Tue, 21 Apr 2026 09:04:55 -0700WeeblyThu, 23 May 2013 16:07:53 GMThttp://www.andrevincent.co.uk/blog/financial-times-interviewFound this interview I did a few years ago...

Being funny? Please don’t try it at workBy Hazel Davis

It always helps to inject a little humour into a business presentation – but anyone who has tried it will know that being funny is not as easy as it looks.

While creating laughter in the workplace is an asset and learning how to tell a joke can be advantageous to a manager, to do it properly requires dedication and hard work: standing up in front of an audience promising to be funny is not something the average executive can “try their hand at”.


“It’s not paint-balling,” explains Andre Vincent, a stand-up comedian. “You don’t just pick up a microphone and fire off punchlines.”

Being a stand-up comic can take years of honing the craft: “It can be a long process of getting into open spots [unpaid short slots, usually in small venues] and doing stage time,” says Mr Vincent. “But once you’ve done enough of that, there are always gigs. Even during a recession laughter has not been hit.”

The need for humour during hard times has helped Mr Vincent make a career out of being funny. The 47-year-old from Penge in south-east London is one of the comedy circuit’s most successful acts.

But he reiterates that it’s not for everyone: “Sometimes the really funny kid in the office is dreadful on stage but the quiet one comes alive in front of a crowd. The only way you know you’re funny enough is if the crowd laughs enough.”

Is it possible to learn the skill of making people laugh? Mr Vincent believes the successful comic is born, rather than created: “I think you can teach people to be funny to a certain extent but there still has to be a part of you that thinks – ‘Yeah I can get up on stage and entertain these people’.

“But it’s not just one personality type. You see some comics who come out with the most perfect lines who do it just for the money and you see others who eat, sleep and breathe their work.”

The usual route to the spotlight is to try it part-time in the evenings while keeping up the day job. Unpaid stage time gives budding stand-ups a chance to hone their craft and then move on to asking promoters for paid spots – or even taking on an agent to handle the phone calls.

Levels of career management familiar to senior business executives are vital and diary management, travel arrangements, promotion and marketing can make the difference between success and failure.

Mr Vincent is one of the few stand-up comedians who has managed to work at a high level without an agent, despite offers. He says: “I have no agent because I see great comics being turned into mediocre comics just for the sake of getting ahead and I don’t want that.” Instead, he relies on his reputation and years of contacts.

He has opened a show for Bob Hope, written an award-nominated BBC TV show and sits on the board of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society. He originally began training as an actor but left after a few months when he was offered a role in a repertory production.

He picked up circus skills in Paris and spent time on street performance around the world, before encountering stand-up comics in the US and joining their ranks. “The street performers always earned far more than stand-ups – but the stand-ups were inside,” he laughs. Performing in Florida and Louisiana was wonderful, he says: “I only had to open my mouth for them to laugh.”

When Mr Vincent returned to the UK, British troops were fighting in the Gulf. “I did a gig at the Woolwich Tram Shed and the squaddies in the club could be so rowdy. My street training meant I could handle them. I was in my element.” A stint at the Edinburgh Festival followed and stand-up became his main job.

In 2002, Mr Vincent was diagnosed with cancer in his kidney. He subsequently wrote a critically acclaimed show, Andre Vincent Is Unwell, about it, which he took to Edinburgh and which formed the basis of his BBC show Hurrah For Cancer.

Stand-up works for him as a career, says Mr Vincent: “It’s just me and my words.”

But there are sacrifices: it requires flexibility, the hours can be long, the travelling arduous and the financial rewards negligible. There can be years of hard slog for no obvious career progression. Writing and rehearsing also eat up time.

It also affects social life. Mr Vincent says: “It can be pretty hard. I’ve been in a relationship for 11 years but when I go away for long periods it is upsetting for both of us.”

Comedians’ earnings can vary wildly. Mr Vincent says he earns “between £45,000 and £55,000 – but you can earn a lot more”.

Mr Vincent does not own a house and has no pension. He could afford it, but says: “Squirrelling is not in my nature. I can’t see me ever retiring: performing is too much in my nature. My other half put £50,000 in some pension scheme 20 years ago and she recently found it was worth £8,000. I’d not be too happy about that.”

SECRET CV

What was your big break?

Cancer. When I did the cancer show it was my trip. It got off my chest how I felt about how people reacted to my cancer.

Who has made the biggest difference to you?

My partner. We’ve been together for 11 years and she’s very intelligent and knows exactly when I am making good or bad decisions.

What else might you have done?

Nothing else. Or nothing without an audience.

How do you feel about the top rate of tax?

If I were in the top earner bracket, giving 50 per cent back is only fair. I believe in the NHS, schools and government so I have to contribute to make it the best it can be.

Best career advice to others?

Do what comes naturally. Go with what you want.



]]>Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:32:48 GMThttp://www.andrevincent.co.uk/blog/slidingand-stuffI got asked to write a small piece on Comics and winter sports, so here it is.


Since the mid-90s when a US comedian claimed his hobby was “Ice Climbing”, the British comedy circuit has turned into a posse of adrenaline junkies. Running marathons, swimming long rivers, extreme peak-walking and even climbing Mount Blanc suggest that the thrill of entertaining a roomful of strangers is not as testing as it used to be. And the proof of the pudding is the winter pilgrimage to many of the world’s snowy slopes to slide down them. There are now gigs across the Alps in Switzerland and France, and also in the Rocky regions of Canada, just so comedians can entertain during the evening, and board or ski during the day. Though the big question is do comedians and snow mix?

The performer’s ego says yes (they have to be arrogant otherwise they wouldn't get up on stage and do what they do) but seeing it in action is another thing completely. Many comedians have drunk their fill the night before and climbed out of bed in the early hours to go skiing - only to be seen slowly snow-ploughing downward followed by a trail of…well, purge. Others of the privileged classes have claimed to be great skiers from their time at public school, but having lashed on their boots and skis, realize they’d forgotten everything they were taught, fly down the mountain and land head first into the tundra. You might have boarded at school but boarding a piste is another matter.

Yet these jesters have one thing in common: no fear. The years of climbing on to stages to face rowdy audiences have instilled in them a formidable courage. They all share the audacity to try and stand on waxed plastic, ski-lift to a summit and speed downhill faster then Russell Brand’s marriage. So to enjoy this cacophony of collisions, the Altitude festival is the place to be. The organisers claim that the comedy is only at night when the performers are on stage, but the truth is, there’s also hilarity in the daylight hours when these bravado-filled numbnuts slip and slide until they will literally have “numb nuts”. Come for the comedy but ski for the laughs.

]]>Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:00:26 GMThttp://www.andrevincent.co.uk/blog/october-24th-2012Found this interview I did for some website just before Edinburgh. Thought I'd stick it up, I rather like it. Enjoy...

H: Why/how did you get into stand-up?

It was more or less forced on me. Let me explain - I’ve been performing since I was a child, one of those annoying theatre brats you associate with Bonnie Langford. I was quite happy with acting, but then I was in a show that required me to learn circus skills, which I loved. So with a bit of training I was off around Europe being “Circus Boy”. This led me into street performing, travelling the world, busking at festivals everywhere. At the end of ‘89 I was working for a big US entertainment corp. and they were aware I wasn’t having such a good time. So they offered me an MC-ng slot in a stand-up tour around Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana. So, my first ever stand-up was in the southern states of America.

H: What was your first gig like? Did it go well?

It was strange, I was nervous but overly confident. The bookers were in the audience to make sure they’d done the right thing. I had some lines and a street act that I was going to break down into different sections around people telling jokes. I had a costume, the other acts were just in T-shirt and jeans. I had props, the others had punchlines. There was obviously a clash of performing styles on the stage that night but what won it for me was my accent. As soon as the crowd heard my dulcet south-east London tones, well it was an easy in. And by the end of the two and half months, I’d won myself over. No more dress up, no more things out of a bag, just me and a mic.

H: How would you describe your stand-up to those who haven’t heard of you?

Playful teasing. A smiley smut-peddler. Oh, I don’t know. Sometimes I get in a mood about things and I rant a bit about a topical subject. It all depends what mood I’m in, I guess. But I hope it’s always entertaining.

H: What's your writing process like? How do you decide when to test material and where to put it?

It just goes in. If it’s a new piece I’ll bang it in at the top. Don’t know why, some people let the audience get to know them before trying new stuff and then do it in the middle. For me, it’s a couple of jokes, and then do it. I think I’m excited about wanting to try it out in front of fresh ears. My writing process usually involves sitting in a bath and things just come to me. I try adding to material all the time. I never write down anything, which is silly and lazy, especially when a subject comes around again and you’re thinking “I used to have a great bit about breeding pandas”.

H: Do you think comedy should have a message or ideology behind it?

No, not really. I think if you’re doing an hour-long show it’s nice to give an audience something to think about. Create something that’s more then just joke after joke. I suppose it’s easy for me to say, since Hoorah For Cancer was pretty much an emotional rollercoaster. But for twenty-minute club sets, nah, the audience wants to get away from being lapdogs of normality, so just give ‘em a good time. I bet now I say that, next gig, I’m going to get all preachy on the crowd.

H: Where does the inspiration for your work come from?

So many places. Books, cartoons, newspapers, websites, silent movies, graffiti, seriously, so many different things can set me off. Some of my muses are: Laurel & Hardy, Tony Hancock, Frankie Howerd, Roscoe Arbuckle, Sam Kinison and Bill Irwin.

H: Is critical approval important to you?

Not really. I recently created a website and realised I had no records of good reviews (there have been some). I read reviews and take on board what the critic has to say and usually learn from that. Some comics say “I don’t read reviews, never have done, never will” – well, how are you going to grow? An independent outside eye is important to have. But I very rarely bask in the warmth of a good review.

H: What do you think of the impact the internet has had on the comedy industry? How has is benefited/harmed your career to date?

I love the internet, from networking on social media to the lone critic in a bed-sit. It all helps the big comedy boat sail along. It’s so random where your name will pop up or what people will say. Someone once posted a review of The Early Edition and said I was “Crude, cheap and in the gutter” but they had registered on the site as “HardPink69”. Only on the web…

H: Could you tell us about your upcoming Edinburgh show: Nature’s Candy?

Have no idea what this is….not me anyway.

H: I noticed you’re playing Latitude this year (alongside Marcus Brigstocke), with a live version of your BBC Radio Show: The Late Edition. What can people expect to see in that show? How does live version differ from its original incarnation?

Again not me, well not this year anyway. Brigstocke is doing an Early Edition at Latitude, with whom, I could not tell you as he’s booking it. And it’s a live show that spun off from a BBC4 TV show: The Late Edition. See www.theearlyedition.co.uk

H: You once opened for Bob Hope. How did that come about?

I was in Columbus, Ohio in 1992, 500 years since Columbus had discovered that quaint nation. To celebrate the anniversary a festival called “Ameriflora” was created and it only seemed fitting to do it in Columbus. I was invited since I could tick so many performance boxes: street show, improv, stand-up, wandering characters. Well, Bob Hope was booked to do two nights and I pushed myself forward to do the warm-up.

H: What was it like opening for someone so renowned in the comedy world?

Interesting, he was old, very old, I spoke to him and said “I live in Bromley, Just next to Eltham where you were born”. He looked at me and said in a very confused voice “Eltham? Eltham? Ah, Eltham, I was born there” I was worried because, as a comedian your powers of recall are quite important. Then I noticed the front row of the auditorium were covered in cue cards for him to read from, including his theme tune which as some might know is Thanks For The Memory. The irony was lost on the Americans I pointed this out to. But when he was on stage you would never have known, he breezed across the stage like an old pro, reading his lines as he moved. In the end he was an absolute joy to watch.

H: I really admire how personal your material is. Do you ever find it difficult to talk about some of that stuff on stage? If so, how do you get past that?

Not at all, nothing is off limits in my mind. When I got cancer, people would say “You can’t do jokes about that, someone’s nan will have died of it and they’re watching you” but, it’s my cancer, my story and do you know what, I find it funny. Finding the funny for others to find funny can sometimes be difficult, especially if they’re already closed-minded about the subject.

H: Is there anything you have coming up that you want to promote?

Edinburgh 2012 – The Early Edition – everyday in an upside down novelty bovine bivouac. 2pm.

]]>Thu, 27 Sep 2012 14:57:09 GMThttp://www.andrevincent.co.uk/blog/comedy-movies-to-collectLast weekend I was performing at the new fantastic club, The Laugh Inn in Chester. In the hallway there is a collage of old and new comics. A comedian there asked me who some of the older comedians were, Arthur Askey, Naughton & Gold, Mick Ferry to name but a few. He then asked me about British comedies and what to buy. Good question, so I’ve had a think and this is my suggestions of the best from each decade. Enjoy, and if I’ve missed any, get in touch.

BRITISH COMEDY FILMS

1930s

Ask A Policeman (1938)
Boys Will Be Boys (1935)
The Ghost Goes West (1935)
Good Morning, Boys (1936)
Keep Fit (1937)
Oh, Mr. Porter! (1937)
Pygmalion (1938)
Trouble Brewing (1939)
Where's That Fire? (1939)

1940s

Blithe Spirit (1941)
Gasbags (1940)
The Ghost of St Michaels (1941)
The Goose Steps Out (1942)
Hue and Cry (1946)
ITMA (1943)
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
Let George Do It (1941)
Major Barbara (1941)
My Learned Friend (1943)
On Approval (1943)
Passport to Pimlico (1949)
Whisky Galore! (1948

1950s

Blue Murder at St Tinian’s (1954)
The Belles of St. Trinians (1957)
Carry On Nurse (1959)
Carry On Sergeant (1958)
Carry On Teacher (1959))
Doctor at Large (1957)
Doctor at Sea (1955))
Genevieve (1953)
The Happiest Days of Your Life (1950)
Hobson's Choice (1953)
I'm All Right Jack (1959)
The Importance of Being Earnest (1952)
The Ladykillers (1955)
The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
Lucky Jim (1957)
The Man in the White Suit (1951)
The Mouse That Roared (1959)
Our Man in Havana (1959)
Private's Progress (1956)
The Smallest Show on Earth (1957)
The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953)
Too Many Crooks (1958)
Trouble in Store (1953)
Up the Creek (1958

1960s

Alfie (1966)
The Assassination Bureau (1969)
Battle of the Sexes (1960)
Bedazzled (1967)
Billy Liar (1963)
Carry On Cleo (1965)
Carry On Up the Khyber (1968)
Casino Royale (1967)
Dentist on the Job (1961)
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery (1966)
The Italian Job (1969)
The Millionairess (1960)
The Plank (1967)
The Punch and Judy Man (1962)
The Pure Hell of St Trinian's (1960)
The Rebel (1961)
School for Scoundrels (1960)
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965)
Two-Way Stretch (1960)
The Wrong Arm of the Law (1962)
You Must Be Joking! (1965)

1970s

Are You Being Served? (1972)
And Now For Something Completely Different (1971)
Bless This House (1972)
Confessions from a Holiday Camp (1977)
Dad's Army (1971)
Doctor in Trouble (1970)
Jabberwocky (1977)
The Likely Lads (1976)
Man About the House (1974)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
On the Buses (1972) (and two sequels)
The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)
The Plank (1979)
Porridge (1979)
The Return of the Pink Panther (1975))
Steptoe and Son (1972) and sequel Steptoe and Son Ride Again
Up Pompeii! (1971)

1980s

Brazil (1985)
Comfort and Joy (1984)
Educating Rita (1983)
Erik the Viking (1989)
A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
George and Mildred (1980)
Gregory's Girl (1980)
High Hopes (1988
Local Hero (1983)
The Missionary (1983)
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983)
Morons from Outer Space (1985)
Personal Services (1987)
A Private Function (1984)
Privates on Parade (1982)
Restless Natives (1985)
Rising Damp (1980)
Shirley Valentine (1989)
The Tall Guy (1989)
Time Bandits (1981)
Victor/Victoria (1982)
Withnail and I (1987)

1990s

Brassed Off (1996)
The Commitments (1991)
Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
The Full Monty (1997)
Funny Bones (1995)
Life Is Sweet (1990)
Hear My Song (1991)
Leon the Pig Farmer (1992)
A Life Less Ordinary (1997)
Little Voice (1998)
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
Notting Hill (1999)
Nuns on the Run (1990)
Peter's Friends (1992)
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
Still Crazy (1998)
Truly, Madly, Deeply (1991)
Twin Town (1997)

2000s

About a Boy (2002)
Ali G Indahouse (2002)
Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
Billy Elliot (2000)
The Boat That Rocked (2009)
Chicken Run (2000)
Confetti (2006)
Hot Fuzz (2007)
In the Loop (2009)
It's All Gone Pete Tong (2004)
Kinky Boots (2005)
Kevin and Perry Go Large (2000)
The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (2005)
Run Fat Boy Run (2007)
The Actors (2003)
Saving Grace (2000)
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Snatch (2000)
Son of Rambow (2007)
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

]]>Sat, 16 Jun 2012 22:50:36 GMThttp://www.andrevincent.co.uk/blog/what-ive-learntI recently posted this on the website of the fantastic comic Jo Caulfield. I've had so many texts and tweets about it I'd thought I'd put it up here as well.
It is under the heading "What I have learnt as a comic", enjoy.... 

All comedy is subjective. Just because you find it funny and your mates find it funny, doesn't mean I find it funny. But that doesn't mean it's not funny.

Every comedian who drives thinks they're being exploited. I've never had a comic ring me up and say "We're working together, wanna lift?"

Never trust a Russell, they are only in it for the fuck.

If a moment presents itself on stage and the only thing that comes into your head to deal with the situation is one of my lines, use it. The gig is more important than my ego.

Make sure what you're saying is factually correct. Funny yes, but also correct.

Not liking the new bright thing doesn't make me bitter. I'm happy at my place.

Knowing you're good is why you're up there.

If you think you have an edge, you have an edge.

When a comic says to another comic "If you had kids, you'd know why that's not funny", I think, "When you gave life, something inside you died".

Two minutes on The Comedy Roadshow does not entitle you to a tour.

If you really look like someone, point it out. Otherwise people in the audience will sit there thinking, "Who do they look like?"

The punter has paid to hear you perform. That is where the contract ends. You don’t have to be their mate and drink with them. 

Don't vicar the audience. By that I mean, don’t stand at the exit fishing for compliments.

TV producers will tell you to think out of the box and then present you with a ball.

An agent/manager works for you. You don't work for them.

Gag hags, groupies and funny fanny: on a rainy night in Rhyl with an audience of thirty, your guard will drop. If it does, remember - don't bite, spank or insert anything until there is clearance from the tower.

Fame makes you a target for other peoples’ dissent. But it also allows you to put your ethics into play.

Always but always, listen to Ivor Dembina.

If you think you're funny, don't give up. If stand-up is not for you, there are always options. Some of the most mediocre comics have become some of the best TV writers, west end playwrights and crime novelists.

Talk about what you know. And if you trained as a vet, fuck 'em. Cats and dogs it is.

Three of my favourite gigs: at one of them I was pissed,  another E'd off my head, the other coked up. Me AND the audience had a really good time. I'd probably never do it again - too old - but never let anyone tell you what "professional" is.

With TV comedy Practice & Standards do not have a funny bone in their body. Just smile and move on.

There is nothing funnier then swearing puppets.

If you call someone a cunt, stand by it. Many years ago I called a runner a cunt and they now are a TV channel controller. He got there by being true to himself.

They may be your best friend in comedy, but be prepared to lose them when TV comes a-calling.

If you run a gig and you send out a mass email asking comics for availability for the weekend, it doesn't take a minute to send a mass email saying "Thanks, filled the slot".

The real comedy geniuses are some of the most arrogant people alive. And I can forgive them that because of their body of work.

If you're MC-ing, take a moment to look at the bill. Don't do ten minutes of whacky improvised schtick on a punter’s gay B&Q shirt and then bring on someone who’s a one-liner. It's not fair on the act or the crowd.

All brothers steal each other’s jokes, and I mean you - Walkers, Maiers, Manfords...and black acts.

No subject is off limits. None. Comedy is the last bastion of freedom of speech. Comics will tell you to stay away from some topics because they have no appropriate funny lines. If they had a killer joke about Rosa Parks, cot death and skull-fucking a puppy they would be closing on it.

Never try out jokes on your other half. The cold blank far-off stare really hurts.

I created the expression "fingered by a skip". Fact. And "face like a plasterer’s radio". If you create something that can be remembered expect it to be repeated.

You can't beat a funny Indian. Well, you could when we had an Empire.

Never bring a copy of The Stage into a dressing room.

Postcode comedy is fine at a benefit or a corporate. Don't do fifteen minutes about the roadworks at Amperton Avenue in Cheetham Hill, rip the room with your local northern knowledge and then bring on someone from Brighton. Unless that person did it to you when you were playing their gig in Brighton.

The majority of deaths are self-inflicted.   

If you’re on stage re-enacting porn-watching, don't tilt your head to the side.

Enjoy working the trenches. These have been and still are the happiest memories of my life. Youngsters that are being fast-tracked to telly will never go around the world for free, never wonder if they should do the Free Fringe and never play Rhyl on a rainy night to thirty people.

Discrimination based on age, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability, appearance, intelligence and penis size can be funny. I am oaf enough to laugh at any of the above as long as the punch line is right.



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