Brian Logan checks up on the self—help guru created by bit-part actor turned Perrier winner Will Adamsdale. Is it time we all followed JACKSON’S WAY? Or would that
be one in an infinite number of pointless actions?
I was the Iidinburgh liestival rags-ttH‘iches
story to end them all. ‘()bscure‘ 30-year-old
‘bit-part actor‘ Will Adamsdale hooked himself into the Underbelly for one week only. He had no manager. and he‘d never performed stand-up before. By the end of the week. he‘d extended his run after promising reviews. And at the end ofAugust. he walked off with the hottest prize in comedy. the Perrier Award.
‘It was quite overwhelming.‘ says Adamsdale now. reflecting on the biggest hrouhaha of his life. Before Iidinburgh. he barely knew what the Perrier prize was: ‘The only reason I put the show into the comedy section of the Fringe was that. when I did it before. people sort of laughed at it.‘ Now Scotland at large has the chance to find out why. as Adamsdale takes his alter ego. the American life coach ('hris John Jackson. on tour.
Jackson. as disciples will already know. is the guru behind the self-help texts Maximum Jackson and 'Iim Weeks with the Man. Ile‘s here to share his revolutionary theory that ‘around every point-ful action. there's an infinite number of pointless actions‘. We cart all liberate ourselves by exploring it. Try making two words that don‘t rhyme. rhyme. Try putting your hand in two places. at the same time. It can't be done. but that's no reason not to ‘Push Through with Intensity” (a typical Jackson catchphrase) in your effort to make the impossible happen.
It‘s far from a straightforward spoof on motivational speaking. ‘I keep meaning to go and see some real life coaches.‘ says Adamsdale. ‘But they‘re so expensive.‘ Instead. Jackson‘s Way combines satire with a surreally profound exploration of human heroism in the face of cosmic meaninglessness. Perhaps that's not surprising. given the circumstances in which Adamsdale conceived the character. ‘I was working in Bushey lin darkest IIertfordshireI. doing children‘s TV.‘ he says. ‘lt was sort of a low point; futile and funny and slightly desperate in a Jackson-y kind of way.‘ Adamsdale had also been invited to perform a five—minute set at a friend’s cabaret night in London. ‘And I remember thinking: how was I going to get these feelings into this cabaret‘."
Here's how. ‘I had a polystyrene cup in my dressing room. and I thought: I‘ll take that cup with me from Bushey to (‘lerkenwelL which is quite a way. The destiny of that cup was not to leave Bushey because 99% likely it would have ended up in a bin in Btishey.‘ In this reasoning lay the genesis of (‘hris John Jackson. ‘I wanted to talk onstage about this cup and how bringing it to Clerkenwell was a gesture that. on most people‘s terms. would be a real waste of time. Getting it together to put it in your bag and remember it and all of that feels — or so I felt at the time — almost heroically futile.‘
With the basics of Jackson's cult of
pointlessness in place. the character started to emerge. Adamsdale opted for a life coach because ‘it's an oratorical figure. It’s a good device for talking to an audience.‘ This was two
years before he went to Edinburgh. ‘I.oads of
comedians told me that this type of character was unoriginal.‘ Yet. Adamsdale brilliantly
recreated the meaningless terminology t‘AchieveY‘l of the self-help shy ster. “by make Jackson .-\merican‘.’ ‘I couldn't do it in my own voicef he explains. became my friends were in the audience. and that would have been a bit lame.‘
I’rom such chance decisions is history made. Adamsdale/Jackson went on to wow the ('lerkenw‘cll crowd. and later to slay audiences at Battersea Arts ('entre. the south l.ondon powerhouse from which ./errv S/n‘ineer.‘ I‘lle ()peru sprang. :\s an actor. .-\damsdale was well established at B.'\(‘. where he‘d played the title role in Ben liar. and where his company I-ilter had launched its nationwide hit l'il\l(‘l' in 2002. If that pedigree doesn‘t resemble the ‘bit—part actor“ of Perrier lore. well. .-\damsdale is philosophical about that. ‘l’erliapsf he say s. by exaggerating his obscurity. 'lidinburgh needed to remind itsellioli what it stood foil.
At any rate. there will be no obscurity now for Adamsdale. who was inundated with 'l'\' offers after Iidinburgh 3004. But typically of the man. who is as quietly self—effacing as Jackson is dementedly enthusiastic. he spurned TV in favour of another BA(‘ role the play ed Bobby Moore in its unlikely staging of the Who World (‘up I‘inal). 'I had found myself thinking. "Oh my (iod I'm hot. How do I stay hot‘.’".' he explains. 'But when you start worrying about doing something before you cool down. it gets
‘I DON'T KNOW
WHY POINTLESS BEHAVIOUR IMPRESSES US, BUT IT DOES'
kind of silly.‘ This is not a man to let success go to his head. Perrier or no Perrier. he doesn't even consider himself a comedian. ‘People come up to me and say. “When are you going to do acting again?" But it's all just performing to mef
Now Jackson is back. touring his self— improvement gospel to bigger theatres than Adamsdale ever dreamt of in a Btishey dressing room. Later in the spring. he‘s going to Broadway. So what's the secret to this success'.’ ‘The pointlessness thing kind of touches a nerve.‘ says Adamsdale. ‘And it‘s interesting to keep pttshing into that nerve. until people feel. “Oh don‘t do that?" If it touches a nerve. it must be something fundamental. I don't know why pointless behaviour impresses us. but it does'
Veteran stand—up Stewart Lee has written that Jackson is religious in his implications. llis creator agrees. ‘Part of it is like. “If I've got to follow something in order to invest my life with meaning. it‘s amtising to think it's something that celebrates meaninglessness.‘" There‘s ample opportunity to worship at Jackson‘s altar now and Adamsdale‘s looking forward to climbing back into the pulpit. ‘I really like Jackson and I really want to keep exploring him.‘
Traverse, Edinburgh, Fri 25 & Sat 26 Feb; Arches, Glasgow, Tue 1 Mar & Wed 2 Mar.
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