Though he’s been on the circuit since the early 1990s, beloved Egyptian-Australian comedian Akmal Saleh is ‘Not Dead Yet’, a double entendre fit for his new show.
He writes up his own blurbs for his shows, something Akmal says comes back to bite him. The blurb for ‘Not Dead Yet’ says he’ll be naked – not so. “No, I’m not going to be naked, because I don’t need that many laughs!”
If it’s a flat night, Akmal says maybe. But he’s not going to be in need of big laughs, his successful tenure speaking for itself. Regardless, Akmal has said in the past that his method for writing new material means writing for months but it’s not until he’s on stage, as with ‘Not Dead Yet’, that he knows whether his content will work or not. “It’s the same method I’ve run with my entire career,” Akmal says. “Some people are very disciplined and have a very good idea of what’s funny and what’s not – I still have no idea!”
“I’m in Adelaide [at the time of interview] so it’s being fine-tuned. All the ideas I’ve had over the last few months I’m kind of chucking out – some things clearly aren’t working, and some things may be funny but it’s out of context.
“If you come up with something completely out of context, you may not get a laugh. But if you stick it between two bits that are appropriate, you will get a laugh. It’s really mysterious like that. It’s a matter of trial and error and doing it again, and again, and again.”
The sad thing about comedy, Akmal says, is that as soon as a show is fine-tuned, it’s an old joke. “People say, 'What else do you have?' You can’t even remember it once it becomes old! It’s just a constant, relentless process of trying things. It never stops being improved.”
“That’s the most unpleasant part of the business, starting from scratch again. People say it’s hard to do comedy; not when it’s all worked out, it’s pretty easy. The hardest thing is what I’m doing now – dropping bits, adding bits, changing the order which goes from a flat laugh to a huge laugh!
“Over the years you learn. It’s similar to writing songs – the longer you do it, the better at it you get. I don’t know, I’ve never written songs. . . But it’d be similar!”
That’s the layout and rollout of the show, but indeed, if Akmal isn’t appearing in an erotic manner, from where is he drawing the butts of his jokes? “The way it works is, you kind of think ‘What do I want to say? What have I been observing? What’s been making me happy, what’s been making me angry? What have I been obsessing over?’”
“[I] live in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales near Byron Bay. It’s all very alternative – people have got a lot of money, they’re privileged. They’re very into reiki and crystals and past life regressions. It’s like building something, you build your foundation first. So the foundation of this show is scams, basically.
“You never find a crystal shop in a poorer country like Afghanistan. It’s never ‘should I buy rice and grain, or should I buy an amethyst crystal for prosperity?’”
Akmal plays Athenaeum Theatre (Melbourne International Comedy Festival) 29 March-23 April.
