy? Going to Plymouth to do an open spot for £20. Other stupid things I have done include wearing a banana costume for the entirety of an Edinburgh show and not once mentioning it, going on holiday with someone on our second date and that aforementioned photograph with the firework. There are many, many other stupid things.
5. What has surprised you the most during your career in comedy?
The baffling yet continued success of [insert the name of a comic you don’t like here]
Interview continues here.
