the hay gang
Come in London, your time is up. Scotland is the thriving breeding ground of new comedy talent and to prove it, we got together five blisterineg hot twentysomething comedians for a chin-wag. Adorning their collective mantelpiece are a Penier Newcomer Award, a So You Think You’re Funny trophy, two SYTYF finalist prizes, and second- place gongs for the BBC New Comedy Award and Daily Telegraph Open Mic. Confused?
You will be.
\.v'.’or<ls: Maureen Ellis lactate: Lisa Fleming
12 THE LIST '
How healthy is Scottish comedy? Reverend Obadiah it "at. a ;;_7_ t: lTer51:. hut tas guste
arth Cruikshank _: \i "yxwwatosrs at the
Obadiah '. "1.1:. :V..r::;"‘g; '7: Des ear'ire'. at Has
.. s- r .t.‘.-;:-‘o<>k-:‘::l (1.. Eddie McCabe .'.;r~: T":- ’l..’":1.'.17‘," again" Obadiah" Z }--:':"‘i;."»;:'s: :t.. (,9st Des Clarke . :";:‘.- g: : "/1'1; f::' V‘s it's polo-ck
Miles Jupp 1- ar::>art‘:ntl‘,. All ;"‘,1 ..
Obadiah I‘ . l 'ea .' l ;.- « r v I IV.
I’m asking you. But right at this moment in time Obadiah . " "~ Des T' TU " r: :" "\. :‘efte' t".av‘ 3‘. "raft, rteer: 2'“
- .. _:~ ‘, r» \l v0 ,_ .,.,. “,1 ,e '. 1 Eddie. .»_ 1 .r,
Des " : 2» :"‘-’-'-i,-':; z '. ;"‘e.'. :17::<>(:.
Obadla . l ‘ “at t '( "r " rf' :' '. ' :;"'. "‘~:>a"s f'ta‘. tsa iot
0653 '1;'.' I .. 1" Qz'. .'.";'".'. f1 ".:l\fit"‘t‘:(l f§.'lfii‘: '(lfS’.
Garth and Eddie, do you feel part of a Scottish comedy scene?
Eddie -' '. .- Obadiah .- Garth : " ‘1 :;>!‘-:- f'reStantt ant:
Garth -’ r :"-:t "tifl‘ilit".()1lft().*.();:“.'té : ,1 :4 a: aw; sta'tetl r‘ <:,.rt>s as a DJ and fa't-z- . ’, sf..." '. ‘ a“. and {new nostrvrg ano Obadiah '.'>:', "y:;'. " ; " We Japanese grr'is style-e? Garth i .-i,-g:'_ :r1‘. 1' " '.' -‘ 5—) fig» (Inn l'\.e got a Obadiah " -.'.' z' ; " can an: :tovr‘euy Garth 2 "T a" 1:“: ..;t': aiawulf. txthust
You all have characters. Is that a trend in comedy? Obadiah :1 ~ .. -, .. .
Garth \".’e're all characters really. aren't we?
Miles the (hung '.'./Itlt character comedy rs that stand-up has lrtI‘Cll gorng for gurte a long trrne and rt lllSl talks about '.'.'anklng. then rt gets a hrt horrng. But rf you v-rear a funny hat ano talk ahorrt x'xankrng then rt's slightly more nterest'ng. lt's eon‘rng at you from a new angle.
Garth lt (repe'tos. as well. how brave you are to get up there. I wean ,t's easrer to WHO hehlntl a character than rt -s ,Iust to get .rp there yourself.
Obadiah ’lhat's pretty much my hag too.
Miles You were terrrhle hefore.
Obadiah A horrrhle n‘an, yella as fucking prgs.
Des l sang the shox'.’ wrth the genital warts.
Obadiah lllat's cool rr‘an. l rocked and rolled. I got octaves of gc-Wtal unarts on lazlres' bananas and aerttlen‘e't's pecker's and I handed them out. It wasn't ‘tm'lj. hat last enroyetl star‘rtlrng there and lookrng at 'em. D:a you see the prctures'?
Des l'ye strll got one.
Obadiah lt Des It '.'.'as l)(Z-j.<)ll(l helzef.
Miles Aha It was Intor‘matI\.'e as ‘.'.'ell as entertarnrng. Obadiah Ana ther: I saw an act on the crrcurt and he did a lot} show that was hrgh energy ano I Just thought that's the tc gc. I thank Des. you're not a character.
.as l)(3‘,()ll(l helie‘.
you gust got a ma: strong style
Des :l‘ M "‘IW‘: has a hasrs r." a character. I'm not as good as a character: there's no hackgrOund. I would say persona rather than character. I'm a brt of a fake as a character oecause there's actaalty good character cow‘eorans here.
Miles thrnk actually lan‘ n‘ore c" a character. l'n‘ not rke upper class or anythrng.
Eddie Surely you Ire?
Miles No. use a character x'xh'ch rs more or less me. but thought l .'.cqu' go the ‘.'."ll()l(‘7 hog and become thrs apoer class t:>fl who says thrngs that utterly belreve. Obadiah l.".hg. ;r'ru'n't ycu e\.e' change your narrwe'? Miles i'vr‘ gong to. l :lron't (to rt oecause | Just drdn't thr'tk ahout rt. lrut l '.'.*!i| do now I'm probably lrmrtrng myself rn ‘.'.’l‘.<’ll I can say If I piay a grg then people get us contuseo. After all. I play thrs posh fellow wrth a very ltLl’Y‘Ol’OllS Welsh oar'rtone. I can't thrnk why.
How has involvement in various awards affected what you do?
Miles \.".’el! l got offer‘etl a cookery programn‘e: a
ftrston. cockery prograrrtrrte. l was meant to do the lrnkrng or: t; l was r>1a\.:".g a aetectrxe.
Des A Jet-cw‘ts‘a Miles Yes. 1'. was gorng to he called We [)rnner' Defect Sui wrote son‘e \(Z'l‘, naeak stuff for rt and
>rrrsto'rcal cookery programme?
Ltll‘llfll‘gll‘, My". ft/“ml nonzrt. Obadiah \.'.'hat .tl‘artner .‘ Miles It was llllt‘lltrtl at HHth 4*“. o'clock slot. Ohyrously