Glenn Moore’s new stand up show ‘The Very Best of Belinda Carlisle’ will be at the Just The Tonic @ The Tron for the month of August so we caught up with him to find out a little bit more about the man behind the microphone.
Glenn Moore
Please tell us about your brand of comedy.
I do short, sharp jokes that evolve into one long story, and then I try to make money from it.
What can audiences expect from your new show?
I’ve written a ‘whodunnit’, or rather, the lesser used ‘whereisshe’. My show’s about trying to find a woman who’s gone missing - but I did it at the age of 15 when I was very ill-equipped to do so. It all sounds a bit serious, but there’s not really a serious second in there. If there is, I’m urgently trying to get rid of it.
Which comedians have been your biggest influence since you decided this was your path?
I love the way Hannibal Buress just hammers seemingly irrelevant topics, but there’s no faux outrage - it’s delivered in such a deadpan way that there’s no indication, or wink to the audience, that what he’s talking about is irrelevant. Also, the way Mike Birbiglia structures shows is incredible.
What random things make you laugh in everyday life?
Nothing is funnier to me than well-intentioned gestures, adverts, greetings cards etc that are inadvertently very disturbing. I once saw a 1950s advert for a doll called ‘Baby Laughs A Lot’, which was this absolutely terrifying toy that just shrieked with laughter and rocked backwards and forwards, but was being marketed in such an innocent way. I laughed so hard I lost a stone.
Please tell us about your best and worst moment on stage so far?
My best moment was when I got chatting to a teenager in the front row of a gig who’d been grounded, but smugly announced he’d snuck out of the house to come to the gig. Turns out his parents were at the gig, so he got led out by his mother. What a blunder. Worst moment was having a terrible, terrible show in front of some relatives. There was no green room to hide in afterwards, so all the other comics just sort of had to gather near the exit. It meant each audience member consoled me as they left, like relatives giving their condolences to a bereaved family member at a wake.
Do you still get nervous when you do a gig?
Well when stuff like that happens, yeah.
Why is Edinburgh Fringe Festival such a great platform for comedians?
I don’t think I fully appreciated it when I was a student, but you just don’t get anything like the Fringe in places like America. There’s no other opportunity really to have your own showcase, for an hour, every day for a month, in a city where everyone who can possibly help your career, or enjoy your material as an audience member is right there.
Who are you looking forward to seeing at the Fringe?
Joe Morpurgo. I love the feeling of going into someone’s show having absolutely no idea what to expect, whether it’s the structure of the jokes, or the style, or the format of the show, but you just have that certainty that you are going to laugh a hell of a lot, and remember it for a long time. Joe’s very good at making those shows. In terms of debut shows, I’m really looking forward to Kae Kurd, Lauren Pattison and Michael Stranney.
What is your advice to aspiring comedians?
If you can do the first couple of years, then you can do it forever. You’ll look back on the first few gigs you did, or look back at the distances you used to travel to perform 5 minutes in the middle of nowhere, and you will be so glad that you did it then, and don’t have to do it now. Also, once you’ve properly worked on a 20 minute club set you’re happy with, then just start writing, writing, writing like crazy, because you’ve already proven to yourself that you can do it.
What is the oddest heckle you've ever received?
I remember talking to my mum over the phone just before the Fringe last year, and I said I was nervous about the idea of anyone heckling. She said it wouldn’t happen. Anyway, sure enough about halfway through the Fringe, I asked at the beginning of my show “Are there any other Glenn’s here?” and a voice yelled out “YOU!” Turns out it was my mum.
What is next for you?
I’m writing for a few TV shows that all kick off in September, so it’ll be a mad rush after the Fringe to get underway with those. Other than that, hopefully mad success, fame, fortune, Hollywood, and most all, THE COPACABANA, BABY!
Glenn Moore’s new stand up show ‘The Very Best of Belinda Carlisle’ will be at the Just The Tonic @ The Tron for the month of August for tickets go to www.edfringe.com
Tagged in Edinburgh Festival Fringe