Headlining the Hardy Har Comedy Club this coming Thursday, July 23rd, Ross Browne took some time out from his jetsetting, superstar life – thanks largely to his fine presenting stint on RTE’s The Fear – to talk to the Greystones Guide about fame, fortune and, fortunately for us, bringing his Professional Idiot tour to the good people of Wicklow.
Fair fecks.
GG: I think most comedians, stand-ups especially, would consider themselves professional idiots. Do you have a particularly strong claim to the title though…?
Ross Browne: Oh yeah, I have full dibs on the title of Professional Idiot. I failed my driving test three times by a mile. I only got 90 points in my leaving cert. English was the only subject I got a pass in and that was an A. I have zero common sense in day to day life. I am clumsy, loud, couldn’t hang a photo on a wall. There is a difference between stupid and idiot. I wouldn’t say I’m stupid but I think my attitude towards situations leads to idiocy. Life is just a laugh for me and that makes my life interesting and my girlfriend’s a nightmare. My girlfriend and I are getting married in September somewhere foreign and I don’t know where the wedding is. The professional part is turning all that I mess up in the real world and translate that into a show.
You don’t seem to be all that much of an idiot when it comes to your career though – grabbing some advice from Tommy Tiernan and travelling home from Spain on a promise of a seven-minute support slot with Des Bishop. Throw in your homemade candid camera shows online getting you a spot on RTE’s candid camera show The Fear, and it could be said that Ross Browne is something of a trier…
I like to chase things. If I’m not chasing something I feel useless or that I’m not doing anything. I was fairly casual about comedy in the beginning. It wasn’t until life wedged its way in between me and comedy that it became less accessible and then I had something to chase. Having a kid on the way was motivation to decide that I was going to give it a proper go and not be someone with a huge regret hanging over them. I’m very serious about comedy. You have to be in order to be good. I found out fairly quick that being good isn’t enough. You have to be good at the hustle and marketing yourself. That slowed down my career progression loads. The material and the ability was there before the opportunities. I still feel that I haven’t even scratched the surface yet of what I can do or want to do.
Your first one-man show was Infinity back in 2012 – would you say you’ve evolved a lot since then, or are you just perfecting the Ross Browne delivery…?
I think you are always developing or at least morphing. If your comedic voice doesn’t change from year to year then you really haven’t done much except churn out a slightly varied version of what you did before. If we are always changing as people your comedy should match that. I think the difference between my Infinity show and this one is that I have 100% embraced the absurd and the silly again. I’ve put so much physically into the delivery of this show, I feel I’ve hit a stride in that way without sacrificing the quality of material and haven’t ‘dumbed it down’. I’ve just added a layer of icing on the cake.
Living in Carrigtwohill in deepest, darkest Cork – was the comedy always there, as is so very often the case with Irish families living in remote parts of Planet Eire?
I actually only moved to Carrigtwohill seven years ago when we bought our house. My family moved house a lot when I was a kid. Not for any particular reason other than my parents were both the same as me, in terms of idiocy so they just moved a bunch of times. I think by the time I was 13 I’d lived in 12 houses. I think that helped shape how I was able to integrate into new groups all the time and use comedy as currency in new schools or places. It also gave me a good grasp for the differences between people from place to place and being able to play them as characterizations or other voices I use to better highlight a punchline. Rural places for me are what makes up a lot of this tour. The laughter is more visceral and raw. You can whip a rural crowd into almost a magical riot. Sometimes I think the city gigs are more prepared for what’s about to happen and are maybe a bit more desensitized due to being spoiled a bit for entertainment.
Who were your heroes? Was it purely TV, or were you chasing down Bill Hicks videos, Richard Pryor concerts, Henry Youngman recordings…?
My heroes as a kid were Jim Carrey, Ardal O Hanlon, the entire cast of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Lee Evans, Jerry Lewis. As I grew older and started to really get a knowledge and a palate for comedy, I started watching Irish comics like Dylan Moran and Tommy Tiernan. I consume so much comedy – it’s my only addiction besides Marmite and olives. I love really silly but clever comedy. I love anything Richard Ayoade has done, Flight of the Conchords. My favourite stand-ups at the moment are Tom Papa, Jim Gaffigan, Bill Burr, Louis CK and, of course, Tommy Tiernan is probably my all time favourite. I love watching different types of performance. I’ve been looking a lot at clowning, vaudeville, dance and mime so those will probably sneak their way into next year’s show.
The Fear has brought some fame to your door – do you feel you’ve moved up the food chain a little? Or does it still feel like you’re on a long and lonely road to the top?
It does feel like a bit of a spotlight has been shone on me since particularly series 3. Just in terms of the uptake on the tour and it’s easier to get bits of press and stuff. There’s also a bit of a different feel to the crowds. You can see it in them before the show that they want to see me. It’s something I find very weird. I do feel though that I’m still fighting to keep the head up at the moment in terms of progressing TV-wise. That pushes me hugely though. I don’t want it handed to me at this stage because I’m so used to banging doors down.
Where to next? Is there a masterplan to take over RTE, or have you got your sights set higher? Like getting a show on Netflix? Or Irish TV?
I’m always writing. The live shows are all about blowing last year’s show out of the water. I don’t compete with other comedians. You get better by competing with yourself retrospectively. I’m halfway through writing my second novel. I haven’t tried to shop the first out to publishers or agents. Again I believe the material should be there before the opportunity. I want to host TV shows and also want to act. I have a title role in a short film this year and a tiny part in a feature but for me that’s really great. OK, here is the goals list in print which will make me have to fight to achieve them now.
Have my own sketch show or comedy series on Irish TV.
Have my own live radio show recorded in front of an audience.
Get published as an author.
Act a lot more.
Host the Rose of Tralee (this is one of the big ones).
Front my own TV series, whether it’s comedy or light entertainment game show or whatever.
So, yes, a complete takeover I suppose.
Okay, our time is nearly up. Not sure if you can channel Jeremy Vine for me now, or maybe even a little Steven Wright, but, have you got a good pun before you exit stage left…?
I was recently signed up a website that sends you puns on a daily basis. They sent me so many I had to punsubscribe.
Ross Browne: Professional Idiot is at the Hardy Har Comedy Club, The Harbour Bar, Bray on Thursday July 23rd at 9pm. Check out the Facebook event page here.