When is it that a comedian can truly say they have found their true home on the stand up stage? Is it when they are picked from the bunch to appear in mainstream media, is it receiving praise from fellow colleagues and peers? Or is it the first time you make a member of the audience laugh so hard, they forget they are not sat on the toilet have an accident due to the joke or routine you have just performed. This, for Chris Cairns, was one of the proudest moments of his career. “I was so happy, I had made him poo his kecks, there is only myself and one other comedy that I know who have made someone do it” Cairns explains with a grin on his face, “ I want that on my comedy CV!”.
Liverpool born comedian Chris Cairns currently works the stand up circuit around the country. His relaxed and friendly domineer has earned him showers of praise, winning numerous comedy awards and leaving thousands of sides split up and down the country. We sat down with him on a dreary winter afternoon to discuss his work, family and what its like to be on a runway that is being bombed as your plane tries to land.
So where did it all begin for Chris? “I used to sit at the front with my mate, and as comedians tend to interact with the audience, when we go picked on, we just used to fire back, the bloke who owned the comedy club asked us if we look like a go” Chris accepted, and the quick fire wit that got him into the business it still very much evident is his set today.
The secret behind a good comedian is one that many struggle to find. An important factor in engaging with an audience is caring about the material you are presenting, a factor which Chris believes can be lost if you don’t feel excited about presenting it to the public, “Years ago, I couldn’t have even eaten a tic-tac on the day of a gig, whereas now I could eat a mixed grill, onstage!”. “Its a good nervous now, I believe that if you lose the nervousness completely, like some comedians, it can show that you don’t care, the pressure and nerves can help you with a gig”. How does Chris go about easing these nerves? Possibly a few drinks before the gig? No, Chris shows his softer side when preparing for a gig “ To pick me up, I just look at pictures of my daughter on my phone, I picture her laughing, which makes me laugh, then I go onstage in a good mood”.
Family is a very important aspect of Chris’ life. For many family and work is kept separate. The hustle and bustle of work can be left at the front door for a relaxing time with the family, however for Chris, life is the opposite, his girlfriend also acts as his manager. While this does have its perks, it can also be used as a weapon by his girlfriend when all isn’t well between them “ You can tell we are arguing, the gigs get further an further away” he jokes. When the couple’s 5 year old daughter was born, his girlfriend wanted to run her own career, and not work for someone who could boss her around. “She is a really good sales person, and this is something which she has always wanted to do”. “When she started it was just me and another act on her books, with two diaries, phoning around comedy venues explaining that we were dead funny”. It has worked out well for the management company, with Chris’s girlfriend currently having such names as Neil Fitzmaurice, of Pheonix Nights and Peep Show, on the books.
Being on such good terms with your agent has obvious benefits, with Chris playing gigs all over the world in places such as Dubai, Spain and Holland. Its not often that a comedians life is at risk, that is apart from dying in front of an audience on stage, however Chris had a scary experience when he flew to Afghanistan to play a gig for troops. “We were sitting in the big Hercules airplane, it landed but immediately took off again. After 20 minutes we landed again, we asked what happened and were told the insurgence had started mortaring the runway”. Would he go back? “It was great, I would love to go back but with Mrs wont let!”
Since the dawn of the Have I Got News for You, television comedy panel shows such as Mock The Week and 8 Out of 10 Cats have provided a platform for unknown comedians to make their name in the mainstream media, thus propelling them to small stardom. Comedians such as Jason Manford have made a name for themselves in this environment, and now get paid good money to do less work for more money on the comedy circuit.
Is the chance to appear on television panel shows the driving force behind a stand up comedian who is establishing themselves in the business? “ I would bite your hand off just to have a go !” Chris explains. Just getting your face on the television can take you career up to the next level, regardless of whether the material a comedian performs gets better, “Getting on those panel shows, I remember a few years ago a friend Jason Manford had to pull a gig due to only 4 people turning up, then he got on 8 Out Of 10 Cats, last week he sold out the Royal Court ( a 1,186 capacity venue in Liverpool), people notice you on the television, and think ill have to do and see him now!”.
Different factors can decide whether a comedian dies a death onstage or if the crowd lap up their every word. One of the factors is the venue where the gig is being held itself. “One of the biggest misconceptions is that you can do comedy anywhere, in any venue”. Is there a particular style of venue that Chris prefers, where he feels most comfortable playing? “I love the audience right up to me; I like them right around me, the closer the audience are the better, low roof, basement like rooms”. “I don’t like nice shiny comedy clubs with all fancy fittings, I like it a bit grotty, its the opposite to women!”
With the current political correctness gone mad society we find ourselves in, there are certain boundaries that comedians find themselves trapped in with regards to how far a joke can go. Jimmy Carr recently found himself in hot water after a joke about returning troops taking part in the Paralympics, does the risk of a media onslaught effect the material that is included in a set? “A few weeks ago I was doing a routine on Katie Price and Peter Andre, I included a joke about them fighting over who should have to keep Harvey, the crowd laughed but I did stop a bit thinking if I was going too far”
The biggest unwritten rule in comedy is not stealing another comedians joke or routine. Although it happens, it is always frowned up and has caused many a backstage fight in comedy club. “Some of the older comedians who have been around for a while often don’t write there own material, because of this they often see or hear a joke that they like, take it and use it in their own set or in the mainstream television, I know somebody who took another comedians joke, and used it in the Royal Variety Performance”. “One of the worst for this is Joe Pasquale, who would go and sit in the comedy clubs and write down jokes to use himself on television”. Chris compares the writing of a good joke to that of a song, and similar to song writing the copyright should lie firmly with the comic who wrote the joke “People who steal jokes don’t see how you can own a joke, but it is just words put in a certain order much like a song”
Away from the stage Chris uses his talent to help local youths who are interested in stand up comedy. As a part of a mentoring team, Chris worked on the Stand Out campaign, designed to help teenagers gain the skills and confidence needed to be a successful comedian. This is something that Chris believes he would have benefitted greatly from when he was a teenager “When I was a kid I wouldn’t have said boo to a goose, I was painfully shy. Its nice to see kids who without the scheme wouldn’t have shone, they have gone on to do well. I wish that when I was their age someone had come into my school, as I think with that I could have been doing this a lot soon then when I started.”
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