Natasha Mckim finds out why comedian David carries around an old keyboard.
David Nicholas O’Doherty, 41, presents a new show filled with chatter and music – played on a 1986 keyboard. He has been on 8 Out of 10 Cats and now David’s next challenge is the Tivoli in Aberdeen.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE CAREER OF COMEDY?
Oh it’s probably some dark psychological flaw on my part that makes me do it. Maybe I was dropped on my head as a baby?
IF YOU WEREN’T A COMEDIAN, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN?
I like fixing bikes. If I get drunk at a party, I start spontaneously fixing any bikes that are around with kitchen knives or whatever tools I can find. I’d like to work in a bike shop.
WHERE IS YOUR FAVOURITE PLACE TO VISIT ON TOUR?
I like the weird ads for deep-sea pipelines you see in Aberdeen airport. You don’t get that anywhere else.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE JOKE?
I think the Mitchell and Webb sketch where they are dressed as Nazis and wonder if they might be the bad guys is pretty apt for the times we are living through.
WHERE DID THE INSPIRATION COME FROM FOR THE MATERIAL FOR THIS SHOW?
I mostly think of it while hoovering. And let’s just say, my house is pretty clean at the moment.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE YOU TO PUT A SHOW TOGETHER?
It takes about three months to put a draft together, and then another three.
DO YOU TRY OUT YOUR MATERIAL ON YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS?
That would make me a terrible guy. I walk a neighbour’s dog. Sometimes he and I riff it up by the canal. If he likes it, he poops.
WHY ARE YOU USING A KEYBOARD IN THIS SHOW?
That is a deep question that cuts to the heart of my motivations.
HAVE YOU EVER HAD AN EMBARRASSING MOMENT ON TV?
On a big TV show in Australia last year, I opened with a joke about how I’m moving into graffiti and my tag is two yellow lines beside the path. Turns out they don’t have double yellow lines in Australia.
DID YOU ALWAYS WANT A CAREER IN ENTERTAINMENT?
I wanted to be a jazz musician, which I guess is still entertainment, although many people classed my playing as torture.
WHAT IS YOUR BEST SKILL?
I can throw teabags into mugs from great distance.
WHAT IS THE BEST SHOW YOU HAVE SEEN AT THE EDINBURGH FRINGE?
I saw the first Flight of the Conchords show in front of 10 people in 2002 and that was incredible. I went on tour with them round America last summer and we did one gig to 15,000. Not sure what the lesson here is. Maybe do more gigs with me.
WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT YOUR JOB?
You get to steal a lot of teabags from backstage. Like weird mint ones. Then you can throw them into mugs, obviously.
WHAT IS THE WORST THING ABOUT YOUR JOB?
Buying new batteries for the keyboard is so expensive. And sometimes it switches itself on in my suitcase. Then when it comes around on the luggage carousel, it’s playing Don’t Go Changin’ by Billy Joel.
WHY SHOULD PEOPLE COME AND SEE YOUR SHOW?
Most people don’t find my comedy funny at all. They think it’s just an idiot with a piano. Don’t be like most people.
WHY ARE YOU COMING BACK TO ABERDEEN?
About five years ago I got food poisoning and puked during my gig at the Lemon Tree in Aberdeen. I’m going back to atone for this.
WHY DO YOU WRITE CHILDREN’S BOOKS?
It’s something to do. I mean, there is nothing to do in the morning while you’re on tour except watch Homes Under the Hammer and the one where people buy houses in Spain. I wish Pointless was on earlier.
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE YOUR AUDIENCE TO EXPERIENCE AT YOUR GIG?
I want it to be like when you think you’ve lost your train ticket, and you are panicking because the inspector is coming down the carriage, and you search the same pockets again and again. But then, when you say you’ve lost your train ticket, he points at your breast pocket where the train ticket is sticking out, and for a moment everything is perfect in the world. I want it to be like that.
David O’Doherty: Big Time is at the Tivoli Theatre in Aberdeen, on March 15 and 16. See www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/ events/david-o-doherty-big-time
