Want to know how to be attractive to women using fruit? How to explain menstruation to a 12 year old? What your last words should be? How to top any ex you’ve ever had to compete with? It’s all here at Luke McGibbon’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe show. Sort of.
“I get sick of hearing cookie-cutter advice like ‘you think too much’ and ‘you care too much about what other people think’ and ‘stop trying to kiss me, I’m trying to drive this bus.’ I think people give rubbish advice like this because they don’t know how to be when someone tells them they’re hurting. But at the same time I do care too much about what other people think, and this can lead to funny things. There’s a bit there on my past work as a counsellor as well – I used to be in Childline.”
Why did you choose to perform as part of Laughing Horse?
“My friends all used it last year and it seemed to really work for them and I am not able to make decisions for myself.”
Why did you get into performing comedy and how did you get started?
“I was never really a class clown or that sort of stereotype, but I wanted to do it as a bucket list thing. And then when I had a shitty job in a call centre, writing was definitely an escape.”
Tell us your best, worst experiences as a comedian.
“My best experience was performing in a bar I had been working at for several years and was working at the time, the Belfast Empire. At the end of my set I ripped open my jacket to reveal my uniform on underneath, and leapt offstage to get back to work at the bar. I liked that, it was brilliant fun. I think it reminded the audience that most comedians are simply normal people, just louder.
“Worst experience was being put on a bar in Derry where none of the punters actually knew there was a comedy gig on. There wasn’t a stage, pretty much just a raised table, and they turned off the football to put us on. It was more like a gong show, to be honest. I lasted two minutes. The headliner lasted about 30 seconds. Afterwards a helpful punter who was certain that he knew what was funny decided to give us all pointers and tips on the sets that he hadn’t heard us perform. Phew-wee”
If you were curating a stand up show for television, who would be your guests?
“Dylan Moran is my hero. He is just brilliant. He gives the impression that it’s entirely off the cuff. Simon Amstell is great in that he’s found subjects for stand up that normally wouldn’t be approached because they are seen as “downer” like loneliness, lack of direction, the feeling of something being wrong with your life, and managed to talk about them in a style that is as honest and congruent as it is funny. Rufus Hound, while talking about ordinary subject matter, manages to do it in a very intelligent, polished way. I think Greg Davies is brill, firing cheeseballs at a dog really surprised me by being one of my favourite DVDs. I love how much fun you can tell he’s having. Ross Noble Comperes. That’d be a weird as fuck night, wouldn’t it?”
