With the Magners Comedy Festival and Macau Irish Festival going down, Punchline Comedy has lined up a triple-headlining bill that’s all Irish and all-fun. Andrew Stanley is a favorite at comedy festivals around the world and the resident MC at Dublin’s legendary Comedy Cellar. Karl Spain has brought his cracking wit worldwide with his Spain, Ireland and Beyond tour. Rounding things out is the laid-back John Lynn, dubbed the “the rising star of Irish comedy” by the Sunday Times. We chat with Lynn about his teaching days and how to handle high praise.
Welcome to China. We’re very excited to have you here. Will this be your first time here? If so, what are you hoping to see and do. If not, how were your past experiences here?
Thanks for having me, excited to be here. Well I haven’t since my previous incarnation as the Emperor, I don’t wanna say which one in case it puts the audience off, but lets say I liked Terracotta and I was paranoid about safety. Listen, it’s great to be back, I won’t be looking for conquest and plunder this time, my other previous life as a Himayalan tree sloth has really helped me chill out so there’ll be no one put to death on a whim or buildings erected this time. Promise.
How did you get into comedy? Was it something you always aspired to get into?
I remember the first time I saw Bingo the clown when I was seven and my skin my began to glow. It was at that moment that I knew comedy blood flowed through my clown veins. My parents, kept telling the neighbours ‘we’re quite worried, he's a really funny kid, something isn’t quite right’. I wanted to be an eye surgeon and enrich peoples lives but mum and dad kept saying:’fuck it, get your strange ass down to the open mic night and hit the road.’ Then I bumped into Bill Cosby at my local pharmacy, and he told me my hair my funny and from that day things have been a relentless rollercoaster of blinding success and public adoration.
Who are some of your early comedy influences?
I kinda knew Colum McDonnell though mutual friends so I went to see him gig and loved the vibe with the Dublin scene. I saw some guys die glorious deaths and I thought, well screw it,they’re not actually expired, just a bit crushed, lets roll the dice. I walked up to Andrew Stanley after a show, said I knew Colum, give us five minutes and boom, here we are, a decade later in China.
For people who might not know who you are, how would you describe your comedy style?
Well, one lady asked me was I the lord returned, and I said: Only when I get on that stage baby. The stage and I are one, I can’t live without the stage and it’s sure as shit can’t live without me. Many people has left the show cured of back pains, mental anxiety and restored fallen arches in overworked feet. Three weeks ago I levitated four inches while telling a joke about a beaver shagging a bear. One reviewer said they had not seen anything like it since Oliver’s Macbeth, but I have it on good authority he only made it two inches off the boards.
What’s Dublin’s comedy scene like? Is it rowdier compared to other cities you play at?
Dublin’s scene is tiny, which means you really get to know your comedy brothers and sisters well. Camaraderie is rocking, pints and flowing and experiences shared. I spent the New Years period in New York and it struck me as such a similar vibe on that level. Comics all hang out together and you see them cracking each other up, enjoying each other. It’s a competitive game as it is everywhere but Dublin is a brilliant place to revel in it. The UK scene is a merry go round full of diverse brilliant comics but its big man, you might do a weekend with someone and then not see them for years. I haven’t lived in Dublin for many years but I certainly do miss it and have to go back every few months from London when I can, soak up the Guinness and the goodness.
Who are some Irish comics that people should be paying more attention to?
Upcoming acts, the rising stars, huh? (smiles) My two absolute favourites are Tommie James and Edwin Sammon. Tommie’s such a cool dude, but with an edge which is essential. Edwin is a riot. I met him doing a sitcom in Ireland, Bridget and Eamonn and he plays a priest. The director gave him license to ramble and man, its was sumptuous, hilarious stuff. Both lads are set I’d imagine, class acts.
Did your comic background/experience ever effect your past job as a teacher?
Oh sure, well I was still teaching during the day in my first few years of this adventure and I’ll never forgot playing the Oxegen Festival. A gang of eighteen year old lads from the English Lit I was teaching showed up to see me. The whole festival looked like a big set piece for The Walking Dead:
Noah would have found the rain that year testing, the whole place was a mud bath and the comedy tent was full of people off their faces using it for shelter and not listening to a word. So, I stroll out onto the stage and start dying on my ass. First big festival, and I’m tanking.
But bless em, the boys from my class, numerous and tough, fanned out through the tent and told people to shut the fuck up. And they did, they shut up, and the laughs started coming and I got off to big drunken, wet, claps. People may have been just trying to keep the circulation going but it sounded great. I’ll never forget that. Those boys were exempt from homework for a fortnight.
The Sunday Times called you ‘the rising star of Irish comedy.’ Do you remember the moment you saw that and how much did that praise change your career/life?
Damned right I remember it. As soon as I saw it I began sending abusive text messages to all of my comedy brothers and sisters rubbing it in their faces, left voice mails screaming I am the rising star, it is I who is the chosen one, I claim dominion over the comedy galaxy.
Ah, yeah look praise is affirming but you have to really ignore that jazz. If you begin to believe it you’re screwed. I once got an absolutely blinding review in Edinburgh and it gave me a lick of euphoria till I met the reviewer: an eighteen year old journalism student who had blagged a gig as a reviewer despite never seeing a live comedy show. So I try to take it all gracefully but not seriously.
What’s the transition like from comedian to actor? Do you find the two share a lot of skills?
It’s a change of gear alright, and the two are about as different and similar as rugby league to rugby union. As a comic you try to mine everything for humour but that can destroy the tone of play or movie unless its appropriate. Like I did a sci-fi film where I played this Extraterrestrial undercover cop dude. I’d been on the road doing stand for four months and two days later I’m on set. My character gets shot by a lazar beam and as I’m dying I say to Rafe Spall: “the space ship leaves in 90 minutes Joe, you have to save the girl.”
Now, Rafe was pissing himself in the first few takes, cos whatever way I was saying it, inflecting the lines, it was funny. And it was fucking everything up, so you’ve to concentrate and really get the bones of whats happening, this guy was dying and doing his last heroic deed.
This upcoming Punchline Comedy Show is an Irish showcase just around St. Patrick’s Day. What’s been your craziest St. Patrick’s Day moment?
Would have to be when I was about twenty I over indulged and simply couldn’t make it home. For some reason I could work out how to open the door on a public bus parked up for the night in the bus depot. So I climbed in and passed out upstairs. I woke up as the driver left the depot at 5.30 am. His face as I went for the door on the first stop was priceless. Scared the absolute shit out of him.
Following your China shows, what are your plans?
I aim to open orphanges around the world. I plan to call them the “rising stars” institute.
Besides stand-up, are there any other projects you’re working on that you would like to plug?
Well I’m working on teaching my dog how to drive. The car is automatic of course, I don’t want to endanger other drivers, so I’ve erred on the side of safety. Harry (my canine friend) isn’t great at indicating but he’s nailing the rest of it. Were so proud of him at home.
Is there anything you would like to add?
I wear fabulous shoes while performing. Hand made Jeffrey West. Come down to the shows and you can admire them in the flesh. If asked in the appropriate tone I’ll even let you have a rub of em. Promise.
Mar 10, 8pm, RMB290. Zapatas, tickets. See event listing.
Mar 11, 8pm, RMB290. The Exchange, tickets. See event listing.
Mar 12, 8pm, RMB290. Kerry Hotel Pudong, tickets. See event listing.
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