“It’s nice and broad,” says Deakin. “Most Australians fly, most Australians fly long distances so they get it. I’m getting a lot of industry people coming through. Thirty of [the audience] last night were from Singapore Airlines and there was a couple of pilots.”
In contrast to Deakin’s customary stand-up approach, this show has him stretching “different comedic muscles than what you use just doing the normal clubs.” Basically, this is becauseAirline has a narrative structure. Adopting the narrative format meant evaluating the strength of the jokes was a little more ambiguous than usual.
“I take it from when the plane takes off to when the plane lands and you go through customs and everything that happens in between,” he explains. “It’s really difficult to try that material out in clubs or open mic sort of thing. So, it’s just that embarrassing thing of walking around the kitchen talking to yourself for a few weeks. The first night I did it, out of a 50 minute show, probably 35-40 minutes I had no idea whether or not it was funny.”
However, all of these fears were alleviated when Deakin premiered the show at Perth’s Fringe World Festival last month.
“I sold out every show and put on another one and sold that out and got nominated for best comedy show at the festival and best show at the festival. It could have been absolutely horrible but it worked.”
This immediate esteem would be an additional relief when you consider that putting on a show of this nature isn’t only a comedic gamble. Deakin underlines the financial risks involved in comedy festival events.
“You pay so much money up front for these shows, for your fliers, for your ticketing, for your accommodation, for your flights – all that sort of stuff. Then, if it doesn’t work, you’re out of pocket tens of thousands of dollars.”
Many comedians face similar financial concerns at this time of year. However, there’s one major consolation for Deakin.
“Most of my friends aren’t as funny as I am, so that takes the pressure off quite a lot,” he says. “I always say that 85% of all comedy festival shows are unwatchable so that makes you feel a bit better. Bitterness and ego, that’s what gets you through comedy.”
All bitterness aside, Deakin is a seasoned performer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, having previously performed shows such as Death In Vegas and At Least At Gallipoli There Were No Seppos. To come to the festival, Deakin obviously has to endure the 24-hour flight over from London. So, given his evident distaste for air travel, why did he opt to base himself so far from home?
“London, England is the epicentre of stand-up comedy at the moment. New York is the artistic centre of it, but London and most of Britain are certainly where you can make more money. They all go to see comedy and the Poms also drink like fish. So if you get them in a room they’ll drink and they’ll spend money and therefore there’s money in the industry. You get paid a hell of a lot more than you would in say New York or LA where people don’t drink as much. It’s just simple economics. Britain’s where they’ll spend every red cent they’ve got on booze and entertainment.”
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
