Punchline Comedy brings back the always rib-tickling talents of Whose Line Is It Anyway? to Shenzhen on May 23 (buy tickets here, and for just RMB190 before May 9) and Shanghai on May 25 and 26 (buy tickets here). Expect plenty of improv hijinks as the UK’s Andy Smart, Stephen Frost and Niall Ashdown, and Irishman Ian Coppinger build the show based on audience suggestions. We chat with Coppinger about his theatrical roots, Ireland's best comedy club and returning to China.
You're a fixture in Ireland's comedy circles. How did you get started in stand-up and who were some of your early influences?
I actually started in school doing my first show at the age of 16. I was in a double act then. I didn't start doing stand up until many years later. I was very much influenced by Monty Python, they always really made me laugh. I also loved Charlie Chaplin.
Dublin has a thriving comedy scene. Are there any aspects of it that make it different than others around the world?
There is a pub where I do comedy called the International Bar, where most Irish comedians started out. It is Ireland's longest running comedy club, and what makes it so great is that it is a very small room, so you don't use a microphone. The audience are packed in tightly and sometimes even sit up on the stage. It is the most raw comedy experience you will ever have, there is nowhere to hide. It's great.
You co-founded the Dublin Comedy Improv in 1992. What were the early days like for the group, and is it still going on?
We were just a few young comedians trying to do something new in Ireland. It was great fun. The joy of doing improv is that you are making your fellow performers laugh as much as you are the paying audience. So you are always just having a laugh. We are still going after all these years, and still perform every Monday in the International Bar.
You've also had some acting roles in some prestigious plays like 12 Angry Men and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Is acting still a pursuit of yours, and is it a completely different mindset to do comedy compared to drama?
I did love acting, but it is very different discipline than comedy. It's great to do, but you are restricted by the script. I prefer the freedom of improvised comedy. But, having said that, I would love to do some acting again.
You have said previously that the human pyramid was the toughest suggestion you've faced on Who's Line. Has anyone topped that in terms of originality or just difficulty?
We always get great suggestions, but I do think that the human pyramid was still the toughest, only because its a thing that middle aged men should never try, not even in private, but certainly not in front of a semi drunk crowd cheering them on.
Shenzhen
May 23, 8pm, Hard Rock Cafe. RMB190 early bird price before May 9, RMB220 after, buy tickets here.
Shanghai
May 25, 8pm, Cages Bar and Sports. RMB290, buy tickets here.
May 26, 8pm, Blossoms, Kerry Hotel Pudong, RMB290, buy tickets here.
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