He's made audiences around the country laugh out loud for more than a decade, but before pursuing stand-up, Cameron James had 'Electric Dreams’.
In recent years you may have heard Cameron on iTunes chart-topping comedy podcast 'The Becky And Cam Hotline', or perhaps seen him across the ABC, SBS, Channel Ten and Comedy Central. Now, Cameron's going to dig up something he's not revealed to audiences before.
In this personal new show, Cameron will explore dreams, love, failure and music. He'll sing songs he wrote in a purple notebook between the ages of 13 to 17, and tell the stories that accompany them.
We learn more from Cameron about 'Electric Dreams' before he plays Perth and Sydney Comedy Festivals.
Tell us a bit about what you’ll be bringing to audiences.
When I was a teenager – before I ever wanted to be a comedian – I wanted to be a rockstar. I spent all of high school playing guitar in different bands, and writing very earnest, serious songs. No one has ever heard these songs before. Until now. For this show, I've decided to unearth my old teen notebooks and play five songs that I wrote at age 15, and tell the story of how I tried and eventually gave up on my dreams to be a musician. But, you know, in a positive way.
Why did you decide to take this angle with the show?
I've never shown anybody these songs. In fact, for most of my life I've been embarrassed about this part of my life. But. . . I'm not sure if it's due to the craziness of the last two years, or just the fact that I've been doing stand-up for over ten years now, but for the first time in my life I felt like I was ready to dig back through my own past and share this side of myself with people. Cause everyone had big dreams when we were kids. And everyone has things they're embarrassed about. I want to share mine so that you feel okay accepting yours, you know?
What’s your favourite thing about comedy?
Comedy is the thing me and my family bond over. My brothers and my parents and I laugh at the same things, and quote old 'Seinfeld' episodes to make each other laugh and get through the rough times. That's what comedy is – it's connection. Getting to do it myself now, I feel so lucky to stand in a room with a bunch of people who don't know each other and for an hour or so we're all connected and feeling the same thing. Also sometimes they give you free beers at the venue you perform at, so that's pretty cool.
Where did your career in comedy begin?
It was a total accident. I was playing guitar in a band in Newcastle, and one of the guys in the band dragged me to an open mic comedy night one night – just to watch. And then I started going and watching pretty regularly. And then one day my bandmates dared me to sign up to do a set, and I did. And look at me now – I'm a 34-year-old comedian who has written a show about wishing he was still in a band.
Cameron James plays The Rechabite (Perth Comedy Festival) 7 May and Factory Theatre (Sydney Comedy Festival) 12-15 May.
