important thing. but a bit like a politician, you avoided it. because there is a serious undercurrent to this question. yes, there is. has what s funny changed for you? you used to do a lot of, if i can put it this way, sort of ethnic humour. you would adopt actions, you re a brilliant mimic, a lot of it would be about the cultural diversity of your home city which is london, and you would play the role of characters, and does that work today in the same way that it worked 30 years ago? it does, but you have to navigate it. when we talk about ethnic humour, we come from the age in the 60s and 70s when there were those awful irishjokes, you know, englishman, irishman, scotsmanjokes, and the idea was that we were at war with the ira so english people culturally were doing jokes to make irish people look stupid. and some white middle aged male comedians were doing jokes about africans and about other ethnic minorities, adopting silly voices and getting a laugh but it wasn t a laugh whic
comedians like anthony jeselnik, louis ck, all these people. dave chappelle, he has said, i am quoting directly, comedians have a responsibility to speak recklessly. sometimes, the funniest thing to say is plain mean. yeah. but that is if your comedy is just about the laugh. i think there is a higher level of comedy where you use the comedy to make a point. so, that to me is childish. yeah, they are funny, and they can do it, and they are very funny guys. but there are loads of funny people out there. i know lots of people in comedy clubs in britain who are just as funny and can do that kind of thing, but there are lots of us who just choose not to do that kind of comedy. you re too nice, is that what you are telling me, you are too nice? it s not too nice, ijust don t see the point of it. so we can all snigger like children? it doesn t turn me on, as a comic. do you have red lines, then? what are things that you. actually, considering this notion of where lines should be in comedy and
in iran, and to see people saying, wow, this is the kind of comedy we need, this is exactly the kind of relevant humour that really speaks to people in iran, so i was very proud that coming from a british background and thinking i am really the person to do this, but hey, i will be the first person to go from the west to the east. people come from east to west but i am the first person doing it, and they actually liked it, which is great. and a final thought, for more than two years, thanks to covid, it was hard for you to be funny in front of an audience, but you are back on the road now, you have got a new tour going across the uk, you have talked about the pure joy of making a live audience laugh. how much did you miss it? oh, my god. i missed it so much that when i did a zoom gig. can you imagine doing a zoom gig and just before. it s not like we muted everyone, butjust before a punch line, you hear someone going, martin, can you let
of characters, and does that work today in the same way that it worked 30 years ago? it does, but you have to navigate it. when we talk about ethnic humour, we come from the age in the 60s and 70s when there were those awful irishjokes, you know, englishman, irishman, scotsmanjokes, and the idea was that we were at war with the ira so english people culturally were doing jokes to make irish people look stupid. and some white middle aged male comedians were doing jokes about africans and about other ethnic minorities, adopting silly voices and getting a laugh but it wasn t a laugh which was really with those characters they were portraying, it was at them. it was at them, and i have to say, did i find that funny? i didn t find it funny in those days, i still don t think it is funny now. so, now, if you do a joke that feels a bit mean, what you have to do is you have to cushion it. i ll give you an example. i did a testicular cancer benefit gig and some celebrities were there and the f
but hey, i will be the first person to go from the west to the east. people come from east to west but i am the first person doing it, and they actually liked it, which is great. and a final thought, for more than two years, thanks to covid, it was hard for you to be funny in front of an audience, but you are back on the road now, you have got a new tour going across the uk, you have talked about the pure joy of making a live audience laugh. how much did you miss it? oh, my god. i missed it so much that when i did a zoom gig. can you imagine doing a zoom gig and just before. it s not like we muted everyone, butjust before a punch line, you hear someone going, martin, can you let the cat in! it was a disaster for comedy, and i often used to take my computer into the toilet and say, here is the sound of my career, and i would press the flush, and that would be my toilet flushing, and that is