Comedy Fest Q&A: Stephen Boyce

Comedy Fest Q&A: Stephen Boyce

Comedy Fest Q&A
STEPHEN BOYCE

1)Tell us the name of your show
Monster Baby, or MONSTER BABY. It depends on which form you’re looking at. I think I wrote it differently every time.

2)Which came first – the show name or the show content?
Since this is my first 1-hour show, I’m bringing all the jokes I have. Some bits I’ve been working on since before I came up with the name, and I’ve got bits I’ve written since then. So I guess I have to say some content came before the name, and some after.

3)C’mon, be honest….
I thought that was quite an honest insight as to how I went about creating the show. If you want more honesty, I once teased a guy at Uni about voting National till he cried.

4)Any other working titles for the show?
Yes.
Steven Boyce in the Last Show a Festival Let Him Do.
Steven Boyce & the Land of Contrived Premises.
Steven Boyce in How NOT To Train Your Dragon.
 And there was a brief period it was just “Steven Boyce is Shakira” (But that was mostly to show my dad that all those Zumba lessons weren’t a waste)

5)How long – honestly- have you been working on this?
A lot of honesty in these questions... I like it. Probably since the end of my last Edinburgh Festival run in August last year. Being at the largest performing arts festival in the world and seeing all the hilarious and amazingly different shows makes you wish you were doing something rad and exciting as well. So I’ve kinda been envisioning how funny I can make my show and thinking about the best way to use that whole theatre I rented. I’ve never been in charge of a theatre before, should be fun. Big room.
Look, if the show doesn’t make money, I’ve got a place in mind for a drug laboratory is all I’m saying.

6)What’s been the biggest challenge of pulling this show together?
Since I do a lot of writing in bars and cafes, it’s been a tough challenge of me getting over the feeling that the wait staff hates me for being in their nice shop.
Also writing jokes where the punch line doesn’t involve releasing rodents into the audience.

7)Who’s your biggest comedy rival – and why?
Gary Oak, he’s Professor Oak’s grandson. He became a comedian the exact same day I decided to. Such a d-bag.

8)Who’s your biggest comedy friend – and why?
Arj Barker totally had my back when a security guard had caught me for stealing honey from The Edge theatre and I was claiming I had amnesia. I mean, I only saw him that once, but still if that’s not a friend, what is?

9)Which show is your must see? Why?
Of course, FanFiction Comedy because that’s what I’m in.
Sam Simmons – Problems. He’s one of the funniest acts I’ve seen and his hour show was amazing and perfect.
If you’re reading this and his run is done, Squidboy was unbelievably fun. I’m making all my friends go to those shows at least.

10)Give us your definition of a great night out during the festival
Gig. Booze. Drugs. Strippers. Connect Four. Drug Lords. Shoot outs. Aliens. Over Dose. Kebab. Home.

11)What goes through your mind, the minute before curtain goes up?
I’m usually thinking “Whoa, where did this curtain come from? I hope it goes away in a minute, I got a show to do”.
When it’s not that, it’s my set list, which is a bunch of random words like “Name, Whisky Sundae, Uncle Boyfriend, Dick Dabble...” etc. It usually ends up looking like a psychopaths shopping list.

12)What about when you’re on stage?
I always get worried that there’s a psychiatrist in the audience reading the subtext of my jokes and being very disappointed in me... Is that weird?

13)How easily distracted are you?
Pretty easily. I can easily dance myself up to 40 minutes late if iTunes is nailing the shuffle.

14)Give us your dream comedy line up
The Three Stooges – But they do their sketches as ghosts.
Then me 5 years from the future, so I could heckle myself. But know what I’m gonna heckle with and have 5 years to write an awesome response.
Then maybe close with a hilarious dolphin with telepathy.

15)Just finally, where will you be in 5 years’ time?
In the year 2019, unless I’m doing a gig to my past self.

STEPHEN BOYCE performs his solo show MONSTER BABY (AKL 9 April - 3 May) and as part of the 2014 lineup for NEXT BIG THINGS (AKL 28 April) both as part of the 2014 NZ International Comedy Festival in cahoots with Old Mout Cider (24 – 18 May).  For more info visit www.comedyfestival.co.nz