From the jungle to sold out shows at Hammersmith Apollo, Joel Dommett has fast become a favourite as one of the most energetic and exciting comedians in the UK. He sat down with NMP Live to discuss his start in comedy and why he loves corporate events so much.
Watch the full interview or read the transcript below.
In conversation with Joel Dommett
What were your early days of comedy like?
When I first started, I loved comedy, I still do. I never even dreamed that it would be a job. It’s mad now to even think about it; I used to gig all the time, constantly. I became known as the person who was obsessed with gigging. I’d do three a night and get on my little bicycle and go from gig to gig to gig to gig. My thought was that if one goes badly then one of the other ones would go well.
I was consumed with trying to learn as much as possible in such a short space of time. I read Jimmy Carr's book and I think he said he did 300 gigs in his first year which is insane, so I was hell bent on trying to do more than 300 gigs. I did 311 in the end and that was my benchmark and so one day, because of that, I hope to be as rich as Jimmy Carr!
Did you enjoy your time on I'm a Celebrity?
It was incredible actually. It’s mad, when you're in there you have no idea what people think of you so the only thing that you can go on is that you're staying in there. It was really mad; even when I came out I had no real idea of how big it was.
It was a really big series, it did really well and everyone really liked it because it was the year where Brexit happened and Donald Trump had just got into office. Literally, the week before he’d been voted in, so I think everyone was looking for some sort of release from that.
It was a really nice series where everyone really got on and the country really loved it because we didn't argue.
It was great and then I got out and I remember everyone was telling me that it was good, and that I came second, and everyone really liked and it was fine. And I remember talking to my agent on the phone and I said ‘oh it's cool; it’s good that it's done well.’ Then he said ‘just to let you know, I hope it’s ok, but while you were in there we put a date on at Hammersmith Apollo and it's sold out.’ I was just like ‘oh cool I think my life is going to change a bit!’
What's your style of comedy?
I’d say I’m a strange hybrid comedian. I’m very conversational, upbeat and anecdotal. I feel like that's what someone would say from The Guardian, who am I kidding, what someone would say from Heat magazine! An upbeat, anecdotal, smiley man who tells lots of tales from his childhood and is fairly non-offensive.
I have a strange ability to be able to insult somebody whilst smiling and they think I've complimented them; it's quite a talent. I can tell someone they've got a really s*** shirt on and they go ‘oh thanks!’
Did you enjoy writing your book?
I really did, because it was a discipline that I never knew I had; it completely changed my work ethic forever. I never went to University so it was the thing that people probably experience in that realm of getting a dissertation done.
Waking up every morning and writing all day and finding a way of keeping yourself inspired and keeping yourself going throughout that day. I’d just do that for six months, nine months really. It was really hard, the hardest thing I think I've ever done but I loved it, I really loved it.
With stand-up you have the memories of a gig and you can sometimes have a DVD or a Netflix special where you go ‘oh that's what I achieved.’ But having a physical thing with pages that you can go through, it’s so cool and also you just give them out as Christmas presents for the rest of your life!
Does being recognisable help audiences warm to you?
With all audiences in general, I think when you're recognisable you just get an extra tiny grace period. English audiences still won't humour you for long; if you're not delivering the goods they won't laugh at you, you just get an extra little bit.
I always think when you’re new you get about 15 seconds to show some confidence and someone who's off the telly, you probably get a minute. That brutality is what makes our business so special.
With corporate audiences it's the same, they give you a bit of leeway up top but if you're not delivering the goods then they won't go with you.
I love corporate gigs and I know some comedians find them difficult but I find that same exhilaration that you used to get when you did your open mic gigs.
You have no idea because with comedy rooms, comedy clubs you can sense how it's going to be; you know what sort of bunch they’re going to be. You know what sort of set you are going to do. But with corporate gigs, genuinely, you can think you know what it’s going to be like but as soon as you stand on stage and you start talking you’re like ‘oh they are this sort of bunch.’
It's so different and it really keeps you on your toes, I really love them. I think they’re really fun and I love presenting awards, I think it’s genuinely so fun. I love laughing at things that I have absolutely no idea about.
What is the biggest challenge with corporate bookings?
I think the challenge is to laugh at what they do without belittling it. I think that's a really important line to walk because it's such an important night for them. It’s a really great, cool thing to award people Franchise of the Year or Manager of the Year.
It can sometimes seem like it's easy to laugh and be like ha ha you've got Assistant Manager of the Year at a chain in Warrington or something like that but it's so big for them and it’s great and I think it’s walking that line.
That’s why it works so well to talk to the slightly higher up the chain people because if you bring them down a notch it’s much better for the whole room. We can all laugh in that common ground if we talk to the CEO.
They’re a real fun challenge and I really relish that. I also really enjoy learning about businesses because that’s something I've never done; I’ve never worked in an office.
I did one for Superdrug last week and it was a whole day event. I went on in the morning and did some stand up before it started. And then there was a speaker for an hour, the Managing Director who did a whole speech about the year coming up and the year that’s happened and what's going on. Then another guy comes on, the CEO, and he talks about blah blah blah and it’s genuinely interesting to learn about all this stuff.
They really enjoyed it when I came back on and talked about the stuff that the guy had said from the perspective of someone who has absolutely no idea what he was talking about! They really liked that. I think it’s really fun to listen to the insides and outs of Superdrug!
Can you gain the same reactions from corporate events as your own tour?
Yes, I think with a corporate bunch, you never know what you’re going to get; you have no idea. Sometimes you go on and you think ‘oh this is great and it's really fun.’ I think it's almost more rewarding that way because when it is fun, it’s so fun. If it’s set up right, I think there's so much scope for having so much fun at corporate events.
I think set up is really important but also what's interesting about corporate gigs is that you’re not the only thing that they have to cater for.
You go on for a tour show and it's all about you and what you're doing, that is it. Whereas at corporate events, sometimes you’ve got awards to cater for, you've got them to literally cater for; you've got dancing to cater for. So sometimes you have to compromise with big round tables and dance floors.
That's what makes corporate gigs harder than a theatre gig because you are not given the beauty of having 2000 people looking straight at you in seats that force you to look straight ahead. You have to deal with half of the room going like this (leaning) across their chairs and that takes a lot to do that for fifteen minutes. I couldn’t do that for fifteen minutes; I really applaud people who can turn around and look at me for fifteen minutes that way!
How do you choose material for a corporate set?
Through the years I’ve figured out what the corporate set is and it’s the demographic of the audience. If it’s a younger corporate, I’ll do a different set to if it’s an older bunch. When it's a lot more men I’ll do a certain set compared to when it's a 50/50 bunch and it's figuring out the right set.
Sometimes people want it to to be a little bit blue; some people want it to not be and that’s completely fine. The longer you do it the more stuff you have to sift through. There’s more on the Rolodex that you can use like …‘hey, how’s it going, you alright, what's your name, cool, ok what do you do?’ There’s as Rolodex in your head and you go doodledoodledoodle (through the decks) ‘cool this is sweet, we’ll do that bit.’
There was a time where I only had three things on that Rolodex so flip, flip, flip, aaaargh! But now hopefully the Rolodex is full!
What are your long-term career plans?
I take every opportunity as it comes really because it's difficult in this industry. You meet your heroes very quickly and if you’re very lucky you get to experience your dreams. So I, within a year, two years, I kind of experienced all of my dreams so you keep on having to re-set your goals.
Selling out at the Hammersmith Apollo for me, when I first started 11 years ago, was the thing I wanted to do and when you do it, it’s quite easy to dismiss it and be like ‘ok cool, next thing.’
You’ve got to really make sure you take it in and go ‘oh this is really special, it's really cool.’ It was the same with Netflix; it’s really easy to get bogged down in the technicalities of it but it’s so cool that I’m so happy.
A lot of comedians are very depressive and they go up on stage and they’re like ‘wheyyy’ and then they come off and they’re like ‘I hate everything’, whereas I just genuinely cannot believe I've got away with doing this for so long!
I’m genuinely happy all the time to the point where it’s actually frustrating to everyone around me.
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