Comic Larry Dean talks at length about his new show.
Three-time Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Larry Dean is embarking on his biggest UK tour to date, including Bimingham’s Glee Club on November 27th. Here he tells Mark Wareham how his granny, his autism and his love of Elvis all come together in brand new show Dodger.
Your name always makes me laugh. The first time I heard it I thought this guy’s got to be American. Larry Dean! It sounds like you should be a news anchor or a chat-show host…
“There’s a Larry Dean serial killer as well.”
Where are you today?
“I just played London Bloomsbury. It was fun but a hell of a comedown afterwards. It’s funny touring, you go from being with 500 people and you meet some of them afterwards. Then you leave a completely empty theatre and walk home by yourself.”
You’ve just kicked off the new tour…
“Yeah it runs to next April. The perception of touring is you’re going to have a rock and roll lifestyle and loads of partying but you put in so much energy to make the show as good as possible that the rest of the time it’s like you’re on mute. You’re completely exhausted. And then for that one or two hours a day when you’re on stage, all your energy gets let out.”
So there’s no sex ’n’ drugs ’n’ rock ’n’ roll after a gig, it’s just a nice peppermint tea and a book?
“I usually just watch something on Netflix. If I’ve got a gig the next day I don’t want to be hungover. It’s nice when people ask me out for a drink afterwards but I’m absolutely not going to be hungover for my next tour date. Also, the high you get from performing a show that people are enjoying is better than any alcohol I’ve ever had. Unless someone’s looking to recommend something, I’m happy to try…”
Have you got a support act with you or are you on the road by yourself?
“A lot of the time I’ve been doing my own support. I used to always have a support act, but I like to open for myself sometimes. I find when I do both myself, it feels like we’ve already bonded by the time I do the main show.”
Explain the title, Dodger.
“I knew the show was going to be about my gran and I knew there was going to be stuff to do with Elvis Presley. Elvis used to call his gran Dodger and my gran managed to avoid lots of trouble in her life so it kind of worked. People have asked if it’s a reference to a joke I used to do about dodging vaginas and I thought, ‘Oh no, poor granny!’.”
Can you tell us a bit more about it…
“I started doing work-in-progress shows last year and I was chatting about my gran having dementia. But then she died last December. So it’s become about my gran’s dementia and how I knew nothing about it and how loads of people don’t know anything about it. Dementia’s got so many negatives but it can be funny. But I also talk about how I was a big Elvis fan as a kid and still am.
“And there’s stuff about my partner Mikey. We’ve always been friends and then we ended up getting into a relationship. So aye, quite a lot of themes. I also tell how I went for an autism assessment last year and got diagnosed. Loads of people have traits of level 1 autism or OCD or ADHD and sometimes the traits are there because of stuff that’s happened in your life so I kind of veer off from there…”
That’s a lot to pack into an hour Larry!
“Well that’s why I’ve been having to do the support slots myself. My grannies were so influential on me as a kid but so was Elvis. So those were the three main people in my life when I was a kid. My grannies and Elvis.”
Didn’t you used to be an Elvis impersonator?
“As a kid I used to do it. I made a couple of public appearances as a child Elvis impersonator in Tenerife.”
Any footage?
“Absolutely not. I’m so glad my parents didn’t own a camcorder because that would have come back to haunt me. I was 9 or 10 and I sang Blue Suede Shoes in front of all these partygoer people. The guy who came on after me was a stripper so obviously I had to leave straight after that performance.”
What do you say about your autism in the show? A lot of comedians are talking about it right now.
“A lot of comedians are getting diagnosed. You have to check what they’re doing because you don’t want to do the same show. I think my angle’s a bit different because I’m questioning and interrogating all the reasons why I got diagnosed. When you look up any traits to do with autism or ADHD or OCD, a lot of them can be exactly the same as someone that’s suffered a trauma.
“But the point of the show isn’t how I got diagnosed or how Nanny has dementia. The point I’ve ended up stumbling on is that the best way of summarising my personality isn’t autistic, it isn’t gay, it’s not Scottish… it’s literally that I’m a Nanny’s boy.”
Were you always going to be a comedian?
“When I was 18 I got involved in a bad group. I got offered a place in Southampton for a performing degree so I moved down there to get away from this group that was getting me into trouble. So I ended up getting into it that way. But I always enjoyed being funny.”
When you’re working on a show, do you have a script or just notes? How does it evolve?
“I don’t usually use a script but I do make notes. But by the time I’m touring I know the show. Thank god cos it takes so long to memorise. My memory is so bad. But as soon as I start being able to remember it then I can start improvising. And that’s actually where the best stuff comes from. For me if I write something and go on stage with it I’m a bit dead behind the eyes. Maybe I’m just dead behind the eyes in general.”
Are you big on social media and TikTok?
“I am. It’s so hard to keep on top of it though. When I first started doing stand-up all you needed to do was write, perform and travel. Now you have to write, perform, travel, film, edit and get your sound sorted. There’s also podcasts. Also you need to hire social media people to help. It’s like a completely full-time job in itself.”
Who are your comedy heroes?
“Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, Jim Carrey… And Billy Connolly obviously. But I tended to grow up watching movies with Williams and Carrey. With Pryor, the more you watch, especially his Live In Concert, the more you see how dark some of his stuff is, but at the same time he’s still doing impersonations of his dogs. I think that’s the best show of all time. It’s so silly but so poignant.”
You’ve done quite a lot of TV as well, panel shows, obviously Live At The Apollo. Do you enjoy all that?
“It’s a shame that panel shows are not as common as they were. I absolutely loved doing Mock The Week, which was such a huge thing and stepping stone for comics. But now things have moved more into different tv and digital shows which I’m enjoying – I really loved the podcast I did recently with Stacey Dooley on BBC Sounds. But I think my fondest memories will always be doing stand up, and Live at the Apollo was really a dream come true. And it’s great that there’s still so much of that I can do on TV and social media.”
Now you see YouTube comics playing Wembley and you’ve never heard of them. I’m a bit out of touch.
“I must be getting on as well because I feel exactly the same. I think transferring online success to live success is one of the hardest things to do. I think if someone can do that, fair play to them. I know I had to do it the other way round. I needed to get good at comedy live before I had the confidence to do anything online. And I’m glad worked the clubs for so long as it’s made me able to handle anything thrown at me (sometimes literally).”
Are there any places you particularly enjoy playing?
“I always love Bristol. And London. I’m one of the weird comics who loves gigging in London. Loads of comics don’t. It’s the same reason I love gigging in Edinburgh because you get a very international crowd. If everybody’s from the same city you have to make it about them but if you have an international audience it’s more about everybody in the room.”
What about home gigs?
“I honestly always need an extra pair of pants when I play Glasgow. I get so nervous. If something bad happens at my gig I’ll hear about it from somebody who wasn’t at the gig but their second cousin’s best friend’s girlfriend has told someone and then it’s just scuttled back at me while I’m sitting at the kitchen table with my uncle.”
