Interview: Joel Dommett
Comedian Joel Dommett has been all over our telly screens and is set to tour the country with a new show. He talks to Victoria Nangle about Drunk History, holidays and crowd surfing
Life comes across as a great big adventure for you – from international gigging to being runner up in last year’s I’m A Celebrity… What was the most recent adventure that you had on a more local scale?
Waking up every day is an adventure. Trying not to snooze the alarm is in many ways harder than being in I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here because if you press snooze for the fourth time nobody will see it. This morning I woke up early and was very proud of myself until I left the house and realised that is the time that all adults get up.
What is your writing process when you write a new show?
Me and my best friend Steve throw new ideas around via text throughout the year then when it’s time to start writing a new show I write out all those texts in a document then go on stage and try it all. We slowly carve something that resembles funny.
I’ve enjoyed watching you on Drunk History. Do you get to choose your drinks and choose your historical story you’re covering?
You do get to choose your drink but not the story. It’s the most fun show I’ve ever done. You get paid to get drunk. It’s crazy. They film three or so in a day and on the last series I had an early slot. You are dropped off safely at your house then you are just hammered at 5 in the afternoon. That’s so much time left in the day to text all your ex-girlfriends.
Makes me feel like an alcoholic dragon
How genuine is the level of drunkenness depicted on the show, really?
I can’t speak for anyone else but both times I have done it I have vomited quite horrifically afterwards. Champagne was a terrible choice. I quite like vomiting. Makes me feel like an alcoholic dragon.
Do you have a rule for yourself as to how much booze you have when you’re performing live, and have you ever done stand up drunk?
I don’t drink at all before I go on stage. I don’t really drink much anyway so if I have one beer I get tipsy quickly.
What is your favourite festive holiday – Christmas, Easter, Halloween etc. and why?
I love Christmas because I get to see my family. I work so much these days and I don’t see them enough… but also because of pigs in blankets obviously.
You can be very physical in your delivery. I’m tall and long, so can sympathise with knocking things and getting fully enthusiastic. Where’s the most unusual place you’ve ever damaged yourself or something else due to your own enthusiasm?
At the end of my tour show I crowd surf on a sat down audience (spoiler alert). The other day I fell fully on the
floor due to there being a gap. There is nothing more humiliating than crowd surfing to an empty seat.
What’s the most ridiculous thing you have bought in the last week?
I really don’t buy much. I basically spend all my money on food and Ubers.
What do you think 90-year-old you will be like, and what would you ask him if he popped up in a time machine?
I think I will be a cool 90 year old. It’s so strange to think that 90 year olds will be listening to rap music. To be fair I think 90 year olds nowadays probably listen to Drake. Everyone listens to Drake. If a 90 year old me popped up in a time machine I would ask him “what number did the Fast and the Furious movies go up to?”.
Joel Dommett, Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Saturday
30 September 2017, 8pm, £19.50/16.50, Age 14+
