Richard Stott

Written by: Si Hawkins
Published: Friday 28th February 2020

Stott right now, thank you very much. Yes, trawling through the comedy backstory today is Richard Stott, who recently started his debut stint around the UK, and does date two in Leeds next Wednesday. But what do these gigs involve, exactly?

"I'm touring my debut hour Right Hand Man," Stott explains. "It's a show that put me on the map ever so slightly last year. It received critical acclaim and nabbed second in Dave's Funniest Jokes, 2019. So I had a big smile on my face throughout Edinburgh 2019.

"It's a show that tells my own story about growing up with a visible disability and uses it as a jumping off point to other subjects. My aim really was to get people laughing about disability and mental health... things we're told not to laugh about."

Right, let's get Stotted.

First gig?

May 2017, Comedy Virgins, Ross Smith was MCing.... probably about 40 people there. I went on dead last and told some story about swans fighting and people placing bets on them. I don't do that story anymore, but I came second in the clap off.

Favourite show, ever?

I did a great gig in a brewery in High Wycombe where some of the audience were on a balcony: we had a running gag that if a joke didn't land well we'd shout up at them "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!!" You know, like in Gladiator. Although it's followed closely by going on before Suzi Ruffell at Komedia this year.

Worst gig?

I've been lucky that I've never had a REALLY bad one but I remember a show during my first Edinburgh in 2017 where not a single joke worked, no one laughed for 45 minutes but what made it worse was a woman on the front row saying "aw, bless him" every time a joke didn't work.

Which one person influenced your comedy life most significantly?

My girlfriend Karen Hobbs. I wasn't doing comedy when I met her but she was, and she needed someone to share rent with for the Edinburgh Fringe. So I agreed to get into comedy... so I could be her boyfriend. This actually happened.

And who's the most disagreeable person you've come across in the business?

In my experience any comedian you meet whose first question to you is "How many gigs have you done?" is worth keeping clear of. It's often someone with a chip on their shoulder who's trying to suss out 'who's the biggest comedian at the table?'

Is there one routine/gag you loved, that audiences inexplicably didn't?

I have this joke that involves putting way too many parts together, it includes Armistice Day traditions, American tourists and a working knowledge of the prog rock group The Grateful Dead. Every so often I tell it in the hope someone gets it.

One time the MC of a gig (Jacob Hatton) did get it and the room was utter silence apart from him banging his hand on a table and howling with laughter... easily one of my fave moments in comedy.

Could you tell us a little about Poland Syndrome - has it affected your comedy life at all?

It's a condition that caused my left hand to be underdeveloped and smaller. It doesn't affect me that much - I can't write as many notes on my hand in Biro as other comics.

It's certainly affected me mentally more than physically, I often feel a need to be accepted which I think comes from feeling different. I think that's why it means so much that people appreciate my comedy and hopefully shows anyone else that's struggling that people are more accepting than you think.

Are there particular reviews, heckles or post-gig reactions that stick in the mind?

Only the nice stuff. If you let the negative stuff sit on you it's dangerous. The only time someone has said something negative that stayed with me, it was because they were right. They told me I didn't open very well and it put people on edge. It was constructive so I worked on how they could never say that again... it improved me.

How do you feel about where your career is at, right now?

I've risen quite quickly but I've also started later than a lot of comics. I feel I'm improving but I'm having to learn fast. Last year I made a ripple and a few people sat up and took notice, I now need to build on that and it's going to be a tough process.