Ian White talks comedy, life, and the Kardashian’s
Days after the first Scottish case of Covid-19 has been confirmed, comedian Ian White takes a philosophical approach. The coronavirus is a “more passive cull than a war” he muses jokingly, perhaps reassured by the speakeasy like feel of The Smoking Goat*, a basement bar in Ayr, it’s underground location serving as a temporary shelter from the virus, the madness of panic buyers stripping supermarket shelves clean of toilet roll and unscrupulous chancers selling hand sanitizer for £25.
In an increasingly absurd world, those not hoarding cleaning products ahead of the seemingly inevitable viral apocalypse often seek solace in comedy, which is good for White as his “Some Comedy Yeah” stand up show -which he organises and hosts- makes its return to the Goat the following day after an enforced five month hiatus.
“Tonight’s sleep will be a nightmare” he says with an unmistakably Yorkshire accent, one that twenty-four years of living in Scotland has really affected White notes ironically. Despite having performed 180 gigs over the last few years — well over the magic 100 number that allows 45 year-old White to legitimately call himself a comedian — he admits that anxiety before a show is a constant, even necessary emotion as it shows that he still cares about his material. However, it can also be a hindrance in his every-day life, no more so than when preparing his stand up shows.
“(My brain will be saying) you’ve done those ten things but not those two…even if it’s not putting knives back in the drawer –YOU DIDN’T DO THAT DID YOU!?”
White mentions Kevin Pollock’s documentary Misery Loves Comedy which explores the idea that all comedians are inherently miserable people at heart, one he relates to given his own struggles with anxiety and depression. Indeed, White’s openness to hypnotism and mindfulness to help with his anxiety stems from his natural inclination to people on the fringes, the outsiders, perhaps not surprising given his formative experiences as a teenager, describing himself as the shyest person at his school. So how did the young, shy White ultimately end up entering the brutal, unforgiving world of stand-up comedy?
White cites the likes of Bill Hicks, Rob Newman and David Baddiel as early comedic inspirations, attracted by the anti-establishment outsider cool that defined the likes of Hicks. However, he never really saw himself getting into stand up at all at first but rather poetry. Inspired by the likes of John Hegley, an 18 year-old White poured out his existential angst in 150 poems as a way of expressing himself.
“I never thought I was suicidal, just quiet” he says about those poems, belying perhaps the less enlightened societal attitudes towards mental health struggles in the early 1990s. White’s diffident nature lay behind his choice of course at the University of the West Scotland (UWS) — film making and editing- and his first job after graduation as a university technician.
“(I’d get to) sit on my own for 48 hours reediting people who just won’t shut up” he says with a laugh though before long, a spanner was thrown into the works of this ideal plan. At short notice, White was asked to teach a class which although initially terrifying also forced him to come out of his shell and ultimately led to his taking the plunge to pursue a career in comedy.
Indeed, the likes of comedian Chris Thoburn were among the students of the first ever class he took where White would teach them about his own film obsessions such as The Cohen Brothers, Stanley Kubrick and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, the latter who’s films he’d reedit for fun “rather than look for a job and safe my life”. Yet his students persuaded him to try comedy, leading to a ‘terrible’ two day course in Edinburgh where the teacher spent a day showing the students how to remove (and return!) a microphone from a stand. Some people might have chucked it after such a dispiriting experience but for White it was just the beginning.
Making a start in stand-up comedy allowed White to eventually become comfortable with not being interested in mainstream interests such as sports which he would previously watch whilst ‘blowing spit bubbles’ to alleviate his boredom. These days, White saves much of his contempt for “reality” television stars.
“The popularity of the Kardashian’s upsets and offends me” and it’s hard to disagree as he continues. “(They want you) to keep your head in the sand please because we’ve (the Kardashian’s) got a lot of shit going on and a lot of money invested in this naff ride we call life.” Given the ease at which the Kardashian’s flit between various mediums, its easy to understand why a performer like White might feel aggrieved given the ups and downs he has dealt with since starting his career in comedy.
White mentions his debut at The Stand in Glasgow where he did all his “dark stuff”, alienating the audience. Or irrationally feeling at fault for a comedian cancelling a performance at his Some Comedy Yeah show at the last minute which anyone who has suffered from anxiety and depression can probably relate to. It’s this relatability that is one of White’s most endearing qualities as well as his comedic talent, which is not just confined to his stand-up act.
Since starting Some Comedy Yeah in 2016 with a show at Ayr Town Hall, the show moved around various venues in Ayr before finally finding a natural home in the intimate, underground surroundings of The Smoking Goat. That White has managed to attract up and coming comedians such as Rachel Jackson, Chris MacArthur Boyd and Ameila Bayler to perform in a relatively sleepy town like Ayr is a testament to his likability and persuasiveness given the town’s proximity to Glasgow and its thriving comedy scene.
However, just as things were on a roll, disaster struck. The Smoking Goat, home of Some Comedy Yeah, closed its doors in mid-2019, leaving a huge hole in White’s routine. Despite other venues in Ayr getting in touch with him about hosting the show, White felt a sense of loyalty to the Goat and when the bar reopened in December 2019, the return of Some Comedy Yeah was back on the cards after a five month hiatus.
On the eve of his return behind the microphone, White is nervous yet excited, glad to be able to return to his passion before the impending viral apocalypse. After all, White concludes, “if you’re happy all the time there’s something wrong.”
*Should hasten to add, the interview took place before lockdown restrictions came into effect.
