Marcus Brigstocke in Stratford tonight
HERALD arts spoke to comedian Marcus Brigstocke ahead of his show Why The Long Face? at Stratford ArtsHouse tonight (Monday)
PEOPLE have been asking the comedian Marcus Brigstocke: Why the long face?” The answer? He has been looking so glum because of such troubling matters as Brexit, austerity, Donald Trump, cheese strings, ISIS, tax avoiders, and the inexplicable popularity of nail bars. You can’t really blame him for feeling down about any of those subjects, can you? But now, in typically brilliant fashion, Marcus has turned his frown upside down. In his superb new show, entitled of course, Why The Long Face?, the award-winning comedian explores why in actual fact he has many reasons to be cheerful. The even better news is that after a highly successful run at the Edinburgh Festival, the comic is now taking the show on a major nationwide tour.
Over the past two decades, Marcus has established himself as one of our finest stand-ups. He possesses a rare ability to combine wit, warmth and wisdom. He is also one of the most acute satirical comedians in the country. His political material is sharp enough to cut your finger on. The critics have been equally positive about this magnetic comic. Marcus, whose second home would appear to be BBC Radio 4, where he stars on programmes such as I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, The Now Show and Just A Minute, plus his recent award-winning radio series The Brig Society, makes for splendid company. He is someone you could sit and be entertained by all day long. The stand-up, who kick-started his career by winning the BBC New Comedian Award at the Edinburgh Festival in 1996, explains the inspiration for Why The Long Face?
“It started as I was recovering from a big low,” he said. “I’d had a messy breakup, and the show came about when I began to feel better. The show is all about gratitude. I’m a straight white man — life doesn’t get much better than that. It’s awesome. “Everything is set up for me to be comfortable, very much at the cost of everyone else! So I’m enormously grateful to women, gay people and people from ethnic minorities!
“Being a comedian is a great job. My kids are happy and healthy. I own a house, for Christ’s sake. I’m blissfully happy in a new relationship. I really have nothing I should not be grateful for, and yet I spend a lot of time gnashing my teeth and railing against the system. So the show is about saying: ‘Hang on a minute. I actually have a very charmed life, and I should be very grateful for it’.”
Marcus, who has also written and starred in three series and four specials of his hit Radio 4 sitcom, Giles Wemmbley-Hogg Goes Off, added: “I’m very cautious about claiming that I can provide moral lessons or teach people anything.
“All I would say is that this show actively encourages people to remember the things for which we should all be grateful. As hard as some people’s lives are, there is still a huge amount to be grateful for.”
When he comes to Stratford, Marcus promises that he will bring his record player and vinyl collection on stage to help cheer people up and says as his shows always end with a bang Why The Long Face? will be no exception. But the comedian is reluctant to spoil the surprise of it.
“I can’t say what the ending will be, but it’s something that I’m both enormously excited about and enormously ashamed of. People will not be disappointed. Afterwards, they will have an image that they won’t be able to get out of their heads, no matter what!” The other hallmark of Marcus’ shows is the connection that he has with his audiences. And for his part, Marcus asserts that nothing beats the buzz of performing live.
“It is a straightforward deal. You come to my show, and I make you laugh. If I don’t, I haven’t done my job. I act, write and make radio shows, but stand-up is a much more direct form of interaction.
“The audience helps me shape the show. In previews, they help me work out where the edges are. I go up to them, but I never go over them. If you laugh, I’ve been understood. I love how honest that is. In this country, the idea of free speech is very pure. “As a stand-up, you’re never stifled. I’m very proud to say that I have never ended a tour thinking: ‘Oh dear, I’ve let them down’.”
WHEN AND WHERE: Marcus Brigstocke performs at the Stratford ArtsHouse on Monday, 17th October, at 8pm. Tickets, £15, are available from www.stratfordartshouse.co.uk or from 01789 207100.
