Stand up and be counted

12:00pm Monday 18th February 2008

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INTERVIEW WITH RICH HALL by James Rampton

So, I ask the splendid American comedian Rich Hall, what will your new show consist of? "It'll be forty-five minutes of stand-up in which I rail against the vagaries of the world," he explains. "Then after the interval, I bring out Otis Lee Crenshaw.

And for the next forty-five minutes, I plink away at the piano and think, I can't believe I'm getting away with this!' It should be a lot of fun."

It certainly should. Rich has the rare distinction of performing brilliant stand-up shows in different two guises, both as himself and as Otis.

Described as "the poet laureate of trailer trash," Otis is an inspired piece of character comedy, which scooped the coveted Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival in 2000.

The ultimate comedy redneck, Otis is a raddled, bourbon-soaked jailbird from the Deep South who croons spoof Country and Western songs about desire, divorce and Death Row.

Rich, 53, who has been a writer on two of America's top comedy programmes, Saturday Night Live and The David Letterman Show, reckons that, "the real reason people over here like Otis is that the Brits are drawn to flawed characters.

I won't call Otis a loser because he retains a shred of dignity, but he is definitely flawed."

We are also attracted to Otis's soulful, but not always melodious, singing.

According to Rich, "when I'm on stage as Otis, I constantly feel as if a professional musician or a music teacher is going to storm out of the audience and shout, give me that piano, you have no right to play that!' and make me practise scales. I'm a terrible singer, but that's perfect for Otis, he's not supposed to be talented. I don't want to be too good, that would spoil the effect!"

What sort of songs can we expect from Otis on this tour, which is coming to a theatre near you very soon indeed? "They will be less prison-orientated," Rich reveals.

"One song is about trying to talk your girlfriend out of the Ku Klux Klan. Otis is telling her, it's not a hobby, you don't have to be part of something'.

"Another song is about Scrabble and how you can tell if your woman is cheating on you by the words she uses when she's playing the game. As Otis, I mine audience's built-in animosity towards bad country music. It's country music for people who don't like country music. But even if I can't really sing, I still love performing as Otis."

Rich manifests the same relish when he is appearing as himself. A hugely charismatic stage presence, Rich is a one-man refutation of the hoary old cliche that all Americans are born with an irony bypass. In fact, he possesses the keenest set of irony antennae on the British circuit. His live show is packed to the gunwales with richly entertaining gags that work on a multitude of layers.

Replete with gruff, laconic material and shoot-from-the-hip, take-no-prisoners political observations, as well as ad-libbed songs. He explains just why he and British audiences get on like a house on fire. We adore him because he contradicts the stereotypical view of an American stand-up "I'm not brash," Rich muses. "I'm apologetic. That's all you have to be to win over a British crowd. You don't walk out and say, where's Starbuck's?'"

Rich, whose tour spans the length and breadth of the British Isles, goes on to underline why his act works so well in this country. "American performers don't need stand-up. They look at it merely as a springboard to something else a sitcom, a movie or their own TV show. Most Americans believe they could get up there and make jokes, so they think, why should I pay to watch someone else do that?' "They won't pack out a theatre, and American comedy clubs are not great venues for expressing yourself. As a stand-up, you're always competing with a noisy blender at the bar. You'll just be building up a head of steam when you hear someone shout, I need a slow comfortable screw and two slippery navels!'"

The comedian carries on that, "a stripper once told me that she has to do four shows a night and people are always yelling out at her. I have the same experience.

In America, there is not much difference between stand-up comedy and taking your clothes off."

Rich continues by highlighting the key differences between stand-up on opposite sides of the Atlantic.

"In Britain, live comedy is taken far more seriously.

Over here, your act won't be interrupted by someone loudly ordering a sex on the beach. Overall, stand-up in this country is far more rewarding.

There is still a culture here of going out to be entertained,and people see live comedy as an art-form. It's not so much about straight gags as the personality behind them. British audiences really appreciate language."

We also lap up Rich's appealingly downbeat style. "As a comedian, you've got to go where the misery is," he says, in typically deadpan fashion.

"There is no comedy to be found in shiny, happy people. Dwell in misery, and you'll get a laugh, that's my job. Unhappiness is always funnier.

That's why people love listening to the blues rather than upbeat Christian choirs."

Rich, who has starred in such British TV shows as Have I Got News For You, QI, Jack Dee Live at the Apollo, Room 101 and Never Mind the Buzzcocks, will be immersing himself in the local press before he goes on stage in your town.

"I'll be getting the local paper, that always gives you a good idea of the kind of place you're in. I'm always interested in the weddings and obituaries I'm sure I'll be doing quite a few songs based on them."

His show will also be surveying the idiosyncracies of the British character.

But, never fear, Rich will not be so busy bashing the Brits that he will ignore the more farcical aspects of his homeland. He will not, though, be indulging in so much Bush-baiting as in previous years. "It's done me no good," the comic sighs. "I've been attacking Bush for the last eight years, but he's still in office. The world is in much worse shape than it was eight years ago, but there's no point in shooting fish in a barrel anymore!"

For the past few months, Rich has been back in his native land making a BBC documentary about Westerns. "It's a way of explaining to British audiences the individualistic nature of many Americans.

The Western genre has influenced our character, especially Presidents'. Bush's favourite film is High Noon, which makes perfect sense. It's about a guy going it alone having spent about three minutes trying to get a posse together.

"Every time people say the Western is dead, along comes an Unforgiven or a No Country for Old Men. They endure, they just don't prevail anymore - rather like America!"

But for the moment, Rich is focusing on the live tour. He simply revels in the live arena. "What gives me a real buzz is the spontaneous interaction with the audience," he enthuses.

"Stand-ups are not just oil paintings.

People who have battled through the traffic to come and see you want to have some sort of connection with you.

"I'm not like Seinfeld who does the same polished act every night _ these are the jokes I have sat down at a table and crafted.' I'd rather just show up and say, where am I? What's going on?' That keeps it fresh. If you did the same show every night, you'd quickly go batty. It's got to be like one big conversation.

"That's the great thing about stand-up," Rich concludes with a laugh. "You can blather away all you like for an hour, and people will actually pay to listen to you!"

For further details please contact: Alison Peters, alisonpeters05@yahoo.co.uk