The ex-brickie, comedy circuit veteran and star of award-winning British film I, Daniel Blake speaks to Andy White ahead of his appearance at The Leadmill’s new weekend comedy show.
Before you got into stand-up you used to be a bricklayer – what was the best thing you built?
I built a curved wall for Northumberland cricket ground in Jesmond. It’s still there to this day, which is remarkable since I built it! It’’s been there 45 years and is now a wonder of the modern world.
What’s your favorite joke of all time?
If you said to a philosopher during a pub fight,“Don’t even think about it, pal” – well, he’d be in quite a predicament…
You’ve played the Leadmill a few times now. It’s renowned for music, but what’s your verdict on it as a comedy venue?
Yeah, I’ve played the Leadmill a few times, it’s a really great comedy space and has always been fun. A good room, a good comic and an audience up for a laugh. That is all you need for a great night out.
After the huge success and barrage of awards for I, Daniel Blake did film producers come knocking?
Aye, they did! I did a thriller called Two Graves by the writer of Harry Brown, a film called Trautmann about German prison of war Bert Trautmann who played in goal for Manchester City after the war. They guy broke his neck and played on in the FA cup final. Madness.
You star in the new British comedy Walk Like A Panther due out on 9th March – do tell us more…
It’s a great film written by the team behind The Full Monty and stars Stephen Graham, Jason Flemyng and Stephen Tompkinson. It was such fun to shoot with a great British ensemble cast, it was filmed in Yorkshire and took seven weeks. I had to learn to wrestle at the age of 62! It’s based on the old school wrestlers from ITV World Of Sport that used to be on every Saturday afternoon at 4pm and had audiences of millions.Stephen Graham and me play father and son tag team, ‘the Boltons’. We come out of retirement for one last bout to save our local pub.
Amidst all of this, are you still finding enough time to fit in stand-up?
Oh yeah… at the moment I’m touring my Edinburgh show and recently did a home town gig at Newcastle Theatre Royal that sold out over a thousand tickets. That blew me away!
And now the film work is coming in, do you know what you prefer doing?
Comedy, for me, is about making a connection with an audience saying, ‘Hey, listen to this crazy stuff in my head I find funny.’ And when the audience agrees and laughs, it’s great fun – it’s the best job in the world. I do love filmmaking but stand up is my first love for sure.
David Johns performs alongside Suzi Ruffell, Tom Lucy and Cerys Nelmes on 31 March. Tickets and more info at Leadmill.co.uk
