Though he’s shivering and, in his words, experiencing wanderlust from hearing an Australian accent, it’s not long until comedian Danny Bhoy achieves climatic salvation, trading the wintery rains of his native Scotland for the glowing sunshine of South Australia.
Presenting his new show, 'Now Is Not A Good Time', marks Danny’s first tour in three years. He has a lot of material stored up, but he’s nervous. “I’ve been working on the show in Edinburgh, going down to the local club, but it’s different to playing in a theatre,” Danny says. “I will be apprehensive those first few shows, I think.”
A bold admission from a seasoned comic like Danny, who first took to the circuit in 1998. “The show itself, I’m quite confident that it’s good,” Danny says. “But you never know. You’ve always got to be a bit cautious. I think it’s good to have a bit of nerves, right?”
Indeed, adrenaline, when harnessed correctly, serves Danny well for a boisterous and excitable delivery. His is a very observational, grounded, and elaborate style of comedy – though by his own admission, he’s not as “bushy tailed and bright eyed” as many of his YouTube clips are wont to tell. “I’m a bit more sedated now!” Danny laughs. “I physically can’t do some of the routines I used to. [But] I definitely still have quite a lot of dexterity on stage, I would say.”
'Now Is Not A Good Time' is quintessentially Danny Bhoy. “Usually in a new show, I talk about what I’ve been doing, what I’ve been up to, where I’ve been. It’s all a bit anecdotal, but of course, everyone’s been stuck at home for two or three years, so I’ve kind of had to find an original angle for having that shared experience, trying to find ways of talking about it. It’s not too big a stretch to say ways of processing it through comedy, because it has been a very strange time.
“It’s sort of built around the pandemic, but things are very bad generally. We’ve got cost of living crisis, war; it just seemed like a good title that encompasses all the things I want to talk about without being about a specific thing.”
Danny’s performance at Adelaide Fringe marks the world premiere of 'Now Is Not A Good Time', and, to some extent because of the period of which Danny hasn’t been in front of a live audience, he admits he does have some anticipations of attendees not being receptive of his jokes in ways they were pre-pandemic. “That is the very basis of stand-up anxiety, is that you’re not tapping into the zeitgeist, or that you’re simply not funny anymore.” Danny’s picked up some tricks to combat those feelings, particularly on the spot. “I’m pretty good at being able to change direction in the moment if needs be,” he says. “Again, it’s all experience.
“I only came back about six months ago, and I felt like I was out of practise, but not out of experience. I still have that 20 years of experience on stage, what I didn’t have was the confidence and all that attitude. That took a little while to get back.
“I’m not worried about people not finding the new show funny. It’s kind of having to hone down on the material because it’s going to be universal.
“I’m confident, but there’s always that anxiety of ‘have I still got it?’ We’ll soon see, won’t we?”
Danny Bhoy plays Royalty Theatre (Adelaide Fringe) 14-19 March.
