Rob Auton

Written by: Si Hawkins
Published: Thursday 1st December 2016

Straddling diverse literary worlds like an octopus in a library, Rob Auton is a comedian and poet from Yorkshire whose debut album has just been released on a label best known for hip-hop. But then it's run by Scroobius Pip, who's also a fine spoken word artist, and who does a nice cameo in it. Let's let Rob explain:

"The spoken word album was recorded at my home and is called At Home With Rob, released by Pip's record label, Speech Development Records. The album is 68 minutes long and features pieces from all of my past five Edinburgh Fringe shows, The Yellow Show, The Sky Show, The Face Show, The Water Show and The Sleep Show. It also includes some of my favourite pieces to perform live and some new material too.

"When I say pieces I mean ideas that I've had, written down so they don't disappear and then said/read out to audiences at comedy and poetry nights. Some of it people laugh at, some of it they do not. The album was launched with this video, a piece from the end of my Sleep Show, a show that I will be touring next year. I will then be returning to Edinburgh in the summer with my new show that is all about hair called The Hair Show."

The album is bloody marvellous, by the way, and includes at least one excellent Christmas bit, if you're reading this before Christmas. And lots of non-Christmas bits, if you aren't.

Right, let's trawl through his on-stage history.

First gig?

My first gig was at a fireworks party in the garden of my old boss in 2007. I stood up on a wall and read out some bits of writing from pieces of A4 paper. The punters were there for the fireworks. I remember someone shouting out "we liked that one." I'm not sure how the rest of the set went though.

Favourite show, ever?

I did a show in Brighton once, I got a review for the show and it said "Auton knows his show is hit and miss, not helped any further in this instance by the fact that half of his audience are Finnish GCSE students." I look back on that gig quite fondly as it taught me you can never prepare for who might be in the audience.

Worst gig?

Same gig.

Who's the most disagreeable comic/promoter/agent you've come across in the business?

They're normally alright to be honest. I can't just leave the answer like that though so I will tell you about something I overheard on the tube the other day. I overheard a man say "She won't eat bacon because it's got religion in it."

The weirdest gig?

I did a gig in Stoke Newington where the audience were sitting on Hay Bales and the lady on the front hay bale just kept shaking her head at me and saying "no". She was disagreeing with my set. I think it sticks in my memory as a weird gig because the lady was my Mum.

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

I went through a stage of walking on and pretending to be my own American manager. Wearing a hat and sunglasses. "OK everybody my name is Jimmy Surecross I am here to see what type of audience my client Rob Auton is going to be dealing with tonight. What's your name?" It didn't used to go very well and looking back I can see why.

What's your best insider travel tip, for touring comics?

I am just starting with the touring about so I could do with some tips myself to be honest. I did learn one thing recently about travelling on the train. I always used to book a seat in the quiet coach and I would get really annoyed when people were loud. Now I always book in the regular volume carriage and I no longer get annoyed.

The most memorable review, heckle or post-gig reaction?

Heckle-wise "Nobody knows what this is!" is a particularly memorable one. I did a gig in Reading and said to the audience "has anybody seen me before?" A guy shouted "yeah, you were shit! Just like now." That was a good one... Why am I crying?

I got a review once that said "Gaunt and deliberate." True enough. I've had some cracking comments in reviews to be honest. Here's a selection:

"I wish there had been a bit more poetry." That was from Poetry Monthly. I got a review in Edinburgh that said "Auton now has a beard." So I shaved it off the next morning. I will never let reviewers tell me what I have. "Like watching a kid caught in the stage lights of his first nativity." That's maybe my favourite. I put all the good and bad quotes on my website.

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

I feel quite enthused at the moment. You may not get that from my answers. I love writing and performing and I just want to get as good at those two things as I can. I want to keep working to improve. There's no shortcuts, and if there was I wouldn't want to take them.

For details of Rob's tour dates - including the renowned spoken word night he co-runs, Bang Said the Gun - visit robauton.co.uk. And for Rob's album, and lots of other cool word-based stuff, go to speechdevelopmentrecords.com