Ahead of Stuart Goldsmith’s Swindon show, we sat down with him to discuss his current tour, podcasting and the art of a good joke.
Comedian’s Comedian Podcast host and ‘expert stand-up’ (Times) Stuart Goldsmith now commits to the bit. This year: second international tour, seven million downloads, critically-acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe run, and look, if he’s honest? His best ever show. He’ll be proving it at Swindon Arts Centre on Wed 23 May and we caught up with Stuart before his arrival in the town.
I call myself a DIY comedian because I’m building a tour following without having much of a TV or radio profile. I’ve done the odd bit of telly, but I perform on the free fringe at Edinburgh, and am obsessive about cultivating the small but loyal fan base my podcast has accrued. I really love having it all belong to me and be a thing I’ve built from the ground up; rather than having loads of audience members who saw me on a thing once, I’ve got a smaller following who know me really well, and that’s how I like it.
I’ve had some amazing guests on the show recently, talking about their craft: Russell Brand, Arabella Weir, Jo Brand, Stewart Lee… I had anxiety dreams for a week before the Stewart Lee episode, mostly about ending up in his act! I put it to him that I was nervous that “the character of Stewart Lee” might look upon a comic turned interviewer with disdain, and end up doing scathing material about me, and he replied “yeah he might do…”
People often ask me who i’d get to interview me for the podcast; you’d be amazed how many open mic acts offer me their services as an unbiased interviewer! I think the nature of the show is that i pick apart my guests answers and try to get in the cracks between them, so it’d be very hard to replicate that with myself as the guest. I imagine there’ll be an app for it before long though… I’ve always said if I make it to 500 episodes I’d guest on the show myself. We’re almost halfway there!
I’ve learnt a lot from the podcast both emotionally and technically. A good joke has to be both surprising yet satisfying. That’s incredibly difficult to achieve if you think about it; it needs to be a shock that somehow makes sense. There’s also another layer that only the very best jokes have, where it absolutely reflects the truth of the teller’s personality, so there’s a simultaneous effect where you “learn” something about their humanity that is also surprising yet satisfying at the same time! I tried to use that understanding in the writing of my new tour show “Like I Mean It” – it’s “about” desperation and compromise in the face of parenthood, but it’s simultaneously a load of daft jokes about blueberries, frogs, insomnia and that thing where people in movies calmly pass their hands over a dead persons eyes and magically close them.
Podcasting is awesome but you can’t smell the audience from your bedroom. Comedy is a sensual art, you have to be right there in front of them to really be doing it properly – that’s why I still tour even though I can reach millions of people through a podcast…
Tickets for Stuart Goldsmith – Like I Mean It at Swindon Arts Centre on Wed 23 May are on sale at swindontheatres.co.uk or via the Ticket Office on 01793 524481 and are priced at just £12.50.
