Theatre / ivo graham
Standup Ivo Graham on the inspiration behind his acclaimed debut theatre show: ‘I think about the past constantly’
Known for a self-deprecation that belies his enviable intellect, wit and lyricism, “apologetically posh” standup Ivo Graham has been performing comedy since his late teenage years – despite what he calls “extensive grooming for more serious careers at Eton and Oxford”.
Now in his early 30s, he has written eight sell-out solo standup hours, made numerous radio and TV appearances, supported Josh Widdicombe on tour and written a book, Yardsticks for Failure, set for release in Spring 2025.
Along with his best friend and fellow standup Alex Kealy, Graham also originated the Gig Pigs podcast, chronicling the pair’s enduring love of live music, one gig – and many digressions – at a time.
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In 2019, Graham became father to a daughter; an experience that altogether changed him, and became one of the inspirations for his first foray into theatre.
A meditative, candid and temporally rich exploration of his own life, the construction of Carousel has offered Graham the chance to weave an emotionally charged tapestry without the safety net that a standup stage can provide. As a result, it has resonated very strikingly with audiences.
The show is currently touring, and comes to Bristol Old Vic’s Weston Studio for three nights, beginning on February 4.
Ahead of the run, Graham shared some insights as to what the theatrical experience has unlocked for him.
Ivo Graham, Yardsticks For Failure (to be published Spring 2025) – photo: Hardline
At what point did you realise that the subjects explored in Carousel were best expressed in a play, rather than in standup form?
“I think the best standup works at that perfect nexus between reality and escapism; comedy and tragedy. I should try and do more standup at that midpoint rather than pissing about with games and gifts indefinitely. But I also wanted to do a show about thoughts in my head that you really couldn’t put in a standup show for more than maybe five sneaky minutes at the three-quarter mark. I am greedy. I wanted a bigger platform for my pretension.”
In what ways has working in an adjacent artform surprised or freed you?
“Amid a chaotic life that has become especially stressful of late (see: the show), and with very few other good habits in place barring the odd marathon (clang!), I did not realise how phenomenally and almost meditatively satisfying it would be to hone one script and then learn it and say it over and over again every day with as little deviation as possible.
“Not all of the show is fun to do but the whole show was almost always the calmest and proudest hour of my day at the Fringe. If I could do three of these shows a day and there was the demand for them and I could guarantee that my voice would hold up, I would have done three a day. Is there no ceiling to this man’s self-absorption?!”
Ivo Graham – photo: Matt Stronge
How has becoming a parent changed your relationship with your own parents?
“It has done so in a whole host of almost entirely positive but adjacently complicated ways that I cannot even begin to pick apart here. But needless to say, seeing my dad bouncing on their trampoline with my daughter, or my mum driving her on the back of her scooter: it’s just about as good as my life gets. (Bar Glastonbury perhaps).”
Could you describe ways in which you have confronted or reframed your own childhood, while witnessing life through your daughter’s eyes?
“I think about the past constantly, to an extent that I don’t think it would be overdramatic to call emotional self-harm, but I don’t think about my own childhood too much, safe in the knowledge that at this age (five) I was by all accounts broadly loving life, and being very well raised by my parents before they sent me off to boarding school two years later, which I accept is a more controversial approach (though I broadly enjoyed it).
“I want to be as much like my memories of my young parents as I can be. The main difference is there’s only a tiny amount of footage of me from 1995 (grainy and gorgeous as it is) whereas I have recorded hundreds of hours of my daughter’s life with a mania for chronicling which has arguably become its own problem. ‘But you got to see some of this footage man!’ I am the Paul Thomas Anderson of the soft play.”
Photo: Matt Stronge
Do you think your emotional life has deepened in recent years, and with what impact?
“By a factor of five, or 10, or 20, or whatever number sounds huge without being overdramatic. A fuck of a lot has happened and it’s included all the highest highs and all the lowest lows so far. I hate to keep coming back to this, but a lot of it really is in the show.”
How have audience responses to Carousel affected you?
“If my sole job was to sit in a warm and well-lit room replying to DMs about the show, and bouncing parasocially back and forth into every interaction, I think it would be a very nice job. However, I think it might be quite the solipsistic quicksand to try and ever get out of, so it’s important that I set limits on my social media usage, lock my phone in a box for hours at a time, and either dance to music in my flat, or, heaven forbid, go outside.”
Photo: Matt Stronge
Ivo Graham: Carousel is at The Weston Studio, Bristol Old Vic on February 4-6 at 8pm. Limited tickets are available at www.bristololdvic.org.uk.
Graham’s book Yardsticks for Failure: A Journey Down the Sinkhole of Not Getting Stuff Done (Headline) is set for release in May 2025, and available for pre-order now.
Main photo: Ivo Graham
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