Comedy Chat: James Acaster

James Acaster is from the UK and was a nominee for the 2012 and 2103 Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award. His show’s called Lawnmower and he’d love the Chilean miners from the Chilean miners news story to come along to his show, but anyone will do.

What MICF shows are you most looking forward to seeing?
The entire festival is one majestic show and I look forward to watching it unfold before my very eyes so my answer is the festival itself. And Matt Okine.

What makes MICF different from all the other festivals?
It’s the only one that will book me after ‘the incident’.

What comedians/performers have influenced you the most?Matthew McConaughey ten years from now.

What’s advice do you wish you’d been given before your first gigs?
Strut more, shimmy less, don’t chew gum on stage.

Do you do still your own flyering?
No way. I flyered for a month once but nothing great or horrific happened.  Once a guy completely lost it and yelled at me but that wasn’t during flyering that was during a film at the cinema and I deserved it because I was talking to my friend, Scrags, loudly about getting an allotment.

What’s the best (or worst) thing a review has said about you or your show?
“I just wish so much I could do what he does but I’ll never have the courage”. I forget the publication.

If you could invite anyone to see your show (and you know they would come), who would it be?
The Chilean Miners from the Chilean Miners news story.  Best news story ever, no contest.

What comedian (alive or dead) do you wish you’d seen live?
Freddy Stedman in heyday would’ve been incredible, especially when the crowd would sing along to his closing number.

When did you realise that being funny is the career for you?
When I looked into the eyes of a stranger on the bus and saw the infinite sadness within and I thought to myself, “Enough. I can’t stand by and let this continue. Let’s go to work.” I think that happened in 2009, maybe it was June.

What’s the best heckle you’ve received?
“You can’t mop to save your life,” from a co-worker during the clean down when I worked in a kitchen

Is there anything you’re not prepared to joke about?
The rainforest and IBS.