CityLife

Interview: Marcus Brigstocke

Marcus Brigstocke

"OCCASIONALLY,” notes Marcus Brigstocke on his way to Morecambe, “my mates give me a hard time for being a jack of all trades.

“To be honest, if people are asking me to do radio and telly, I can decide for myself whether I want to do it. I’m happy, I really like the mixture of all of those things.”

Though those mates may take the mick, they may well be a bit jealous; as prolific a figure in the media Brigstocke is, he’s not lost his credibility.

The TV and radio work he takes only serves to showcase his sharp satirical wit, while he still makes sure that he regularly produces live shows too. Hence the trip to Morecambe.

“Stand up’s at the core of what I do and that’s been the driver for everything.

“It’ll probably take me two, maybe even three years to be certain that I’ve got another one - that’s kind of how I do this now.

“Just really take my time until I know I’ve got the things I want to say and the jokes that I want to tell.”

Religion

The show he is referring to, and is currently touring, is God Collar. It’s a mildly philosophical work with an examination of religion and Brigstocke’s atheism at its core.

But what makes it stand out from other comedians’ material on religion is that Brigstocke isn’t evangelical (pardon the irony) in his approach.

“(I’m) really looking at it from the point of view of being an atheist by default and saying, ‘look, I am an atheist, but not particularly happily so’.

“The point is really how do you be happy with whatever it is that you believe, whether it be atheism, agnosticism, religion whatever?”

And at the crux of the show: “It’s sort of saying that there’s probably no God, but I wish there was a God because there are some things I need to ask him. I wish that I believed in God, that would be fantastic.

“When you talk to religious people, for a kick off they know they’re going to be all right, which is something I don’t feel at all.”

Dare we suggest that though not a religious man as such, the closest Brigstocke gets to his own religion is stand up?

'Adrenaline'

“So often where people go, ‘ooh, hardest job in the world’ or ‘wow, I don’t know how you have the guts to do it’ – for most comics, myself included, it doesn’t hold a great deal of fear to be perfectly honest.

“There are a few that are close to puking before they go on stage, those ones I find extraordinary, they have to overcome the nerves. But for me, I’m like, ‘when’s the show?! Yeeeeaaaahhh!! Let me on, let me on!!’

“Certainly there’s something a bit spiritual about that moment when you’re waiting in the wings to go on stage.

“It’s a funny thing really when you’re in the clubs and the compere is on stage and they’ll say, ‘ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to introduce the next act now, put your hands together, stamp your feet, welcome to the stage... Marcus Brigstocke!’

“And I hear my name and this sort of thing would begin, I don’t know whether it was adrenaline or something, but kind of like a ‘whumph, here we go.’

“Then I get up on stage and I’m not just me, I’m not normal Marcus, I’m the Marcus that’s on stage doing my thing. It’s just a kind of heightened reality.”

Though scarily, it’s not always been there.

'Non-stop'

“I remember the first time I was sufficiently tired or maybe jaded that someone said my name and I walked up on stage and I was still me.

“I felt exactly like me and I thought, oh ****! I can’t sell any of this, oh my God! I’d never felt more exposed in my entire life!”

The tour rolls on and life isn’t likely to slow up anytime soon. CityLife feels a bit dizzy as Brigstocke reels off the list of projects he has been working on.

“When I put the tour in I thought, ‘right, I’ll put this in and make sure it’s maybe no more than three maybe four dates a week so it’s all quite manageable.’

“Since Edinburgh (The Fringe in August) I’ve done a new series of Argumental, I’ve written and recorded a new series of Giles Wembley
Hogg Goes Off for Radio 4, I’m doing The Now Show, I’ve done Question Time, Have I Got News For You, countless interviews, writing other things… It’s just been absolutely non-stop.

“Actually when I finish at The Lowry that’s it, I might retire!”

CityLife gets the impression that’s unlikely. It seems that’s the way Brigstocke likes it…

Marcus Brigstocke is at The Lowry on December 18 and 19, 2009.