Debut solo tour comes to Birmingham.
Award-winning stand-up, podcaster and author, Kai Humphries, is currently on his first solo tour of the UK with his new show Gallivanting. He will be performing in Birmingham at the Glee Club on 29th October and took time out to talk.
Tell us about your new show, Gallivanting?
“It started off as a collection of anecdotes from my travels but then I realised as the show started taking form, how much travel and immersing myself in other cultures has shaped my world view. It’s a fun mix of story telling and opinions, dipping in and out of the battle between my thirst for adventure and societies pressure to burden your life with responsibility.”
What do you hope audiences take away from the show?
“I hope they leave feeling uplifted, I hope the road my audience members are on when they get to my show is enriched by our encounter and they feel inspired for the road ahead. The world has so many exciting things to experience and sometimes all you need to do is break your routines and get out in it to discover that, if you’re treating yourself to comedy shows you probably already know this.”
If you could gallivant somewhere right now, where would it be?
“A Newcastle United Champions League away game. Unfortunately it’s off the cards as we didn’t qualify. My team were in the tournament for the first time in over 20 years last season and my wife and I travelled to Milan and Paris to watch them play and we had the best time mixing our two favourite hobbies, travel and football. Hopefully it won’t be another 20 years before we can do it again.”
You have been travelling the world with your stand up, and we hear you have performed in fifty five countries to date. That is quite impressive. How much do audiences differ globally, and how much do you need to adjust your material depending on the location?
“I have a Geordie accent I have to be careful about being understood, this means performing drunk is out of the question as I slip into my native tongue after a couple of beers and a foreign audience wouldn’t stand a chance if I went full Geordie. Believe it or not I have to slow down a lot more for American audiences than I would for people listening in their second language somewhere like India.
“You have to use their words for things too, most countries would understand if you said “put the nappy in the bin on the pavement” whereas you’d need to say “put the diaper in the trash can on the side walk” to an American or they wont have the slightest clue. It’s important to switch back to British words when you get home though otherwise people will understand what you’re saying, but hate you. Don’t believe me, try calling it soccer to someone and find out.”
You have supported Daniel Sloss on his world tours – at what point did you decide to create your ‘Sloss and Humphries on the Road’ podcast, and what prompted its creation?
“It was 2016 and everything was becoming a bit more global on Daniels tours with the introduction of the European tour and festivals in Australia so we thought it would be cool to take everyone with us, the podcast was made as a tour journal so our audiences could continue to follow us on our adventures after the show, or if they’d already discovered the podcast before we got their they keep up with us in anticipation to our arrival in their city. We’ve taken them all over the world with us for almost 10 years.”
You two appear to have a very close friendship. How is life on the road with one of your besties?
“We’ve had some of the best times two friends could have, I’ve always said it’s like winning a gameshow prize to travel the world with one of your best mates, but there’s the side of it that doesn’t reach instagram, where we’re sat on our own at opposite ends of the airport reading books, or one of us doing some tourism while the other has a nap.
We know exactly when to give each other space on the road so we don’t get under each other’s skin, because that’s an intense amount of time to spend with any person. Even married couples don’t have that level of exposure to each other. We very rarely fall out and when we do it’s hilarious because we’re both impossible to offend, sometimes we’ll both be having a laugh digging into each-other and the people around us get uncomfortable because the things we say would ruin most other friendships.”
We understand that your hobbies range from boxing to knitting – how did you get into knitting, and what has been your proudest creation?
“What’s the opposite to Toxic? It was ‘wholesome’ masculinity that made us start knitting. We’re competitive and we wanted to see who would be the best at something if neither of us had a head start by already having more experience in the pursuit. The only thing we could think of that neither of us had an advantage in was knitting. We gave ourselves a year to make each-other a Christmas jumper, we both got ridiculously good at it. We never put it to judgement who’s Christmas jumper was the best, but we both know it was the one I made. It remains to be my proudest creation.”
You have supported some of the UKs biggest comedians globally – how does it feel to be heading out on your first solo UK tour?
“It’s an honour borrowing the crowd from the likes of Jim Jefferies, Doug Stanhope, Rhod Gilbert and of course my pal Daniel Sloss, it’s like getting to take their Lamborghini for a spin. It’s about time I got myself a nice car of my own, I’m actually looking forward to passing the keys to some very funny comedians I know to warm up the engine for me this time.”
You organised an award-winning charity event comprising of comedians boxing. Who surprised you with their hidden skills, or lack of them?
“I was most surprised that every comedian I asked to do it said yes without hesitation, regardless of their ability. Maybe conquering the fear of standing on stage in front of a crowd also conquers the fear of being punched square in the face. The bravery of what they did to create the spectacle that raised enough money to save a young child’s life will never be forgotten. Every man and woman who stepped in the ring that day is an actual real life hero.”
Your show explores trying to strike a balance between the responsibilities of ‘growing up’ and maintaining that thirst for travel and adventure. How has life on the road changed for you over the last decade?
“The first tour I did with Daniel Sloss we were single and in our 20’s but to save money we’d share a hotel room unless it was a weekend where we’d get a room each in case we got lucky (we rarely did). The last tour we were middle aged on a luxury tour bus with Daniel’s pregnant wife Kara, entertaining their toddler and my new best friend Caelan. My wife joined us briefly but our family business running a soft play for dogs limited how much time she could spend on the tour. That’s two very different lifestyles right there, both very different tour experiences that were perfect for who we were then and who we’ve grown to be now.”
We hear you have written a book. Tell us about that.
“It’s very passive aggressive. I wrote it as a series of daily blogs on one of our tours and compiled them into a book. It’s written as if I’m not actually a stand-up comedian, but a behavioural scientist deep undercover as Daniel Sloss’ support act so I can study him closely over the course of a tour. I document all of his idiosyncrasies and behaviour patterns as a case study in the name of science. I recommend anyone doing this with someone they spend too much time with, it’s very cathartic if you have any complaints about them. It’s called “Inside Daniel Sloss” you can get it on the kindle.”
Kai Humpries plays the Glee Club, Birmingham on 29th October.