“I’ve actually kind of saved myself for the Melbourne Comedy Festival,” he says. “I’ve delayed it until I was really good so I could bring a show of this quality to it. It is a little bit petrifying because there’s so many good comics that I hang with and that are at my level that are just amazing. [But] I’m quietly confident because my show is different.”
What is it that makes Capper so assured he’ll sway the comedy festival crowds, you ask? Well, essentially, he’s thrown together the best bits from his six-year stand-up career and formed the show Standing Room Only.
“This is like a premiere of this show,” he says, “but basically it’s made up of all my other shows. I’m not just some comedian bringing down his hour show that he’s done after a year of stand-up, or whatever. This is the best of the best, it’s consistent, it’s hard hitting all the way through.”
Yep, it sounds like Capper’s taken the task of jumping out from the pack rather seriously. But he clarifies that this show is still an extended goofing-around session.
“It’s got the basic through-line of when my grandfather died and all the funny stuff that happened after that. But, really, don’t be turned off by [thinking] it’s an epic show about how I find myself and about how good comes from my grandfather dying. You learn nothing and it’s just nonsense.”
This nonsense is not limited to Capper relating silly tales (though there’ll be plenty of that). As has become customary since he starting performing lengthy solo shows in late 2012, ‘Standing Room Only’ will incorporate Capper’s original drawings and songs. He explains why he prefers to stretch beyond the conventional stand-and-deliver format.
“I found that when I went to Melbourne International Comedy Festival, even after 45 minutes when I was seeing the best comedians, you always look at your watch. When I watched Tim Vine years ago his show was just constant one-liners, gags – but it seemed like 20 minutes and it went for an hour. Stand-up’s good and I get good results with stand-up but I think you’ve got to break it up a little bit.
“It just keeps it interesting. You can’t make everybody laugh. I want to make something funny and interesting. My favourite comedians, sometimes they haven’t been hilarious but people have walked away and gone, ‘Well they weren’t that funny but they were very interesting.’ I guess you’d rather have three people that just love it, rather than 20 people mediocrely going, ‘Oh yeah that was good.’”
To paraphrase, Capper’s gathered all of his tried-and-tested best material and packaged it into a show that strives to be consistently and surprisingly stimulating. Yet, this doesn’t mean Standing Room Only will be a tightly controlled affair.
“I’m the kind of guy who gets bored of doing the same stuff over and over again,” he says. “A lot of the time when I’m in a show if I’m having a good time just [improvising] with the audience then I’ll keep it that way. Even if I have to cut out some of my stuff, it doesn’t matter. You’ve got to leave it random and make each show personal.”
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
