Imran Yusuf interview

Imran Yusuf is one of the fastest-rising stars on the stand-up circuit. In August 2010, he presented his debut solo show in Edinburgh and just a month later was on Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow. This Friday he'll be one of the stars on 'The Comedy Store Raw & Uncut', the new stand-up comedy cinema experience. Here he talks about that, plus how he beat clinical depression and his big ambitions for the future.

Hi Imran. Back to basics for the first question - how did you get into comedy?

Well, I didn't know what stand-up comedy was until I saw The Comedy Store TV show in the 90s, back on what used to be called the Paramount Comedy Channel. This was my first exposure to what this stand-up comedy thing actually was.

Later I went to my local arts centre to see some comedy, sat in the front row and then after the show I hung around and was like 'hey, I'd really like to try and be a stand-up comedian - what do I do?'. I got some material together, did some open spots, but then went to pursue a career in the games industry. It was in 2003 that I properly got on the circuit and started doing open spots.

Fast forward to today, and you're now managed by The Comedy Store, the people who made that first TV show you saw.

Yeah. I think all human beings are fans of that kind of synchronicity. It's my favourite club in the world, it's the reason why I do comedy. That room and the energy and when you perform there it's a very euphoric experience, and so I'm really happy this is where I ended up.

What was it like the first time you stood on The Comedy Store stage?

The first time I ever did it, I did the Gong Show there [the show for those that want to try out comedy - you must please the audience or you get 'gonged off']. I'd never even been to The Comedy Store before and I did the Gong Show and lasted the five minutes. I got to the final and, off the back of that, my relationship with The Comedy Store started.

I think the Gong Show is a terrifying experience, because you've got to be good. You've got to get up there and knock it out the park - straight out. There's no room for error. There can't be any fat on your act - you've got to be pure, and really machine gun it. I look back on it realising that, even though it was a great experience, it was the first step of many steps, as after I did that gong show I had to do loads of open spots - I think more than other people have done.

I did somewhere between 12 and 14 open spots for The Comedy Store before I finally got my first weekend there and, even then, it was my solo show in Edinburgh that Don [Don Ward, the venue's founder] saw me at and then went 'ok, now you're ready, you can do weekends at The Store'... so, whilst the first time was quite significant, the journey has felt more significant. There were times I went back to do open spots which were great, and there were times when I went to do an open spot there and died - ha ha. So it was a journey!

You popped up on BBC Two's Funny Business documentary last month. You stated that you aim to be bigger than Chris Rock. A bold ambition!

That's what I'm putting the hard work in for. I've always set myself really lofty goals. I think you've got to have a goal, especially if you're in this business - it's very competitive and only the best can really go the distance.

I would love to reach Chris Rock's kind of status. He's a statement comic, he comes out and he says stuff. He's got a broad audience, even though he's talking about subjects that are largely shyed away from by popular culture, because they're difficult to handle.

I've got to put the time in. It's not going to happen overnight - I'm not going to be as big as Chris Rock tomorrow. I'm going to have to go for another ten or fifteen years just to get anywhere close.

Can comedy change things?

It's a great way to reach out to people and be able to communicate a bit of common sense. I like to think that politicians never have the answers but they have all the power, but comedians - we actually do have all the answers but we have none of the power!

There is no topic you can't broach in stand-up comedy, but I think here in Britain there is a way to go before we are nurturing the likes of a Chris Rock or George Carlin. I think it's starting to come through, because if you watch Steve Hughes, I think he's the closest we have to a really rock 'n' roll comic that can appeal to a broader audience.

You've got a notably high energy stage presence, Imran. How do you keep it up, especially when, for example, you're doing three gigs a night?

I'm blessed in that that's not a problem for me, in the sense that the way my physiology works is that I'm still in my early 30s but I've still got a lot of energy that I can burn. The thing is I really enjoy performing though - if I wasn't enjoying what I was doing then it would be a burden, but I don't feel that way. I always get excited about going on stage, especially if I'm playing The Comedy Store because it's such a joy to play, so I've never had an issue with having the energy for the stage. That said, I've always got to make sure I've eaten properly. Sometimes, if I don't eat properly, I'm just burning off nothing and that can become a bit of a tricky one - so I'm very careful about making sure that I eat as many meals as I can during the day so I've always got actual physical energy that I can burn off.

Given your happy, high energy stage presence, it was a surprise to read that in the past you had clinical depression.

I was doing open mic gigs when it really kicked in. I think sometimes we're all waiting for some bit of magic to happen in our lives - some kind of divine intervention - and when I realised that wasn't going to happen and that the responsibility was entirely on me to change my quality of life, I just went 'right, this is down to me I'm going to sort it out'.

So I quit comedy. I just focused and made sure that every experience, every input into my life had a positive influence to it. For example, I'd wake up in the morning and even though at the time I was going to a job I didn't really enjoy, I made sure all the music on my iPod was positive, I made sure the people that I was around all the time were positive. I'd then come home and watch a bit of anime - I don't know if you know much about Japanese animation, but it is so mature and layered and all about going for your goals and following your heart. I'd watch that and basically just feed on positivity.

The first place I would go to in any situation would be to find some joy in what I was doing and, ultimately, it led me towards sorting my life out and going back to comedy and where I am now.

Right now that's the big screen! What was it like filming 'The Comedy Store Raw & Uncut' for the cinema - did it feel different from other gigs?

What was great about Sony on this is they were not evasive whatsoever. There were certain areas of the stage which we were trying to keep in - the 'safety zone' to make sure we didn't mess up their camera work, but they weren't evasive at all and, you know what, I totally forgot the cameras were there. They didn't have loads of production staff getting in the way - it felt like we were just doing another weekend at The Comedy Store, there just happened to be some cameras in the audience.

It was so good, I hope this is going to be the format they continue to use to make stuff at The Comedy Store. I thought it captured the tone and the atmosphere of the venue really well. There are no special effects, no special kind of lighting - if you come to The Comedy Store and sit in the audience it looks exactly like you see it on the big screen. It's that intimate feel, with 400 people around you. I like the fact that it's so naturally shot it's almost like a wildlife documentary - it is as it is, warts and all, and I'm really proud of it.

You can see Imran alongside Adam Bloom, Glenn Wool and Sean Meo in 'The Comedy Store Raw & Uncut' at a cinema near you this Friday (Friday 8th March 2013). To find out more about the show and the others in the series visit www.comedystorerawanduncut.com

For more Imran visit www.imranyusuf.com or follow him on Twitter: @imranyusuf