The beautiful silence before the laughter

As part of his 2022 standup tour of King Crud, Jamali Maddix will be coming to The Redgrave Theatre for two dates in February (2 and 12).

In recent years the acclaimed comic has also found success as a writer, documentary maker, podcaster and TV regular – most recently in Channel 4’s Taskmaster and the return of Never Mind the Buzzcocks (Sky), in which he is a regular panelist.

He chatted with Bristol 24/7 about being more honest on stage, the magic of the moment before a laugh hits, and exactly what his mum thinks about his comedy.

You’re just about to embark on a UK tour of King Crud, with lots of sold out shows, extra dates getting added, etc. What are your expectations for the next few months, getting back onto a standup stage?

“Yeah I’m feeling good about it. I was meant to be touring during the pandemic and I obviously had to cancel shows, but I was one of the lucky ones – I had done maybe 70 per cent of my UK tour when it stopped. It feels good now to be back on the road; I’m one of those guys who likes travelling, and being on the road for a month or two doesn’t bother me. I’m happy about it. I’ve done my American leg already too, with 15 dates last summer.”

How did you find American audiences? Did you have to change your pacing or style of delivery?

Those things do apply, and I do slow down in general, but that was maybe my third tour in America. I was doing gigs in Europe back in my early 20s, and I’ve done it enough times now that after the first or second gig in a different place, I know to slow it down and update the references; “it’s trash can not bin”, you know? Once you do all that it becomes easier. It kind of makes you change your act a bit though.

Do you do new material abroad, or use it as an opportunity to write new stuff?

Yeah I write new stuff; when you say universal concepts it makes it sound like you’re trying to write more mainstream stuff but you’ve got to write stuff that is based more on the human condition than it is on an area. We all have love, we all have heartbreak, we all experience these massive feelings universally – from England to India, it doesn’t matter.

So I’m definitely writing about that stuff more, rather than UK-centric or topical stuff. It’s so interesting writing about something that’s happening right now, and putting a comical twist on it – but the problem is it burns. If you did a ‘Boris Johnson had a party’ joke now it would be a bit old, and it only happened the other day.

Jamali Maddix – photo: Matt Crockett

Is it getting harder to balance the different roles of writer, documentary maker, TV regular and standup?

Well, yes and no. You just have to work harder, and I like working, so I don’t worry. When it comes to balancing, right now while I’m touring I’m focused on that. I’m really aware that times are tight right now, and people coming out to the tour have paid good money to come and see me, so I want to give them a good show, and I feel Iike I should give them my full attention and my focus.

I can’t guarantee you’re going to love it but I can guarantee I’m going to try. All that other TV stuff is cool, but I can work on developing ideas, and all that other stuff on the days when I’m not on tour.

Are you able to be yourself on stage a bit more, whereas on TV they necessarily have to boil you down to a persona at times?

Completely. That’s why I think all the other stuff is cool and I like doing it, but standup is what I love. That s**t is for my soul.

Can you outline a little about the content of the show?

Every time I go on tour I get asked about the concept behind it, and my response is always “It’s just a standup show”. I never really follow the concept of ‘the Edinburgh show’ where things are wrapped up neatly at the end, but I think this is my most narrative show to date. If I explain the content it makes it sound really unfunny, but basically I’m 30 now, and a lot of important, pivotal moments have happened to me all in the space of a year.

I’m also trying to be the most honest I’ve ever been with this show. I always felt being honest was about saying what you felt about things, but I think this is the most honest I’ve been in terms of talking about myself and my feelings. I’ve never really done that before. Don’t get me wrong, there are still a lot of jokes in it, but it’s more personal too.

And it’s draining to do that on stage. Even now, I’m talking about things that were quite shit in my life, and to be repeatedly talking about them is quite upsetting, but that’s the job. You realise once you do certain things how relatable it becomes to certain people, and there’s so much humour in it, that even if it’s sad, you have to revel in it. I’m looking forward to it.

Jamali Maddix – King Crud tour shot – photo: Matt Crockett

What most excites when you’re on a standup stage? Do you ever get into that hyper state some comics talk about where you’re able to do things on stage that wouldn’t necessarily come during the writing process?

If I’m killing, yeah. It doesn’t happen all the time but sometimes yeah, it’ll happen. I call it being in the pocket. That’s a high point of doing comedy. But for me, that highest point comes when something hits; you hit that right moment, you say that thing, and then it’s the silence before the laughter. I enjoy that silence; that’s my favourite part of the show.

Since you have toured quite a lot by now, are you finding that people are coming back and bringing new friends with them? You must be growing your audience every time.

I definitely see some change in the audience but I still see people I recognise. My favourite guy that comes back is in his 70s or 80s, and he comes to my show in Australia every year. He sits on the front row, every time, and I bury him. I say the most horrible sh*t to him, and he loves it. He comes back every year, without fail. If I don’t say anything to him, he is looking at me like “bro, where’s my jokes?” So I get those type of people, and they’re the people I like to see.

Do your family come along?

Yes quite a lot of them do, especially now to big shows like the Hackney Empire. But my mum and my dad always came, from the start. My mum doesn’t get it, she doesn’t like it; she says “why is it so nasty and dirty?” I said to her the other day, “how would you class my comedy?” and she said “controversial”. I mean, there are some bad bits, but I said “relax! I’m not doing 80s comedy”. She’ll come anyway though.

Jamali Maddix – King Crud (age recommendation 16+) is at Redgrave Theatre, Percival Rd, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 3LE on February 12 at 8pm, with an extra date now added on February 2. Tickets are available from www.redgravetheatre.com.

Main photo: Matt Crockett

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