Northumberland comedian Ross Noble - on Channel Five with his Australian Trip TV show - talks funny business

Northumberland comedian Ross Noble - on Channel Five with his Australian Trip TV show - talks funny business

Posted: 09 Sep 2009

 

Quote: ‘I don’t think you can learn comedy – you’ve either got it in you or you haven’t. You’re either funny or you’re not’

 

North East funnyman Ross Noble tragically lost his home in the Australian bushfires but he bravely decided to go ahead with his UK tour which hit Newcastle for five sell-out nights in May 2009

By Michael Hamilton

Northumberland comedian Ross was at his farm in Victoria near Melbourne in February when the fires that have killed more than 200 people and destroyed more than 1000 homes - ripped through the property.

Luckily the 32-year-old comic, from Cramlington, escaped with his Australian wife Fran and four-month-old daughter Elf but the farm was completely destroyed in the inferno.

He said: ‘You just never think you’ll end up in the middle of something like that. You come so close to something so horrific and it makes you realise how lucky you are.’

At a warm-up gig at Billingham Forum Ross typically joked with the audience about the tragedy and improvised gags about his terrible loss.

‘I lost my home two weeks ago. If you want a piece of marital advice don’t say to your wife: “You do realise that technically I’m sleeping with a homeless woman.” It doesn’t really help!

‘I’ve just got the clothes I stand up in and one suitcase. Everything went. This new tour is called Things and I don’t have any which is delightful comic irony.

‘When the Pope sent his condolences to the people of Australia and lit a candle I thought: “Thanks your Holiness – that’s not really appropriate.’

poll

The comedy star made his name on celebrity TV quiz shows including BBC’s Have I Got News For You and Paul Merton’s Room 101.

He was voted 10th in a list of the 100 Greatest Stand Ups in a Channel 4 poll.

He simply loves playing to a live audience and revels in delighting fans with his surreal stream of consciousness ramblings. He can’t wait to do his five night stint back home at Newcastle’s City Hall from April 28-May 2.

He joked: ‘I’m looking forward to catching up with family and friends when I’m back up for the Newcastle shows. I've even relaxed my policy of forcing them to buy a ticket and only talking to me during the show!

‘By calling this show Things I’ve given myself the option of talking about whatever I like. I don’t think anyone’s going to walk out of the theatre shouting: “I’m furious he didn’t talk about things!”

‘I get such a buzz from an audience. What is great is that every night in a theatre is unique. That sense of joy only exists in that time and place - you can never recapture it. 

‘Also when you’re waiting in the wings to go on, there is a real energy that you can feel through the safety curtain. The audience gives off an indefinable energy even before they start laughing. 

‘When you stand on stage, that feeling is magnified a hundred times. I’m not a druggie person, but doing stand-up is like the best high you could possibly imagine – multiplied by several thousand.

‘That high keeps going to the end of the evening when everyone says: “Thanks for that” and claps. That sensation exists in your mind’s memory and your brain keeps going: “I want more of that.”

‘You can easily get hooked on it. If I haven’t done a gig for a while, I start hanging about in supermarkets trying to get laughs, and the woman at the checkout begins to think: “He’s lingering a bit, isn’t he?”

‘They should have the equivalent of methadone clinics for comedians, where they can gradually wean us off that desperate urge to get a laugh all the time!’

script

Ross, who began performing at the tender age of 15, has built a huge live following as one of the world’s great improvisers. 

‘Doing stuff off the cuff is what I love. When I’m on stage, I’ll say exactly what pops into my head. You don’t want to force it - you just let it happen and it flows out of you naturally. It’s just about being there. 

‘I’m not a big fan of shows that are just sort of reading off a script. I have an idea of what I want to talk about.

‘If somebody says something or catches my eye and they’re interesting, I’ll kind of like talk to them and make friends. Whatever happens there becomes one of the threads that weave through the show.

‘When I started out, I tried really hard to be what I thought a stand-up should be. For ages, I attempted to do a set act. 

‘But the more I did that, the further it went away from what I wanted. It didn’t really click until I threw that away completely and said to myself: “Stuff it! It’s just me and some people in a room - you don’t need anything else.”

‘On stage you can do what you want - as long as you’re yourself and people are laughing. As soon as I started to be myself, my comedy really took off.

He has won a string of awards for his shows and has toured extensively in the UK and Australia – where he spends six months of every year – for the last eight years.

‘Off stage, I can just drift off. It drives my wife mad because I’ll be saying something and will suddenly stop for no apparent reason. 

‘If I decide to do an everyday thing like going to the supermarket the chances are I’ll get distracted. That’s fine on stage because it doesn’t matter what order things are in.

milk

‘But if I have a specific shopping list, it can be maddening. It’s no good if I set out to get some milk and return home with an electric log splitter. If you want a cup of tea and you’re forced to use tree sap instead of milk, it doesn’t really work, does it?’

He is famous for engaging with his audience and interacting with hecklers. 

‘I am a naturally friendly person but I have a bit of a snapping point if I think people are taking liberties.

‘I do quite like getting into conversation with random strangers, but I also do like disappearing into my own head and I do get quite annoyed if I’m just trying to daydream a bit and it’s interrupted.’

At 11 it was discovered he suffered from dyslexia which led him away from a career dependent on academic skills. He had a brief stint as a street juggler and sold balloons as a stilt-walker before deciding on a career in comedy.

Although he studied performing arts at Newcastle College he is dismissive of the idea that you can learn comedy.

‘I don’t think you can learn comedy – you’ve either got it in you or you haven’t. I did a course that was the equivalent of an A Level and that was quite interesting.

‘You can go on a course and somebody can tell you to hold the mic like this. Somebody can tell you the way plays work and it doesn’t make you a great actor. You’re either funny or you’re not.’

http://www.rossnoble.co.uk/

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