Specs Appeal
Ahead of his upcoming Dublin dates, Stephen Merchant talks about his new series with Ricky Gervais, his favourite Irish comedians and the engima wrapped in a mystery wrapped in man-pudge that is Karl Pilkington.
Paul Nolan, 22 Nov 2011
Best known as the co-creator, along with Ricky Gervais of The Office, Extras and An Idiot Abroad, Stephen Merchant has of late undertaken his first stand-up tour, Hello Ladies, which shortly arrives in Dublin. How have the dates been going for him so far?
“The audiences have been great and the reviews are really positive... but I won’t ever do it again,” Merchant laughs. “It’s exhausting. There’s so much travel. Why is sitting in a car or on a train so tiring? This is my debut stand-up show and final farewell tour at the same time.”
Though Merchant started out in comedy as a stand-up after leaving college, he ceased gigging regularly once he found success as a writer-director. As such, I wonder if he felt any nerves about taking to the stage again?
“I wasn’t nervous exactly because I began my career as a stand-up,” he notes. “I used to gig regularly after I left university but once The Office took off I gave it up. Then more recently I woke up and I had the itch again, so I started doing five or ten-minute slots here and there, and I’ve been pottering around the circuit for a few years now. This tour is the result of that itch.”
Merchant and Gervais have been quite open about the influences on their comedy writing, citing the likes of The Larry Sanders Show, Seinfeld and This Is Spinal Tap. Their trademark style is naturalistic, with a notable emphasis on social awkwardness. While the big stylistic inspirations for The Office and Extras are well-known, I wonder who are Stephen’s biggest stand-up influences?
“Mainly Woody Allen,” he replies. “I used to listen to tapes of his routines and I just loved how personal they were and how much he made fun of himself. That’s something I try to do in my show: humiliate myself for the sake of the audience. If the audience feel better than me by the end of the show I’m happy.”
And why is the show called Hello Ladies?
“It’s about my ill-fated search for a wife,” explains Stephen. “I’ve been hunting for 20 years and I’m still looking. My sex life is very funny, which is good news for the audience but not for me.”
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