Patrick Monahan talks stand-up, tanks, and Bethnal Green beigels

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Patrick Monahan talks stand-up, tanks, and Bethnal Green beigels

Patrick Monahan
pic: Steve Ullathorne

Born to Irish and Iranian parents, Patrick started performing stand-up comedy in 2000 after coming to London from his native North-East. He reached the Final of the Daily Telegraph Open Mic competition in 2001.

After doing TV audience warm-up gigs for Jonathan Ross, The Paul O’Grady Show and the short-lived Davina Chat Show, Patrick hit the big-time in 2011, winning an ITV talent show called ‘Show Me The Funny’ with a whopping first prize of £100,000!

So Patrick, What were your previous jobs?

I had loads – it must be part of a comic’s CV to have loads of jobs. I remember when I watched bits of Peter Kay Experience on TV and thought it was great the way he mimicked all these people, but when you read his book you realise he had all these jobs.

I worked in a pub, as a waiter, supermarket, shop floor, tills, all that stuff was great fun. I worked in the Quorn vegetarian factory and that was the only factory in the North-east where there was no theft whatsoever – because no-one knew what it was!

What got you into the comedy?

I never knew that stand-up existed, we had people like Bobby Thompson play the working men’s club in a tuxedo, I used to see Dave Allen on the telly, but didn’t know he was a stand-up because he used to sit down.

It was probably when I saw Lee Evans on the telly running around, and I thought ‘this is great you can get paid just for talking’.

Then I went down to London and saw the Evening Standard mag, with all the comedy gigs listed. I’d done stuff on the radio, and DJing gigs while at college and used to love that – so I turned up at Purple Turtle in Islington, did a gig and it escalated from there. First year I just went out and gigged every night of the week. It took a while though. Nowadays it’s a lot easier, with social media and everything, but I used to just turn up and get gigs when people dropped out, through illness or just bottled it!

Was doing Edinburgh a good thing to get noticed?

Absolutely, I did the Daily Telegraph final and the whole industry was there.

In the final was John Bishop, Seymour Mace, Karl Mimms (who writes for Russell Howard) and the winner was Des Clark. I got my first paid gig at Liverpool University off the back of that final. I got three offers of agents and I took advice from experienced comics like Brendon Burns and Adam Bloom, and they advised me on all of them, and I’m still with the same agent today!

Have you gigged in the Bethnal Green area before?

I think I’ve done the working mens club before. And I did the community centre (Rich Mix?)  I was on inbetween Stewart Lee and Jimmy Carr – I was the new guy!

I also did a rehearsal for a tv sketch show in Bethnal Green and did a photoshoot in the working men’s club, and I go there for food, the 24 hour beigel shop. Plus I’ve done an Edinburgh preview in Café Kick.

Recently I did a gig in the Comedy Café for a TV show, where I had to mentor a guy who’d never done stand-up before, I taught him stand-up and hosted the show.

So where does the hugging come from – is that the North-east?

I think it is, but you speak to others in the North-East and they’re not like that. It might be an Irish or Iranian thing.

Show Me The Funny  went out on TV in July and August – when did it start for you?

I did auditions in February, it was all hush-hush. I did a workshop with loads of other comics that I knew. They organised showcases for about eight comics every night; they started with about a thousand comics, and then they told me you’re in the last hundred, and then I got to the last ten, and they still didn’t tell us what the show was.

It was like the Apprentice, we had to do a task every week, and write new material, about the task, the area. I enjoyed doing the tasks, the best one was the Army base in Catterick. I’d never been in a tank before!

Was there any point you thought you were going to get knocked out?

I didn’t get in the final two or three any week, but I did think I would. The hospital gig was tough for me, but a lot of acts struggled that week. The Welsh gig, I just started messing about, but the judges (Kate Copstick) told me to stop ‘titting around’.

On the night of the Final, you actually came back from Edinburgh?

Yeah, I think that helped because I didn’t have time to be worried! And after the final I had about half an hours sleep before doing a breakfast tv interview, loads of other interviews then got a train to Edinburgh, ran to my gig and just made it in time and went straight on stage!

You were mentored by Johnny Vegas?

Yes, we went and spent about a day with him where we went to Hyde Park and he made me do a speech to the crowd, but without interacting, just my material – that was hard!

Then, pre-final we went round the Hammersmith Apollo, and he was telling me how he would play it, it was really good, and he’s a nice guy as well.

Some of the advice was common sense – but you need to hear that, stuff that you could have thought, but never do.

What have you spent the money on?

I’ve been sensible, I’ve bought some office space in the West End with my brother, he runs a media company at the front, and I use the back room where I do my writing.

I think that is one of the things I got from winning, what Kate Copstick advised me, I could cut back on gigs, the warm-ups and the compering, and do more writing.

Any advice for people going into comedy?

I would say, one of the things I didn’t do was watch much live stand-up comedy, but nowadays I would say go and watch them.

If you want to be a musician, go and watch Prince or people like that. With stand-up, you’ve only ever got three styles – deadpan, lively and one-liners. If you’re that style of comedian, just go and watch someone who does it good.

Best advice I was ever given is nothing is ever written – it’s rewritten, rewritten, edited, and I still follow that advice.

You’ve already mentioned you grew up watching Dave Allen, Peter Kay, Lee Evans, who else do you like?

I like the stuff that’s not offensive, some people want to change the world, I think it’s good that they think like that, but most audiences have been working all week, they’ve just come for a laugh, so Richard Pryor was brilliant, just talking about his family.

Louis CK is like that now, you don’t have to know about science or anything, he’ll explain it, or the use of English, or getting cutting up in a car that day.

interview by Peter Merrett

Patrick is at Comedy De Luxe on June 18th along with Lucy Porter in Edinburgh Preview shows.

Address: Downstairs at The Luxe, 109 Commercial Street, Spitafields, London, UK, E1 6BG

Tickets & Information: www.chortl.es/de_luxe or on facebook

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Experimental Art at Oxford House – call for artists!

Over the coming months Oxford House will be hosting a series of three arts events, focussed on providing a platform for artists to exhibit the best experimental art from across the capital.

On 13^th June the Oxford House Chapel will become alive with the buzz of projectors as artists are invited to beam their work across its historic walls for our ‘B.Y.O.B’ (bring your own beamer) event.

A fortnight later, on the 27^th June, Oxford House will be filled with the sound of experimental and sound artists who will be playing their latest work for our ‘NOISE’ event.

And last but not by any means least, the ‘MOVE’ event on the 11^th July will be showing a line-up of the latest work by talented performance artists.

This is a series of exhibitions not to be missed! All three events are open for anyone to show work.

Just contact rebeccasangster@oxfordhouse.org.uk to enter your work and exhibit for free!

B.Y.O.B’ – video art
13^th June

7-9

£3 admission (includes a free drink)

‘NOISE’ – experimental sound art

27^th June

7-9

£3 admission (includes a free drink)

‘MOVE’ – performance art

11^th July

7-9

£3 admission (includes a free drink)