Joel Dommett comes in out of the dark at The Spinnaker Comedy Club

These are busy times for Joel Dommett '“ from filming in Ibiza, to podcasting and gigging '“ but he's certainly not complaining.
Comedian Joel DommettComedian Joel Dommett
Comedian Joel Dommett

When WOW247 catches up with him, he’s just finished recording a friend’s podcast.

‘There’s so many podcasts,’ says Joel, ‘you find yourself filling the gaps in your day by talking to other people, it’s a good way to come up with new material.’

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But there’s more to it than idle chatter – he’s busy pulling together his show for Edinburgh this summer.

‘It’s coming together, and I’m really enjoying it - it’s really silly this year.

‘It’s called Pretending To Smoke With A Breadstick, I wanted to give it the silliest title I could think of, and that’s what I came up with.

‘I wanted to call it something that looked good on the poster. And I promise you, I do not reference it once in the show.

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‘I don’t think titles need to reference the show at all. Last year I had a title that was specific to the show, but then the show changed so the title became completely redundant, which was a bit annoying, so I thought this year I would make it as vague as possible.’

And of course he’s constantly on the road – this time out he’s coming to The Spinnaker Comedy Club, but he’s often played at The Wedgewood Rooms in the past.

‘I love that room, I think it’s one of the best Saturday night rooms in the country. It can be a bit dicey at times, but I like rooms that are big and you have to fill it – it changes your energy as soon as the room is big and spacious, and it’s a big stage so you can pace, which I like a lot.

But he recently played a much bigger room: ‘I did the O2 (Channel 4 Comedy) Gala a couple of weeks ago, and that was 12,000 people or something, and that was really fun, I like using the stage as much as possible.

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‘It was a weird thing though, I couldn’t stop thinking ‘‘there are 12,000 people looking at me right now’’. It’s really well-lit so you can totally see everybody, which was disconcerting. It was a very odd experience. All of the comedians come off going ‘‘I can’t tell whether I absolutely smashed it or completely died’’. I have no idea what had happened.’

However, it’s rather different to the gig he was doing later the day we spoke: ‘It’s comedy in the dark in Brighton, it is literally comedy in the dark – the lights go down for your whole set until just before you end.

‘You learn so much about yourself while you’re in the dark on the stage. It’s weirdly relaxing - you just say your words, but you’re wondering: what are they thinking? It’s completely the opposite of playing the O2, where you’re trying to look as cool as possible while inside you’re going: “WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING! Aaargh!” And then when you’re doing this you’re just doing your material in the most chilled-out way possible.

‘Sometimes I’ll close my eyes or lie down.

‘You’ve not seen a good gig until you’ve seen a comedian die in the dark. It’s brilliant. People don’t know what to do with it, they can’t do banter, they don’t know what to do.’

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See Joel with the lights on at The Spinnaker next Friday. Also on the bill is Dana Alexander, with compere, WOW247 Best Comedy Award winner James Alderson.

Spinnaker Tower cafe, Gunwharf Quays

Friday, June 24

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