At the time of this interview, Ryan Gough had been gigging up and down the country for a year, a relative newcomer with forty gigs under his belt. He was looking at hitting a hundred gigs by the end of 2002. In the daytime he was working as a Bank Manager - a slight contrast!

Ryan - let's kick off with finding out how you started performing comedy -  and what motivates you to keep performing?

It was always my ambition to perform comedy at some point. It has always been my first love, when I was growing up in Birmingham in the mid-eighties all the mullet-sporting school-kids used to be ultra cool and show their "Joshua tree" albums  around the playground and there was me with my vinyl copy of "Jasper Carrott live in Mansfield". I knew something was wrong! I was and still am passionate about comedy of all kinds. From Monty Python to Rising Damp, from Morecambe and Wise to Father Ted. in your adolescence everyone fantasises about being a footballer or rock star.....I just wanted to be on Saturday Live !

I was living with a girl for five years who always said that I shouldn't do it because I would be embarrassingly unfunny, I split with her in 1998 and did my first ever gig the following year at a tiny little plastic Irish pub in Birmingham called "Scruffy Murphy's". Because I was very nervous I invited twenty of my mates to come down and beef out the applause. When they turned up they were the only audience there ! Because the compere thought that all of the crowd would leave after my spot, he decided to put me on last. So there I was, my first ever gig and I headlined (it has never happened since). It was a big success and I think I found something that night that I truly loved.

About a month later, I moved to Jersey for eighteen months with my work where there the only (so called) comedy is in the Cabaret Clubs (Scouse stereotypes, Irish Jokes and "you shouldn't drink on an empty head" heckler put-downs). I moved back to Birmingham in late 2000 and I have been gigging regularly ever since.

What keeps me going is my single-minded determination to get better and maximise stage-time. I am always e-mailing and phoning around for gigs.  I think this is coupled with the fact that I dislike my daytime job so much, so without sounding arty-farty comedy is a magnificent outlet.  It helps me get through the day.

Comedy - a great alternative to Prozac! So what part do you think that promoters, critics and punters play in the growth of new comedy?

I think in comedy it is a revolving wheel and we need to see new blood, otherwise it would get very boring and predictable. People tend to get paranoid about promoters and think that they are just doing it to pad out the evening and are not bothered about encouraging new talent. At the end of the day why analyse it ? They are giving you ten minutes on their stage for you to make a crowd of punters laugh end of story, you are getting stage-time so why worry ? I have been so fortunate to be on the same bill as many top acts such as Andy Parsons, Hattie Hayridge, Reginald D. Hunter, Mitch Benn, Hal Cruttenden and Roger Monkhouse. I have received paid work, expenses, a meal and a free bar. While the Manchester Uniteds listed above are all experienced headliners, I am still in the Northwich Victoria camp

Who?!

...and have to be grateful of what I have got until it is time to move on up to another level. I think it only takes one promoter to give you paid twenty spots before word spreads! and you will find yourself doing more regular paid gigs.

Because I rarely gig down in the smoke, I haven't been reviewed. I think the main comedy critic is that guy from Chortle. He is definitely the "Simon Cowell off Pop Idol" of the comedy world. A lot of acts take to heart what he and indeed other critics say and to be honest I would, no-one likes a bad review. I think that it can negatively motivate you to perform better and it easy to forget that it is only one persons opinion.

I think that the two monsters of the comedy promoting world, "Avalon" and "Off the Kerb" will always be scouting for new acts on the circuit. It is a booming business with a profitable comedy club in nearly every UK town. Comedy will always be there in clubs around the country and I think there will always be a new influx of talent regularly.

Punters play a key part, some are so comedically clued up. I regularly talk to punters after the show and always listen (it doesn't mean I act upon) their feedback. I was doing a gig in Altrincham a few weeks ago and this punter spoke to me after and said that I should re-word a gag as it would get a bigger laugh. I tried it the following night and it stormed ! They are great for advertising as well as a "word of mouth" recommendation from a paying customer can really swell a crowd size.

What have you personally found to be the best way to contact promoters - and get gigs?

Most of the gigs I have got have been from the Virginmirth site (Cheers Marek!), I must have e-mailed every gig on this site and probably got about a 60% success rate, in addition to that I tend to just search the UK web under the title "comedy clubs", there are a few not advertised on virginmirth which I have found and got gigs from.

Well, let me know what they are!

When I do a gig and without arselicking I will always talk to the promoter or compere and if I pull off a reasonable performance I will hand out my telephone number and get theirs. Networking off stage is half the battle. I will also telephone promoters and request gigs, I always hope to get their answering machine as you can give a quick verbal resume and recommendations. Never be disappointed though, the Geoff Whitings and Silky's of this world are not being rude if they don't reply straight away, they are just inundated with another hundred open-mikers eager to play their clubs. I can honestly say that nothing has never really not worked, it is just a question of being patient.

Ryan - what impresses you most about a club?

Simple, a crowded room !, I have been to gigs where I have driven a hundred miles and turned up and there have been eight people shivering in a dingy upstairs function room at an unpublicised comedy club. The excellent promotion of a gig does wonders for me. Such as the "Last Laugh" in Sheffield, "The Buzz" in Manchester or "The Chuckle Club" in London.
All superb clubs, all packed out each week, all have regular comperes and a loyal following of punters. I like a good P.A. system, I have only ever done one gig 'unplugged' because the mike was naff, it doesn't bother me about having a stage because I am 6 foot 5 anyway and everyone can see me !

 - and what just doesn't?

What I don't like about gigs is (as said earlier) lack of publicity, a bad compere who doesn't warm them up, free gigs - no-one has invested their money in having a laugh. Some other open-spotter said to me once that he hated heckling at gigs and think that a 'no heckling rule' across the whole of British Comedy Clubs would be a good idea. I refused to believe that in my limited experience, hecklers (apart from the drunken aggressive variety) can really add to the show and improve your confidence as a performer.


How do you see yourself progressing in the Comedy World and beyond?

I would just like to ideally turn full-time at it and ending up as a paid act, and that is where my ambition ends ! Simple, I hate my job in the day, I love comedy, I would just like to be a professional stand-up, gigging up and down the country seven nights a week if possible. Even though I have done quite a bit of TV Extra work in Dalziel & Pascoe and Casualty, a lot of people want to move into acting but that doesn't really interest me. It may be a year, five years or ten years down the line but I know with determination, passion and honing and developing my act, I feel it is not a million miles away for me to turn pro.

If there are three pieces of advice for new acts what would they be?

In three simple words: Perform, write and network !

Perform: After e-mailing and phoning around it is pretty obvious that you are going to get a gig, therefore be prepared to travel. The majority of gigs are in the week so ask the boss for a couple of hours off and if you don't drive jump on the Virgin Supersaver. If you do have a car use it to your advantage. When e-mailing promoters always say that you have a car and are available at short notice. You can also volunteer to offer a lift to any other acts who are on the bill who live in your area. A touch unorthodox you might think but it can soon get you up the waiting list. I have a deal with a top anonymous Jongleurs act who lives by me and doesn't drive. If he has a gig out of Birmingham and he needs transport, he has a word with the promoter to see if he can fit me on the bill for ten minutes. That way he gets his lift and door-to-door service and it saves him forking out for a B&B that night, and I get more stage time, more confidence and I get to receive valued! constructive comedic feedback on the way home ! Everyone's a winner.

Write: Take a notebook with you at all times, even to work. I work as a Bank Manager and the material I have gathered and built on from Complaining Customers is untrue. Find a mate who shares the same sense of humour as you as a sounding board. Get together, at work, at home, down the pub. Write bullet points in  your notebook and just build on them later, if a gag is not working just leave it and come back to it later, be patient.

If you run your new gag past anyone and they say "it is not funny" it doesn't matter - go with your gut instinct and write it anyway. It'll probably work.

Network: Always be pleasant and polite without being a wallflower off stage. I know open spots with egos who tell me how they are the best thing since the 1976 heat wave. It doesn't take a lot for other acts and promoters to be turned off and that can lead to severe lack of future bookings. You hear people talking about acts and say "yeah he is a nice guy off stage as well"...that certainly goes a long way so stick to it. Never bitch about another act...it is a cliquey business and it may just be their best mate you are talking to at the time. (I have seen that happen and I cringed for days after at the person who said it). If you 'storm' don't go round saying you were deadly. Granted there is nothing wrong with self-confidence or self-belief but let other people compliment you. You can turn on your ego behind closed doors when you get home. After performing for a promoter ask him about a future booking - don't mention money yet ! Promoters will generally want to see you ! doing an unpaid ten or twenty before they consider parting with crisp notes.

Also make friends with other open spots at your level, these are your new workmates and they should be valued. You will probably be doing a gig in their hometown in six months time and you will probably need a bed for the night or vice versa. Just keep on going for it. Record your gigs, listen to them, what got the big laughs ? what didn't ? . Also develop a super thick skin, believe in yourself, believe in comedy. Remember with a smile your good gigs, forget the bad ones after learning from them. Focus on the positives, I know that me driving three hours on a pissing down Sunday evening from my warm and comfy  Birmingham home risking death in the rainstorms taking a wrong turning off the M4 and ending up at Heathrow Airport, panicking, driving at 30 miles per hour with a broken heater and arriving late at Bracknell Comedy Festival only to die on my arse in a late five minute spot happened for a reason.

Thanks, Ryan - and remember to send me additions to the Virginmirth listings!!