Ali Brice

Written by: Si Hawkins
Published: Tuesday 27th June 2023

One random comedian, eight random questions; it's the ultimate test of funny person and fate. This week we welcome Ali Brice, whose lovely show I Tried to be Funny but You Weren't Looking comes to London's Soho Theatre on July 3-4. That journey began during a dark time in 2018, when Brice was "very unhappy" and things looked bleak.

"Then I started a job at Movember, the men's health charity," says the admirably moustachioed comic. "That meant I started talking about virtues of therapy and 'opening up' and talking to people as a way of benefitting your mental health. Yet I wasn't talking to anyone.

"I began therapy but felt great shame. However, six months in I realised it was working. It was life-changing and overwhelmingly positive. The shame was replaced with hope. I decided to be an advocate of therapy and talk about it where relevant. Then I started writing a show for Edinburgh 2022 and made it all about my journey with mental health and therapy. And sausages."

So, not a gloomfest?

"It is funny. It's a little dark and I talk about very serious things, but it is a positive show, a very silly show and, ultimately, a very happy show. I set out to write a show that, had the Ali Brice of 2018 seen, he might have made some different choices. I think I succeeded."

He's come a long way from his debut hour, in 2014, playing a "loud, brash, slightly unhinged" man called Eric Meat. "Over the years, the characters faded away as I became more confident being myself on stage," he says. "Then the surrealness left and was replaced with me talking about myself (which is what I'd always done, really - it was just disguised as nonsense!)

"Now I feel I've achieved the right balance of silliness, seriousness and crowdwork. And the crowdwork is my favourite bit. I love how it can really make a show special. When there is that special energy in the air and the right people in the room, it's awesome and makes for a brilliant, brilliant show."

Brilliant. Ali Brice, your Random 8 await.

Who was your childhood hero?

Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse. I was never a kid that was into music or sport. Then I discovered comedy through my dad. He was watching Harry Enfield And Chums and I loved it. But what I actually loved was watching someone make people laugh. I was transfixed. Couldn't get enough of it. Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse were my heroes for a long, long time.

What's your favourite phrase or expression?

'Spill the beans.' I love it. When deployed correctly it can be used in all manner of situations from the serious to the silly.

Which town or city should be abolished?

Ludwigsburg. I had a really bad time there on my own filming an advert. And it was really boring. Also, they sold mayonnaise in tubes. The tubes look like toothpaste if you're not paying attention. I wasn't.

Your most interesting injury?

My left front tooth is false. I lost it in a fight with Daniel Radcliffe with whom I used to go to school. Or I fell off a fence when I was six. Which one is more interesting?

Which movie would you love to have been in, and which part?

Any of the Harry Potter films so I could get my revenge on Daniel Radcliffe. I would have farted in his vicinity and blamed it on him.

When were you most embarrassed?

I once shouted 'Bingo' in a massive bingo hall when I hadn't got Bingo. I still get flashbacks. It was horrible.

What's the best thing you ever ate?

A sandwich in the Bahamas. It was just a normal, homemade. I think it was ham and cheese, I can't really remember. But I have the most vivid memory of sitting on a beach in the Bahamas and taking a bite of this sandwich and it being amazing. I will never be able to recreate it, but it was seriously awesome.

Which live event would you love to have attended?

I would have loved to have gone to a show on the Phil Collins No Jacket Required tour. Yes, from all of history, that is the event I'm choosing.