| Description | Ross Noble interviewed by Oliver Double at the Orchard Theatre, Dartford, 24th June 2004. This interview was conducted by Double for his book 'Getting the Joke: The Inner Workings of Stand-Up Comedy' (2005)
[00:19] Oliver double opens by asking about how the comedian defines themselves in terms of the audience, “you’re not like me” like Bill Hicks, “we all have the same childhood” like Tom O’Connor [00:46] Ross Noble [RN] answers this by saying that on one hand he has never had a normal existence because he never had a job and has always done stand-up, but on the other hand does relate to the audience through wandering around city centres and going into a Little Chef.
[04:04] Discussion about the difference between an antagonistic interaction with the audience and a more positive one. [08:00] Discussion about the seamlessness and improvisational style of performing prepared scripted material
[11:12] Oliver Double asks about the process of generating material, the physicality, going from one show [Real Time Australia] to the next [12:22] RN talks about Robin Williams on five different chat shows giving the same answers on a day of press junkets, [13:00] Ross Noble discusses where his ideas come from [14:03] making notes
[15:20] physical stage presence, style and appearance, how a comedian’s look adds to the comedy [17:14] Billy Connolly’s hair and voice being part of why people like him [18:01] Harry Hill’s mad professor look [18:47] Eddie Izzard’s glam look [19:42] the indie look of Noel Fielding, Stewart Lee had a Morrissey quiff, Sean Hughes looks like he could be in a 1990s band.
[20:51] RN talks about a Christmas gig he did with Rhona [Cameron] in the corner of a large theatre
[24:57] RN discusses how he goes from one tour to the next, talking about a tour he did in Edinburgh, The West End, Australia and New Zealand.
[27:15] Radio series, [27:37] South Africa concert [30:38] Rn talks about a guy from a township in Johannesburg called David Cow [30:54] no stand-up in apartheid era South Africa, but everyone in the townships had heard or owned a copy of Eddie Murphy’s Raw [32:00] Nelson Mandela was an Eddie Murphy fan. [32:21] Eddie Murphy hasn’t been on stage in 18 years, RN talks about an Oprah Winfrey interview with Eddie Murphy. Mike Myers and Cameron Diaz went to the Second City improv-club in Chicago.
[34:00] Discussion about why stand-up is so accessible and why theatre is more niche [35:40] Ross Noble and Oliver Double discuss The Lion King Musical, directed by Julie Taymor, and how it is commercial and has artistic integrity.
[42:11] Live at the Apollo with Jack Dee a new era of TV stand-up, [42:54] guests like Joan Rivers, Ardal O’ Hanlon, Jo Brand, Omid Djalili. [43:33] HBO specials in America
[44:01] Interview ends
|