Heading on tour around the UK this month is Tiff Stevenson.
It got quite nerdy…
Ill start with the obvious one, and then we can go nerdy.
Youre going on tour with a show called Mad Man.
Do you have specific examples youre tapping into?
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Yeah, sure.
Advertising is a huge thread that runs through the show.
Also, what makes the personality, and what makes the person.
Theres a huge chunk in the show about people wearing band T-shirts.
For bands that they dont actually know!
Theyre sold as fashion items now.
I constantly see Ramones T-shirts on 17-year olds, who dont know a single one of the songs.
you oughta own at least an album!
About three years ago, there was an explosion of geek T-shirts on the high street.
From people who hadnt even taken a Star Trek exam…!
If you know that theres more than one punch in of Cardassian…
Cardassians over Kardashians!
I accidentally saw you at a gig towards the end of last year.
I went to an Ed Byrne gig, and you were supporting Ed on his tour.
What goes through your head when you get an initially dead response like that?
What tactics do you go for?
Im not too fussed if people arent drinking, because its more about establishing who I am.
So if theyre not drinking, its fine.
I can put all the detail in.
I have an idea of what I want to do.
I tailor it a bit.
But really what I want to talk about and say on stage is the main focus.
When you first start out, you panic about it if theyre not liking things.
But you’ve got the option to chop and change and throw everything at it.
Whereas my technique, certainly in the latter part of my stand-up career, is theyll come with me.
If I take it slowly, theyll come with me.
The reverse applies to a rowdy crowd!
You often see people panic at rowdy shows, and go on the front foot.
Ive found the reverse works.
And sometimes an audience likes being told how they like to behave.
But instead, if the energys not in the room, Im going to bring the energy.
Im going to perform the shit on it, and then you get on board.
You do tailor it to the room.
Im always confident in the knowledge that what I have to say is good.
Thats surely experience though isnt it?
I did a little mini-tour last year, but this is my first proper one.
Even then, compared to someone like Ed whos doing 140 dates or so, its smaller.
But thats how everyone starts out, playing rooms around 100-150 seats.
The biggest room is around 300 seats, thats what Im playing.
Thats nice, that youre building your audience, and they want to come back out to see you.
Thats what I want people to get out of the show.
I know that the show is a great show.
Theres less nerves, more excitement.
Thats an amazing feelingSometimes on a tour show, people take a punt.
When youre the support act, is that the end of level boss of stand-up?
Ive done the odd tour spot for Russell Kane, and people like that.
Its a really nice contrast and complement to their act.
Thats part of the problem with women coming through.
A lot of the boys got to do it early doors.
Josh Widdecombe I think got to support Stephen Merchant.
Romesh Ranganathan supported Kevin Bridges.
An end of level boss is a good way to describe them.
That said, there wasa lovely piece in the Big Issueabout bird watching, though.
But Im curious: what do you wish people would actually ask you?
Gender obviously does come up in a way that doesnt with the guys.
You never hear whats it like being a man in comedy.
Which is why I dont really want to go down that road!
I do like birdwatching.
I like playing golf.
Im into boxsets binge watching.
I love stuff likeFringe.
Big Joss Whedon fan.
Its been a long time since we had someone like that.
Jessica Jones works on different levels, talking about sex trafficking as well as being a superhero piece.
I cried and I thought the movie was amazing.
I have to go back when I ask when have I seen a female character as good as that?
Im going back to Buffy, Im going back to Sarah Connor.
Thats how far I have to go back to find those women.
I still am Buffy mad.
The writing in it is so exceptional.
The foreshadowing, the really universal themes.
Sometimes people say its a real teenage show, but no.
Some of Anyas lines in the later series why cant you just masturbate like the rest of us?
theres brilliant, funny stuff the whole way through.
What would you recommend that you think people may have missed?
Fringe.FringeI dont think got the recognition it deserved.
That had a bumpy first season, that hurt the show a lot.
What was interesting how something likeFringethough is I was asking where are our Walters.
Youve got Walter inFringeand inBreaking Bad, characters who are flawed.
Are they the hero, are they the villain?
Theyre brilliant, but also, could be crazy.
I still think we see a lot of whingy women on TV series.
Especially in comedy: theyre either slut or borderline retarded.
They seem to be the two archetypes.
I think thats slowly changing.
I was really intoBand Of Brothers.Archeris one I really love.
A lot of the animated series in fact:Bojack Horseman.
The first season of that.
The second season upped that a notch too.
The second season had an episode that was a satire of the Bill Cosby situation.
There are all these ways to find stuff now.
Have you seen it?
No, not yet!
ObviouslyThe Officeis a huge influence on the guys who have written it.
Someone described it recently as aSpinal Tapof grime music.
That description, if it gets you, you should give it a try.
I thin its very, very funny.
Its about a bunch of lads who start a pirate radio station in West London.
I like that its working class characters, but theyre not portrayed as everyones shit.
Theres dreams, aspirations, and its very funny.
Theres two more series of it coming up, that Im doing.
Thats going online with BBC Three.
That its all more prescribed and pre-chosen now.
I wonder if thats hurting a few of the shows that youve talked about.
It takes a while to find some shows.
I watched a few more and realised I loved it: a brilliant critique on gentrification.
Carrie Brownstein is so brilliant in it.
Theres a thing they make now, a friend of mine told me about it.
A director friend of a friend told me this, so Im hearing it third hand.
But theyre a reasonably well known director, and they went into a meeting for a job.
They said that I need to do some work on the script.
And they said yeah, this is a one-eye film.
As in its meant to be watched when one eye is on a phone or something.
It shows the modern disease that we have.
The idea that theyre catering films that way.
Were heading towards getting what we deserve as an audience if we dont pay attention and watch.
I dont know if you sawSherlockon New Years Day.
Robin Ince was talking about it.
I read hisexcellent blog on it, thats why it came to mind.
People didnt even wait until the end credits to say they didnt like it.
But its gone further here: were effectively seeing reviews 30/40 minutes before the credits have rolled.
That argument goes across anything you review though.
Im not sure of that.
I think theres something though, that makes an incey bit of a difference.
To get a true audience members perspective.
Its an odd one.
Were also in a culture of review of reviews too, though.
I know exactly which piece youre going to talk about!
Where it said its a guys movie, and thats why women dont get it.
And you go oh fuck off.
Actually, the narrator of the piece and the heart of the film is a woman.
Its a clickbait thing, isnt it?
With enough gumption to create outrage.
The Katie Hopkins and Donald Trumps.
Were in a situation almost like the bigger the arseole, the higher the purse.
I dont think its just screaming the loudest either.
I think its screaming the fastest sometimes.
Whos the first to get it out there?
I do think that makes a difference.
Can I quickly talk about one of your other projects before we wrap up?
Because I read that youre doing a documentary about plastic surgery.
Is that still active?
Were currently in the process of editing it.
There are a couple of other people we want to catch to get their opinions.
Weve got interviews at the minute with various comedians.
Oh, and with Janet Ellis.
She talks about ageism.
She started as a young actress, and she says something quite interesting.
She says that she never defined her aged, other people did it for her.
She was surprisingly unjudgemental.
That was the one area of her face that wasnt burned.
She might have to have corrective plastic surgery on her eyes to match the rest of her face.
I wanted to get to the core of that.
Maybe we should celebrate every part of our lives, rather than just focusing on youth.
One final question, then.
Whats your favourite Jason Statham movie?
Because hes not the lead in it!
[Laughs] The women in that film are phenomenal.
I think hes funny in it, and he comes off well.
I think its because hes surrounded by an amazing female cast.
Tiff Stevenson, thank you very much!
Tiff Stevensons Mad Man tour begins in January.
For a full list of dates, see her website,here.
