Adam Bloom: Stand-up's a wonderful thing
“REALLY, Jimmy’s five-year plan - good for him, because I didn’t have a one-year plan,” laughs Adam Bloom as we discuss the usual laid back approach to stand-up approached by many on the scene compared with the ultra organised (and very delightful) Jimmy Carr.
“My plan was to get on stage and make people laugh and see what happens and that’s partly where my career petered out a bit. I sort of exploded onto the scene but didn’t have anything planned, people go wow you’re really good, do this, go on that, try this; so you do a TV show, you go to Montreal (comedy festival) but I didn’t have any goals.”
He may not be a household name but since 1993 Bloom has nevertheless built up an admirable reputation amongst comedy connoisseurs, regular punters and his fellow comedians.
A deft ability in gag writing, a personal perspective and irrepressible energy are the qualities that got him noticed back then and have kept him a favourite since.
His personal comedic epiphany was thanks to a circuit gig performed by Harry Hill back in the early nineties.
“I saw Harry Hill at the Bearcat in Richmond and he just blew my mind. We walked away talking about him and quoting him, it’s all I could think about for days. I knew while he was on stage that I had to give it a go up there.”
After experiencing a tumult of emotion at seeing Hill’s set he began to realise the importance of comedy.
“I will always remember thinking if I could make a whole room of people tingle with that joy that’s a wonderful thing to be doing, everyone’s got to do their bit to make the world go round.
"I know that nurses and firemen do it more significantly, but at the same time it’s really nice to know that people, if they’ve got a lot on their minds, come to you and say thank you you’ve really taken my mind off my problems today, which happens from time to time and reminds you that your job is an important part of society.
"All entertainment is necessary to take people’s minds off their problems.”
Motivation
He may have received his motivation from the headline act at that Richmond gig but it was after watching the open spot at the same gig that made him realise that it was easier than he had previously thought to get up on stage and give stand-up a go.
“I didn’t have an equity card and I didn’t realise it was as simple as going to a comedy club saying I’d like to have a go, them saying come back again in two weeks and have a go, you having a go and you keep doing that until they actually pay you.
"Certainly as a 23-year-old I thought that the world was all about who you know. My Dad might have, unintentionally, drummed into me his fears of the world.
"I remember he once said that the catch with getting an Equity card was that you can’t get an Equity card until you’re in the theatre and you can’t get into the theatre if you haven’t got an Equity card, which makes it very difficult to become an actor.
"Bearing in mind that I thought you needed an Equity card to be a comedian, the thought of being a comedian was oh my God, how can I get in?”
Of course he did give it a go and got on in the industry pretty quickly; since then he’s worked the circuit, performed all around the world, appeared at numerous comedy festivals and recorded three radio series of The Problem with Adam Bloom.
But one thing you won’t find him doing is performing his magic - despite having designed his own card trick - that’s staying very much the hobby.
“For me stand-up’s one person and a microphone and that’s it. Magic is very prepared and comedy should have an air of spontaneity to it.
"It’s my hobby and it’s nice to have something on the side. When I pick up a pack of cards it’s purely for fun. So when I invented that game it was more sharing an idea really. It’s my personal little thing and as soon as I make money out of it by performing then it’s not a hobby anymore.”
So if not a magic show, what else have you got planned? Any ideas for the future that you want to commit to the printed page?
“Milton Jones (fine one-liner japester) and I had our first meeting to put our brains together for a project and our deadline is the 14th of April, that’s an exclusive! No one knows!
"The only people that know are our wives and ourselves. (The deadline’s) for project ideas not a written project,” he counters, “Milton and I might conclude that we don’t want to do the project together…”
Nope that’s it, we’re holding you to that, think of it as a five-month plan or something…
Adam Bloom is at the Comedy Store with Dave Johns and Tom Slade until Friday, April 10.
Published: Mon, 07 April, 2008
Comment on this article
You need to be logged in to comment. Login | Register