Alicia chats to Irish TV comic Neil Delamere on the rise of his career, his addiction to The Wire and picking on the wrong audience member...
If you asked someone outside of Ireland who Neil Delamere is; chances are they may find it difficult to put a name to a face. If you asked someone in Ireland who Neil Delamere is; they would look at you as though you'd asked a very silly question. For the 31-year-old is a superstar in his hometown. “I wouldn't quite say a superstar”, laughs Delamere. “There's a law in this country that if you call yourself a superstar you'll be shot”. Sounding appreciative, the stand-up comic explains how loyal his Irish fans are. “I could be in Australia doing a show, and everyone in the room will be Irish. Except one Australian who will be looking around the room thinking 'where the **** am I?'”
Delamere may have loyal fans now, but it wasn't always this way. He tells a story of when he did his first show at Edinburgh in 2004. “My manager gave me a box of chocolates at the end of the show”, he explains. “I gave every member of the audience a chocolate from the box. Now, you know you're not doing well for numbers if you've run out of people to give them to and you haven't even got to the second layer”.
So how did he make the transition from studying Computer Applications at university to the world of stand-up? “That's a good question, it's different from the usual 'who are your influences'”, laughs Delamere. He tells me he didn't really like the degree, which he only completed because his brother did: “I knew it would guarantee a job. It was a stop-gap before I did what it was I really wanted to do”. Citing shows such as Cheers, MASH and Blackadder as his influences, he then embarked on his first show. “I was so nervous that now I can't remember a thing about it”.
In 2001, he got his big break when he entered a stand-up competition in Ireland and won, using the competition money to give up work and focus on his comedy career. Fast forward to July 2009 and Delamere is on the widely popular Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow- an appearance that gave his career an even bigger push.
“I've known Michael for years and was delighted to get the call. It's such a big show so it was good to jump on the bandwagon and piggyback on his success. We were just lucky to be associated with such a good product”, he enthuses.
For the past two weeks, the comedian has been holed up watching the box-set of the internationally successful US show The Wire which might explain some of his language. “I've watched all 12 episodes of the second series in two days and I just keep wanting to talk like a Baltimore drug dealer”, he laughs. “I was going to make an analogy between selling heroine and...maybe I should just stop talking”. Yes Neil, maybe you should.
Delamere has been busy filming three TV shows in the past nine months, which is why he is not performing at the Edinburgh Fringe this year. “You should never hastily put together a show which you don't believe in because you'll get found out”, he explains. “If you don't believe in it, you won't deliver it with the gusto that is needed and you can't give the audience a weak product”. Ah, there goes that Baltimore drug dealer talk again.
He may not be performing at Edinburgh, but he is delivering a five-night run at the Soho Theatre this August, showcasing his favourite parts from previous shows and chatting with the audience. He just has to be careful not to pick on the wrong person: “Once I had five minutes to spare at the end of a show, so I asked this guy what had happened to his arm-it looked like it was in a sling”, he explains. Only it wasn't in a sling - the man had one arm. “I just stood there and thought 'God, this is awkward'. Luckily, the man wasn't offended and found it funny.”
After selling two platinum-status DVDs, winning numerous awards and appearing on TV, it's easy to see why Delamere wouldn't have any other job. But if he wasn't doing stand-up, what would he be doing? “Based on my recent viewing, I'd say selling heroine in high rise blocks, that would be quite glamorous wouldn't it?”, he says playfully. “No seriously, I can't imagine doing anything else. Comedy came along, forced me against my will and made me love it”.
Neil Delamere will be at at the Solo Theatre from 2nd-7th August.
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