Interview - John Robertson

Your festival is about to start. Are you excited or nervous?

Always excited. It's a great motivator when a crowd of nice people want to see you!

We are getting prepared and will be coming to see "Excitable Boy" on Wednesday 12th August.

Without giving too much away, what could we expect?

A lot of leaping. No real structure. Themes, maybe? At least one Warren Zevon reference. Filth and joyous anarchy. About 6 new songs will be attempted.

You have been performing The Dark Room now (for both kids and adults) for a number of years now why do you love it so much?

It makes people happy! 

Does it fund your other show?

This fact also makes me happy! (To be honest, the other show funds itself, but neither of us have the time to watch a man who failed maths at school try to explain the finances of a wandering cult comedian.)

You are definitely a full on performer. Has that always been the way?

Yes, but I used to be really shit at it! So I was loud and commanding AND terrible. A deadly combination.

One of my favourite Edinburgh memories involves popping into The Stand to give my wife a message (this is before we all had mobile phones) and I encountered the crowd coming out of one of your shows. The only way I could get out was to shake your hand and thank you for a show I hadn't seen! What is your favourite Edinburgh story?

Ah, that's excellent! I can't believe you shook my hand under false pretenses, though. I'm outraged! 

So many happy Edinburgh Fringe memories, though I do always like the one from a million years back when another comic and I decided to run nude around his venue. We left his theatre via a curtain into the bar, where our genitals impressed nobody. The other comic perceived that the only way to leave the bar was back through the black curtain we'd burst out of, and ran and jumped through a different curtain into the wrong venue. The comedian Spring Day was doing a show about her dysfunctional father. This bloke appeared nude onstage, realised it was the wrong room and ran off. The genius of it was Spring pausing, then saying to her crowd, "Well... that's my dad." A round of applause well-earned for her. Two tiresome chaps returned to the theatre they were meant to be in, having learned something about what actual talent is, I suppose.

What first got you into the comedy business?

A friend of mine was stunning at uni and she thought I should do it. Every young person should get into something because they want to impress a girl they like.

What do you love/ hate about it?

I love the crowds, the lifestyle, the freedom and the fact it's more fun that most things even on its worst day.

The answers to what I hate about the comedy industry are too serious to go into, and range from callousness to full-on crimes, so we should probably move on.

Absolutely! Who are your comedy heroes past and present?

Spike Milligan, Billy Connolly, Laura Davis, The Naked Vicar Show, my family, the Pythons, The Goons, Eddie Pepitone, Grubby Little Mitts, the band TISM, The Doug Anthony All-Stars, Don Smith, Joel Bryant, Phil Nichol, my girlfriend.

You have been a regular at the Edinburgh festival for quite a while now. What do you think has changed for the better and worse?

Better? The late night shows aren't just pissed halfwits trying to kill you. I'm glad we seem to have gotten over that. 

Worse? Everything's too expensive and accommodation costs are insane. The world's largest arts festival can't ever become a place for just the rich to hang out, they've already got plenty.

You must have seen a lot of shows here over the years. What stands out for the right and wrong reasons?

Ahhahahahaha I think I've managed to see maybe 10 in 14 years? I'm a big fan of people trying and their humanity shining through - I don't care if you're shit if you're good-natured about it. As for terrible? I won't name the show where my then-partner wanted to walk out, but I said we couldn't because the reviewer from The Scotsman was sitting in front of us. Then she walked out. Then we bolted for the door. Six people followed. I've seen fires spark less people running for the door.

What shows are you looking forward to seeing this year?

Brother, I'll be lucky to see myself in a mirror. Peter Rugman is in an improv show at Gilded Balloon 2pm each day which I'm going to have a look at, and Juliette Burton is putting on a swathe of good stuff.

Tell us something we need to know about you.

Oh, no special dietary requirements. Thanks for asking.

I owe you a drink for this. What can I get you?

Dram of scotch before the show thanks. Helps me sing. Or at least not care if it doesn't. 

Thanks to John for taking the time out to speak to us, you can see him this year in Excitable Boy! at The Ballroom at Laughing Horse @ The Counting House and his Dark Room is Doonstairs at Gilded Balloon Patter House until August 30th.