In a world filled with self-help gurus and inspirational quotes, Irish comedian David Nihill is here to offer a comedic alternative – if you’re willing to take book recommendations from a dyslexic shark nerd, that is.
Before Nihill kicks off his Australian tour – aptly titled 'Shelf Help' – the witty wordsmith speaks to us backstage at one of his sold-out US shows, to unravel the mysteries of his unique brand of comedy.
“It’s been a while since I’ve heard that delightful accent,” he greets. ”I lived there 22 years ago, as all Irish people do – a mandatory part of our service to the universe to go over there and just have fun for a year and get as sunburnt as humanly possible.”
It was working in Byron Bay that Nihill started dating an English woman who won a competition for a holiday to Fiji. On that trip, she encouraged Nihill to join her in reading books on the beach.
“I think she gave me Bill Bryson, one of his books, and that led to just swapping it for another one and another one along the way,” he says. “When I went back to Australia as I was backpacking around, it was common in those days that you'd have a little mini library where you could kind of leave a book, swap a book in the hostels, and it just kind of became a life habit all from being abused, sat on a beach in Fiji. I was quite happy just staring at the sunset and chasing around fish rather than tackling books.”
Although the show does have some structure, Nihill jokes that if he didn’t speak about books at some point it could be seen as false advertising – he does very little to prepare for this or any other show.
“Actually, I just rock up because I am a moron and I'm dyslexic and don't write any jokes anyway, so over time I just realised that preparation was a waste of time,” he says. “I kind of treat it conversationally, and the style of comedy I've always done has always been very story-based. So it's kind of whatever I'm excited about talking about in the moment, that really isn't much of a plan.”
So how does a dyslexic man get through enough books to make recommendations (of which there are plenty on his website, as well) and then write a book of his own?
“I can read alright, although I definitely have some creative interpretation when it comes to certain words,” Nihill laughs. “But once we moved to audiobooks, I think like anybody, it allowed me to have a much faster reading rate and much more rapidly digest a whole bunch of books and bounce from one to another. And when I wrote a book, I dictated it. So I was definitely helped along by technology in every way.”
It wouldn’t be the first time Nihill has faked something until he made it, though. After reading Malcolm Gladwell’s 'Outliers', which examines the factors that contribute to success and popularised the theory that it takes around 10,000 hours to master something, Nihill decided to master something he had always feared: public speaking. So he set out on the US comedy circuit as ‘Irish Dave’.
“I was like, well, who does public speaking for 10,000 hours? And who's probably the world's true masters of it? And all roads point back to stand-up comedians, who are doing it in the most difficult environment possible, where a stranger has just paid money for you to make them laugh every 15 seconds even though they're having a terrible day, potentially,” he explains. “So the idea was just to do it as much as humanly possible to try and get over fear of public speaking, but when you go down that road you realise, I don't think you get over a fear of public speaking, but I think you can manage it.”
Fast forward a few years later, Nihill is selling out theatres across the US – even putting on matinee shows in some cities to cope with demand – and now bringing it back to where it all began.
“I guess the story I'm trying to tie together is when you read a book, you never know how that plays out and impacts your life,” he says. “And as you look back at it, you're like, how did I end up there? That's kind of the tapestry of lunacy that I've been trying to tie together over many years, gallivanting around the world, that can be traced back to start with its origins in Australia.”
David Nihill Australia Tour Dates
5 April – The Rechabite Hall (Perth)11 April – The Sit Down Comedy Club (Brisbane)
14 April – The Comedy Story (Sydney)
19 April – The Comic's Lounge (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)
