Danny Bhoy tells Katherine MacAlister about life on the road with his latest stand-up show

Last time we spoke, Danny Bhoy was so rarely at home he could scarcely remember where he lived.

Three years later and things are no different, although when he does make it home to Edinburgh he’s tucked up in bed with a DVD by 9pm. But having made it big in the world of comedy, he’s not complaining, and a with a new tour, Please Untick This Box, to take on the road, that won’t change any time soon.

So what can we expect when Danny comes to Oxford’s Glee Club? “This new show is about things I’ve done and what they mean to me, a series of unrelated topics tied together with humour. Most of my shows never start with a theme in mind, but somehow in the journey of building the show, various subplots start to develop,” he explains.

“But I have a maturity now as a stand-up, which I didn’t have 10 years ago, and I think that translates into more rounded and cultured comedy.”

Fans will know however that no two shows are the same and that his tours are always a work in motion, the script being constantly updated depending on where he is and what’s topical. “I’m still writing the show. No show I’ve ever done has ever reached total completion and I’m always looking to add new stuff over the course of the tour,” he tells me.

So why make more work for himself? “Sometimes a bit that seemed quite topical and relevant at the start of a tour can start to seem dated after a while,” he explains, “so I like to keep trying new material out. And part of the joy of stand-up is the fairly transient nature of the material – it can be one thing one day, and something else the next,” says the comedian who performed his first solo show at the 2001 Edinburgh Festival and hasn’t looked back since.

Please Untick This Box must have a basic structure though? “I talk about things that I’ve done and what they mean to me. If there’s something in that particular place that catches my eye I make a note of it,” he says.

“It’s about finding those things that everyone can relate to and I have to keep the show fresh for my own sanity.”

Having started with a bigger fanbase abroad than at home, Danny has been working hard to redress the balance, meaning his life on the road is fairly permanent; “You’d be surprised how dull it is. My life is so chaotic when I’m on tour that it’s nothing like you’d imagine,” he says. “When I’m not performing, I’m in bed with an Ovaltine and DVD by 9pm. And even when I do have a gig, after I finish I rush out of the venue and head for my hotel room!”

For Danny though, it’s worth it, just for the sheer pleasure of getting out on stage and making people laugh. “Every time I write a new show it becomes my favourite,” he says, “because the vast majority of people go to a comedy show once or twice a year and all they want to do is laugh. It’s that simple.

“Hey look, I’m just pleased I’ve got an audience that will sit and listen to me for a long period of time and enjoy the build-up as well as the punchline,” he says. “The thing I love about stand-up is having that hour and a half with things you really want to talk about.”

SEE IT
Danny Bhoy is at Oxford’s Glee Club on Wednesday.
See glee.co.uk/oxford or call 0871 472 0400.

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone’s contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.