Could you first introduce yourself to the reader?
Hello! I’m Northern Irish standup comedian and writer John Meagher.
In 2022 I was part of the working class standup showcase “Best In Class”, and now I’m back with my own show “Big Year” which is directed by Vittorio Angelone, who I just supported on tour. I’ve been performing standup for 8 years but this is my Edinburgh Fringe Solo Show debut and I’m so incredibly excited (which is code for absolutely bricking it!)
How would you describe your show?
“Big Year” is a very funny love story! It starts with growing up in Northern Ireland and the lessons learned during the Troubles, then moving to England and the consequence of those, sometimes quite bizarre, lessons. It finishes with a good old fashioned love story… the course of which did not exactly run smooth!
What is your favourite part of your show?
The show has a few set pieces building into crescendo and I cannot get enough of them. Riling myself up into a whirlwind of emotion and cartoonish outbursts of physicality is my favourite thing…way cheaper than a gym membership too!
If your show had a theme song, what would it be and why?
It sort of does have a theme tune which is a middle eastern song called “Yalla Habibi” - if I say why it’ll spoil everything so sorry but you’ll just have to come see for yourself.
Are there any particular themes or messages you hope the audience takes away from your performance?
My comedy is largely based in my emotional response to stuff rather than observations on things, and that theme runs through the show. The message is that with the right people around, and some seriously hard work we/I can change and grow and maybe just maybe not lose our/my shit at the smallest thing…but ya know…funny!
Why do you want to perform at Edinburgh Festival Fringe? What differentiates it from other festivals?
It’s always been the place where performers get the opportunity to level up. There just isn’t anywhere else I could do my show every single day, then go watch other people and be inspired by or collaborate with. Obviously the dream scenario is that some grotesque stereotype of a TV producer sees me, says “Say kid I’ve been waiting on a talent like yours for years see. I’m gunna make you a staaaaah” and give me millions of quids…but outside of that I’ll take getting better every day.
What do you hope to learn or achieve from your first Fringe experience, and how do you plan to apply it to your future work?
Working with Vittorio Angelone on my show has given me a deeper understanding of what it takes to build a great show with the almost theatrical elements that will hopefully elevate it beyond an hour of standup. I’m hoping that as the month goes on, these extras will become more intuitive for me, especially as I watch other shows. By the end of the month I want to be ready to start working on the next one from a better starting point.
What would you say has been (potentially) the most useful piece of advice you’ve been given about taking a show to Edinburgh Fringe?
I have a heart condition so am very much trying to do it as healthily as possible so all the great food places, spots to exercise (obviously the fantasy goal is of doing the climb to Arthur’s Seat every morning at 5am and doing yoga while the sun rises…but if I do it 10 times I’ll consider it a great success to be honest)
On another track, multiple people have told me to try to avoid putting pressure on myself regarding reviews, critiques, awards etc and that’s something I am really focusing on. The show is pressure enough without adding external forces to my poor wee brain!
How do you plan to balance performing and exploring the vast array of other shows and events happening at the Fringe?
My show has to take priority, and my heart condition means I have to be careful about where I put my energy so I’ll let that lead how much time I can spend doing other things.
I’m very keen to see the standups coming from outside the UK and Ireland. It’s always interesting to watch what’s happening in other territories and make the connections to go and perform. Outside of comedy I love theatre so will be getting to as many shows as I can.
How has your background, upbringing and education had an impact on your artistic career?
Without trying to sound trite it’s everything. I’m working class and grew up on a council estate during a war. (I know some people prefer more sanitised language like “conflict”, “hostility”, or “struggle” but I was there and it felt pretty “warry” to me!)
I’m incredibly lucky in that I have always had the most amazing support network of family and friends that have pushed me towards my dreams when it didn’t make any sense to keep going.
I didn’t go to University (full disclosure that’s not strictly true; I did 2 days at one but immediately dropped out because I had to get a job and send money home) so feel like I have a real gap in how I communicate with people that has held me back until relatively recently when I realised that my upbringing was the thing that made me more ready for the hard work it takes to get excellent at standup… nobody will work harder than me when I get an opportunity to move to the next level.
Can you describe your creative process and how you develop your ideas into a full-fledged performance?
This may not make sense, but I think in pictures. When I’m picturing my creative process it’s like I’m a big sponge walking around and just soaking up every bit of information for weeks sometimes. From newspapers, movies, chatting to friends, being out and about in the world and anything else that gets near me. Then all at once, usually after I’ve been thinking I’m useless and will never write another funny thing in my life and maybe I should just go back to working in a taxi office… all of that information seems to wring itself from the sponge and I can wrangle it into something worth pursuing on stage. That’s when it gets really exciting; I like to go to new material nights with just the outline of the idea and riff finding the through-lines and getting it tighter and tighter until I’m happy and it all starts again. I wish I could be one of those guys that sit down every day and write for 6 hours and come out with sharp, cleverly worded jokes…but when I sit at a desk I start thinking that maybe instead of writing I should just repeatedly smash my own head into the wooden top as that’d be more fun than being locked up in this self-imposed detention.
What is your favourite thing about performing for a live audience?
If the energy is right and the planets align; there’s a state that the room, audience and I, can get into where we’re all on the exact same wavelength and it’s like we’re flying together – the laughs are louder, the jokes come easier and new ones will fall into place like missing jigsaw puzzles, and at the end of the night you walk offstage and know with every fibre in your being that you are doing what you should be and not everyone gets to have that realisation.
What is the strangest thing that has ever happened to you while performing?
I think this has happened to a lot of comedians, but sometimes, if you’re lucky, you can do 4 or 5 sets the same night and if you’re not resetting properly and preparing your material for each one (or as my Dad would say “being a lazy shite”) by the 4th one you lose track of what you’re saying, and if you’ve said it before, and is this audience different from the last one? And your consciousness seems to separate, with your body going into autopilot still delivering the material while you’re having a bizarre out of body experience wondering if you’ve attained enlightenment in comedy club basement
What's the most challenging or unconventional venue you've ever performed in, and how did it impact the overall experience?
Over the years I have performed in some real “challenging” venues, and if you see me in person my language may be less couched!
When I first started there was an open mic in East London every Wednesday in a fusion chinese restaurant/jazz club. The diners weren’t told there was a comedy gig so in the middle of them having a nice meal, maybe expecting a band to start playing “Take 5”; 37 terrible brand new comedians would do 5 minutes and ruin their meals and most likely their relationships.
I did a gig in the container on the back of an articulated lorry - and I don’t mean a trailer that was converted into a stage at a festival with people all sat on the grass outside. That would have been a delight compared to standing at one end of a damp container with no mic, looking at about 20 people sat in backless chairs also wondering why they were there…SHOWBIZ!!!
In terms of impacting the overall performance there’s a lot to be said for just biting down and doing your time. I always tell new comedians that the first goal should be to get out of those hell rooms as soon as possible - everything gets easier and more enjoyable.
Who are some of your artistic influences, and how have they shaped your work?
I’m very lucky in that my family has always prized laughter, and my parents didn’t restrict us to age ratings when it came to standup. My two older brothers are blind, so it was a communal thing for us to be able to sit round and burst our sides together.
We watched everyone from Dave Allen, Eddie Murphy, George Carlin, Joan Rivers - whoever we could get our greedy little paws on, but hands down my biggest comedic influence is Billy Connolly who was almost a constant presence in our house growing up.
Connolly’s the king for me. He brings details to life so clearly and, though his upbringing made mine look like Richie Rich in comparison, I could see that it was possible to not go to the best schools or universities and make a career in comedy.
More recently I’ve been enthralled to Ali Siddiq, who’s “Domino Effect”
Specials on Youtube have elevated what storytelling standup can be. For pure funny I don’t think anyone is close to Shane Gillis right now.
The biggest jump in my own work has been down to my director Vittorio Angelone. Vittorio got huge success on social media, but I don’t think those posts properly reflect his ability to write and perform solo standup shows. As hard as he works on clips, he works 10 times harder on his material. He’s been an amazing help to me in getting “Big Year” ready.
Is there a piece of feedback you've received from an audience member or critic after a performance that’s stuck with you?
I was once called “grotesquely Irish” by a critic who I think about a lot and can get fucked but I don’t think that’s really in the spirit of the question so will choose another.
One I used to hear a lot after gigs was audience members saying “You’re really funny but you talk too fast and I missed loads of the jokes!” And I would think “Dara O’Breine talks waaaaay faster than me so what are they going on about, until my friend, and amazing comedian, Jon Long explained “They don’t mean you’re going too fast, they mean you don’t enunciate… you’re mumbling” and that hurt so much it just had to be true. From then I’ve tried to get better diction while not changing my accent so I can go home and not get abused by my family for having notions!
Finally a good one - I made a radio documentary this year for Radio 4 about a group of devil worshippers in the town I grew up in. My lodestar for it was Jon Ronson, who’s someone I’ve loved for years, and when it came out Jon sent me an email to say he’d listened and “I absolutely LOVED it!” - I read that a thousand times I think.
Is there a show you’re excited to see when you’re up there?
For standup Alexandra Haddow is one of my favourite people to gig with, and I’m really looking forward to seeing her show “Third Party”. Horatio Gould’s “return of the Space Cowboy” is guaranteed to be brilliant. My director Vittorio Angelone is doing an improv standup show every night called “Off The Cuff” and that’s going to be very fun I think. Nish Kumar hasn’t done a new show in a long time and his WIP “Nish don’t kill my vibe” is definitely on the list. Finally Mike Rice is someone I’ve watched just explode in creative energy over the last year and his show “Nasty Character” will be amazing.
When and where can people see your show?
Every single day! (Was that decision a mistake? Come find me in September and see!)
Gilded Balloon Patterhouse - Blether at 4:20pm
And where can people find you online?
Instagram @johnmcomedy x
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