Could you first introduce yourself to the reader?
Hello reader, my name is David McIver and I’m a 25 year old character comedian. I have brown hair and blue eyes. I am 5’8, which is very tall for my age. In my spare time I like running, listening to music and watching Love Island. My star sign is Aquarius.
Tell us about your show?
It’s a silly character comedy show about masculinity, shyness and bravery. Every day the audience throw me a surprise birthday party, and I play some of the weird men who show up. It’s very stupid. I dress up as a piñata and the audience hit me with bats. I inhale a couple of helium balloons for a laugh. It’s that sort of thing.
Why do you want to perform at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and is it different from other festivals?
It’s probably the best live arts festival in the world. It’s very big and long. I like that I get to spend a whole month somewhere with all of my friends. I don’t know, everyone does it, you kind of have to. Thankfully I find it really fun.
What first motivated you to enter the industry? Who were your inspirations?
I did a gig almost by accident at university, and boy did it feel good. It was a real high. I felt confident and brave. I felt like people thought I was funny. I liked myself more. I suppose doing comedy is about chasing that feeling, and trying to get paid to chase that feeling. At the time I loved Dylan Moran and Stewart Lee, and the first live stand-up I saw was Richard Herring, who blew me away.
Do you ever feel any pressure to be a social commentator, or constantly update material to respond to events?
Not really. I’m a 25-year-old white man, so nobody should really have any interest in anything I have to say. I want to make shows that are funny, and resonate with people emotionally, but that’s pretty much it. I don’t have much of a desire to tell it like it is about anything, because I know I know nothing.
Equally, do you feel there has been a shift in public sentiment that has affected your work?
Nope. As long as people still find it funny when a guy puts on a costume and a silly voice, then I think I’ll be fine.
Describe the last year in 5 words or less?
I nearly started playing piano.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to take a show up to the fringe?
Don’t do it, my show is so much better. How dare you think you can challenge me? I will destroy you. The monstrous roar of my audience will drown out the piteous, pathetic titters of your tiny crowd. Still want to take a show up? Here’s my advice: prepare yourself for a world of pain.
And what advice do you wish you’d been given when entering the industry?
Your day job is, like, what you do all the time, so try to do something that isn’t unbearable. When I first moved to London I worked for minimum wage in a major high street clothes retailer on Oxford Street, and it was stinky! No thank you! I wish someone told me what a terrible and unnecessary thing that was.
When and where can people see your show?
They can see it in Opium (Upstairs) at 2.30pm as part of the PBH Free Fringe, 4th-25th of August (not the 14th though! That’s my day of rest).
And where can people find, follow and like you online?
I do not wish to be found or followed. If anyone follows me on twitter @bigdavidmciver I will be very angry. Likewise, if they look at my collection of private images on instagram @bigboydavidmciver, I will be sickened and appalled.
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