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Episode 202: Naz Hussain - The ‘Supreme Leader’ of Breakneck Comedy from Aberdeen
209 Plays11 months ago
Meet Naz:
- Founder of Breakneck Comedy
- Founder of the Aberdeen Comedy Festival
- 'Star' of Channel 4 - Come Dine With Me
- Creator of The Comedy Ball
- Founder of the Aberdeenshire Comedy Festival
- Animal rights activist
- Supporter of world nuclear disarmament
- Director at Pee Pee Promotions
- Comedy agent & booker
- Supporter of Andy's Man Club
- Guest speaker at Young Enterprise Grampian
- Director at Breakneck Christmas Videos
- Most prolific booker of comedians in the NE
- Developer & recruiter of local comedians
- CEO at Breakneck Christmas Parties
Timestamps:
[2:00] How did you end up owning a comedy club?
[7:00] Do you think now that people would turn up to a live comedy event nowadays?
[12:10] Did you have to close down the entire business during COVID?
[13:50] All about whether or not to book Katie Hopkins…
[19:30] Fighting against racism
[25:20] Why did Karen Dunbar get cancelled?
[31:30] What are your plans for the business, where are you taking it?
[33:35] If your business had a personality or character who would it be?
[35:30] It’s all an act…
[
https://www.linkedin.com/in/breakneckcomedy/
http://www.breakneckcomedy.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/breakneckcomedy/
https://www.instagram.com/breakneckcomedy/
https://www.tiktok.com/@breakneckcomedy
https://twitter.com/BreakneckComedy
https://www.youtube.com/user/Naz406
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:00:02
Speaker
The Entrepreneurial Journey podcast. We're talking business and building a culture that's kick ass. Where we make it happen, grab your seat, let's have a blast. At the Entrepreneurial Journey podcast.
00:00:22
Speaker
If you love the entrepreneurial journey, how about subscribing and giving us a five-star review. Wherever you get your podcasts, follow or subscribe and give us a positive review so more entrepreneurs out there don't need to feel alone. Thanks.
Meet Naz Usain
00:00:41
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the entrepreneurial journey podcast. Today I have Naz Usain with me. Hi Naz, how are you? I'm good, thank you. Good stuff. Yeah, I'm good. Thanks. I'm good. I'm waiting for our summer to arrive. It is raining yet again. Right, hey ho. You describe yourself as the Supreme Commander, which I think is my favorite title for somebody who runs a business of breakneck comedy in Aberdeen. What is breakneck comedy in Aberdeen? Tell our audience all about it.
00:01:17
Speaker
and It's just a comedy club but that organizes shows and in Aberdeen mainly, but we also do shows all over Scotland in various locations. Yeah. and Just a promoting comedians, really. Nothing special, really. I'm sure you've had better guests than me with, a but yeah. You're firstly selling it to me now. hey um Yeah, my job, I just put on LinkedIn Supreme Leader, ah as I just thought it was funny. I noticed James Watt at Brewdog had Captain, so I thought, oh, what can I do to beat Captain? And I thought, Supreme Leader seems to be. But yeah, it's just a bit of but just a bit of a joke. It's good. I love it. I love it.
Becoming a Comedy Club Owner
00:02:11
Speaker
How on earth did you get into the business of running a comedy club?
00:02:17
Speaker
and Yeah, it was just by chance really. I just never had, never really planned it. It was just back in the day I was working, I was doing like a temporary, you know what I mean? You try to find a job and you go to a recruitment agency in there and they'll send you on temporary positions. yeah So um they sent me to work in the medical records department. I couldn't believe it. just for a couple of weeks. And due to my fag break, I went for a cigarette and I ho ah bumped into a guy that was also on his cigarette break. And we just got chatting and then he gave me a flyer for a comedy show that you want he was thinking about doing. And so I went along, loved it. And then the second time I went, he closed it down. He says, oh,
00:03:16
Speaker
I wasn't getting enough people coming in along. I'm thinking about shutting it down and all that stuff. And then so we just got chatting and I goes, Oh, I'll give it a try and see what I can do with it. And yeah, the rest was history really. I love that. So you had no, had you ever thought about running your own business at that point? Um,
00:03:45
Speaker
I thought about it a few times, but nothing really, there was no sort of plan for
First Comedy Night Challenges
00:03:50
Speaker
it. I was just kind of looking for jobs, really. Right. And yeah, it just kind of hit happened by chance. I was running on a football team before that, so I kind of, that kind of, just Sunday mornings, nothing special, just an amateur Sunday league and then So it was a lot of organisation, washing kits and all that stuff. So that's the only experience in people that I had really. You went from washing football kits to booking comedians, a natural progression as in anybody's career. Yeah. So yeah, it was just
00:04:35
Speaker
I didn't. Yeah, I was just it turned out I happen to be good at one thing only, which was comedy promotions.
00:04:45
Speaker
you Do you know, I think that's the same for most entrepreneurs. They go, I'm quite good at this, so I better just stick at it. Yeah. and And then you do get better and better. So did you have to like buy the business off this guy? No, you just, you just give me the domain and a wee mailing list that you had. Like, um yeah, so I didn't even have to buy it. It just, I just kinda, it wasn't really a business that it was just more like a hobby sort of thing, something to do for fun. right So I started off and the first night, the first night was on
00:05:33
Speaker
It was a Sunday night in January. And,
Impact of Social Media on Comedy Events
00:05:37
Speaker
you know, back then there wasn't, back when I started, there wasn't any social media or anything. It was, I think he maybe had Bebo, but apart from that, there was nothing. So it was just a case of doing it the hard way, just putting up posters and going into flats in the morning and just putting posters on the shops and stuff. And so I wasn't sure, there wasn't even a website that could allowed people to book tickets. It was just turned up at the door and hoped for the best, really. And the first night it was absolutely there was a blizzard. It was chucking it down. And I was thinking, oh, this is so. Basically, I see if the first night nobody turned up for the first night, I would have just jacked it in. I would have time ah tried my best. It's not worked. But even though it was snowing, we still managed to pack the place out. So it was um
00:06:32
Speaker
It was really such a good buzz and I thought, oh, this is really good. I'll try another one. So I tried another one and that was quite busy. And then Ward started getting around that. We're running a good, good show. So, and it just kind of grew arms and legs. And next thing you know, it we're doing like shows every week and organizing all these other events around the country stuff. That's so cool. That's so cool. And well done for everybody turning up in a blizzard for comedy. But I guess, you know, and we are dating ourselves. I remember Bebo. I remember it being a thing. and kate I remember Friends Reunited. All right. So that really, age yeah. That came before Bebo. What was the other one? MySpace.
00:07:22
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And yeah, you're right. You couldn't book tickets online. It wasn't a thing. i'm So do you think now people, if you were starting from scratch now, would people turn up in a blizzard to a comedy event live, do you think? Well, it's I don't think so. I don't think so. I could be wrong, but there was a lot of the amount of work that we had to put in just to get that night busy. It was, you know, a lot of flyering for weeks and all that stuff. and and But whereas these days it's just, you know, you put them all on social media, it's a lot easier. But also there's a lot more competition now. So yeah, I don't know.
00:08:16
Speaker
to get people in on a Sunday night in Aberdeen now it's really difficult unless you've got a big name or something. Yeah, I've kind of noticed nowhere near on your scale but maybe 15 years ago I would hold even in events that people would turn up to, it would be midweek, and I would fill a room with people. And now it's so much harder to get people to come out to stuff.
00:08:50
Speaker
and like you see You've got to have a name, haven't you? Yeah. used to be nobody cared who was on. It was just there for a comedy show. Now it's really they're looking for a particular person. Yeah. But because it's so easy for people to promote events now, it's what happens is everybody jump, you know, it just becomes everybody starts jumping on it. Yeah. Like when I first started, other venues would probably do a comedy show maybe once every six months or something. Right.
00:09:27
Speaker
But it is what it is. It's always a changing your market. Yeah.
Current Club Success and Venue Ownership
00:09:32
Speaker
And do you have your own fixed venue, like fixed building now in Aberdeen? Yeah, we're um we've got our own place. We're on King Street. so um And next door, it's in the hundreds Cathedral. And it's just, yeah, it's a really good space. It's kind of hidden away, which we kind of like it like that. So yeah, it's really good. And it gives, you know, we're trying to book different headliners every weekend and, you know, keep the lineups fresh and things like that. So yeah, it's really fun. Last week we had a local comedian called Dr. Dave and it was both shows were sold out. So that was quite nice. Yeah, that's good. It's quite hard to get a double sell out in Aberdeen these days. So it was quite nice that yeah we got that.
00:10:27
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, that's good. At what point then did you go, OK, I've got enough momentum here? to the Did you buy the place? Do you lease it? Or, you know, did you think, right, I've got enough to have an actual venue? How many years in were you? and
00:10:49
Speaker
So the place where art would only we've only been there for a couple late couple of years. Right. But we got our first place in 2017. Okay. So it was about seven years. I think we started in 2010. So it was about seven years of, you know, just continually doing shows in other venues and eventually got to the point where I was looking to put on more shows. And, you know, so we eventually got our own place. Um, And obviously after the pandemic had to close that place down, yeah which was a bit of a nightmare, but we started up again once they let us reopen in a smaller place. Right. But then that place turned out to be too small for some of the names that we were getting because it was like, oh, so yeah, we've ended up sort of getting a nice place now. Oh, that's good. Yeah.
00:11:46
Speaker
Thanks for listening, everybody. Did you know at Tri-Cress we've built a kick-ass culture, coach and consultant program? So if you're a business coach or consultant and you're looking for something new, add to your toolbox or even escape the nine to five, join us at our next event. Links in the information on the podcast.
Navigating COVID Challenges
00:12:07
Speaker
See you there. Did you have to close the business down completely during COVID or could you keep any of it going? hey
00:12:19
Speaker
ju like Because we were one of the first to close down and the last to plus to open it. So basically we were we had to close for pretty much 17 months, yeah which was a bit annoying because the letters opened and then they changed the lines. People started coming back. And then we weren't making money when it was all social distancing. So it means could only fit like 15 people in like two meters apart. It was a bit of work, but we just done them anyway. Which is a little bit annoying, but what can you do? Everybody was affected. It wasn't just myself and seeing the aftermath as well. It wasn't just like lockdown wasn't too bad, but it was that the aftermath, what's done to bars and stuff. Now, some of them that used to be around before COVID are now
00:13:13
Speaker
struggling a little bit and it's just um i think just because people's habits change you know they didn't most of the time people used to always go out every Friday, Saturday is drinking in the but pubs and stuff and i think people just got used to drinking indoors and things like that so yeah it's true yeah it's true yeah so well done for still being here yeah i know it's a miracle It is a flipping miracle. Well done for hanging on in there. what term So let's get into the controversial thing. I saw on LinkedIn that you'd posted a question, which is, should you have Katie Hopkins as one of the comedians?
Booking Controversies and Free Speech
00:14:01
Speaker
Would it be for your club or just booking it elsewhere? Booking her elsewhere. Was it for Aberdeen?
00:14:09
Speaker
It was for Aberdeen in a few other locations such as Elgin, Grangemouth, I think Cumbernauld. Basically, it was the only a venues that would take take her. that There was a lot that wouldn't allow her. which it was um I mean, she got in touch, which was quite surprising. I wasn't expecting her to kind of reach out, but um she was just kind of, you know, looking for venues you know because she was selling out she's she's doing tours in England and she's selling out all over England she is yeah she is um yeah so yeah it's it's yeah I don't but yeah it's one of those things is it
00:14:58
Speaker
Well, we and for our overseas listeners, Katie Hopkins is our version of, what would you say for the American audience? Because we have quite a big American audience. She's kind of like her. She's not a Tucker Carlson, but she's kind of, she's definitely right of center without a shadow of a doubt. And she has some views that people find difficult, and she has some views that people find offensive. Let's not be about the bush on this. But she has a huge following, so I would put her in the category of, do you remember, ah do you remember Roy Chubby Brown? Yeah, I do actually. Yeah, so Roy Chubby Brown was really, he was big in the 80s, I think, and 90s, and he his humour was very, very crude, really sexist.
00:15:54
Speaker
and very childish. He was another one that got in touch and he was asking about doing shows. yeah but Literally I couldn't get any venue to take him. It was literally every single venue says no. Yeah. So Katie Hopkins is like, she's not crude in that way, but she's she's like the female, let's not touch with a barge pole type thing. And I was really intrigued because on LinkedIn, it was a fairly close poll. Can you remember the stats when it it closed of people who said, yes, you should book her and no, you shouldn't book her.
00:16:38
Speaker
I think it was almost 50-50 to be honest. It was almost 50-50. It was like 48-52 in favour of people saying, no, don't book her. So I guess you didn't go ahead and book her. Or maybe you did, I don't know.
00:16:54
Speaker
Yeah, um it was so close that we ended up booking her. But it's, um yeah, it's caused a bit of drama. Which we didn't really hope. Like, yeah. We just, I asked, yeah, I asked a few people and they were like, oh, is it going to make you money? And I was like, yeah, but yeah, it was just, um, yeah, it's just, I don't know. It's just, um, yeah, it's called like, it's caused a little bit of drama, but aye but it's also the people commenting nasty stuff or then pushing our,
00:17:35
Speaker
adverts up the news feeds, which is selling the tickets. So it's like, oh, well, you know, I don't know. I thought i'd drop like, yeah, I just. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. Like, I don't agree with like, it's not for normally there's we book a lot of comedians where I don't always have to agree with what they say. Totally. And you know, I am somebody that kind of promotes inclusivity, you know, a lot of our headliners are female, we book a lot of disabled comedians, we book, you know, we're trying to book a mixture of kind of everybody rather than just kind of. Yeah. So we're trying to promote, you know, and the last thing I hate is, you know, is censorship, you know, because where does it end, you know, and yeah this cancel culture?
00:18:31
Speaker
yeah um You know, one of my most successful acts I've booked was Karen Dunbar and dumbard she was a victim of the whole cancel culture, but there was a lot of people that wanted to see her, absolutely love her. Right. So if I was, so I booked her and yeah, she was really great for the business, you know? Right. So I was kind of looking at it like that. but I mean, I agree with you. I think, and I think one of the comments I put on was, look, if you, yeah, I don't agree with everything Katie Hopkins says either, but if you start banning comedians, then where does it end? And also if you don't like what she says, just don't buy a ticket. I mean,
00:19:20
Speaker
i mean yeah, I know it's just, um And the thing is, as well, like there's accusations that she's a racist and things like that. and And if she is a racist, I want. It's really difficult, like. You know, there's a lot of people saying that, you know, I'm somebody that is trying my best to fight against racism, you know, you know, like, and I feel like the worst thing I can do
00:19:53
Speaker
about, it you know, this whole racist thing is just slam the door on people. Yeah. because Then it's just going to make them even more racist. And I actually thought, well, actually, how about, you know, if she is a racist, I thought to myself, wait a minute, how about I'll show her how good I am at my job, you know, what contribution I'm doing, you know, for the Scottish economy. Yeah. Well, it's not day out. OK, maybe that's a bit too far. But, you know, like, you know, maybe she'll come away thinking, actually, these immigrants aren't actually as bad as I think they are sort of thing, you know, so I'm actually trying to convince, you know, you know, I think it's, I think for, you know, unless we could all mix together and work together and stuff like that, the worst thing we could ever do for a race of relations is you go to that side of the road and you stand there and I don't like you and
00:20:51
Speaker
so it's Yeah. You know, it's like, it's like if we're getting to a shouting match or we can't fight it with violence because that just makes them more racist. We can't. If you start if you start a shouting match, it just becomes like, well, actually, it's just two dogs barking at each other really. yeah That's all it is. um So I thought, you know what? Let's open the door a little bit, you know. Totally. I just think everybody can kind of learn from this. Yeah. I'm taking bullets for it, like. Well, well done. I think it's a shame that in the 21st century, you can't put on a comedian who who is within the law, you know, if they're within the law. And that's I think that's a real shame because the arts and I would count comedy as the arts.
00:21:48
Speaker
has always pushed boundaries, has pushed buttons, has you know taken pops at the establishment and has gone against current narratives. And I think that's the purpose of it. If you go back to Shakespeare, you know the fool in Shakespeare is the one that said the unsayable. and And I think that's the this sort of, and I think that's the way, place we have to come from. And if you don't like them as a comedian, don't go and see them, but don't stop other people from seeing them and enjoying them because they don't share your view of the world and that's okay. And I have no idea whether she's a racist and as she may or may not be, but you're absolutely right. You don't not talk to people just because
00:22:40
Speaker
of their beliefs, you treat them like a a normal human being. I mean, I did think, like I did think it through, and I thought to myself, if I was in hospital and I need a surge surgery to save my life, and that surgeon refused to treat me because he didn't agree with my views, then is that allowed? No. So why should I then You know, me as a promoter, that has to be impartial. I don't get involved with politics. I don't get involved. You know, my job is just to kind of see a demand for somebody and then, you know, you know, just sell the tickets. Yeah, totally. yeah i'm gonna
00:23:29
Speaker
no Now I know you've booked her, I'm going to book my tickets because i I want to hear what she has to say because you only get like clips and reports and it's like I actually want to hear what she has to say from her mouth so I can make a decision myself. and I may not like her but at least I'll have heard it straight from her mouth and I'll know then whether she is a racist and whether she isn't and if she is then I'll probably never see her again because that's not a nice thing and so yeah but I want to decide for myself. Yeah absolutely it's sometimes we get
00:24:11
Speaker
Do you know what I hate the most is this reverse. I call it reverse racism. Right. You know, because I'm somebody that kind of mingles with everybody. I've got loads of gay and lesbian friends. I've got, you know, I've got communities that are trans and all that stuff. And sometimes I get the impression that people look at me and go, oh, you look like. You know, because I'm the color of my skin, they they just assume that I'm against, you know, I'm homophobic, or I don't like that women speak or all, you know, it's just like, yeah, you've never met me. Yeah, but yet you just make you're jumping on this. You know, so I get them, you know, after five minutes of meeting each other, I was just like, ah, nobody cares, you know? Yeah.
00:25:02
Speaker
i don't I don't care. i don't I've often said this on the podcast. I don't care what the outer wrapper of the human looks like, it's what's on the inside that counts. Yeah. That's the only thing that counts, definitely. Amazing. OK, so why did Karen... don I didn't know Karen Dunbar got cancelled. Why did she get cancelled? What heinous crime did she commit, Nez? I actually don't know. I just heard it from her when she was telling her stories on stage. Right. I think maybe she came up, she had used her opinions on maybe Covid or something.
00:25:44
Speaker
Oh, okay. Yeah. They try and cancel you sort of thing, which is a bit of a shame, but I don't actually know the exact, not something I, you know, I don't always look into every single, you know, read everybody's material and stuff. No, why would you? Yeah, it's just... Who's the most famous person you've booked?
00:26:13
Speaker
most famous, oh it's really difficult. Probably Karen Dunbar to be honest. this Yeah. I didn't really, like I, when I booked her, like I was booking the Still Game Acts, you know, the guys from Still Game and I thought, you know, and I was booking them individually and they were selling really well and and I thought to myself, oh, I wonder if Karen Dunbar would be interested in this. Even though it was a TV show that kind of nobody, kind of the members, there was Has it been on the TV for 20 years? how It hasn't. So I really wasn't sure how that was going to play out, but.
00:26:49
Speaker
and She sold so fast the tickets, you know, like she does like double sellouts everywhere that she goes. So we've got her back doing another 20 shows in November. Brilliant. And yeah, she's a good friend of mine now. So after November it would have been
00:27:14
Speaker
about 60 shows so it with her. No way! Yeah, so... Oh, amazing. Oh, well, good for you. And who... Oh, you can't... i Do you know what, Naz? I was about to say, who would you never get back? But I'm not going to put you on the spot. That would be unfair to say. You can't really... Hey, Hopkins! umal and No, I... part of me feels like I feel like a booker. I want to know... People say, you know, cause I don't think I've ever met a racist before. I know I see, like I walk, walk about the streets and I just feel like there's no racism. It's only when I see the comments, you know, the keyboard warriors. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. Well, um, I feel like we should all kinda, we all need to kind of live together and work together and not kinda,
00:28:12
Speaker
If we go down this route of cancel culture, where does it end really? you know Where does it censorship end? It does. And who's in charge of deciding what should be censored and what shouldn't be censored? And history tells us now is that the people who end up deciding that don't tend to be nice people in the end. Well, this is the problem, is it? It's it's yeah, it's just. This is why I like things like podcasts and things like that because there's no, but you never know, they might end up censoring that as well because they're worried that people can't make their own minds about things and they just feel like, well, I want to. Yeah. Do you listen to Joe Rogan?
00:29:03
Speaker
He, I don't want to say listen to the podcast, but see on TikTok I see his little videos pop up and Right. Yeah. But I'm seeing the AI versions of it. So it's not really, which is scary because you think, you know, it's like Joe Rogan and his mouth is moving and he's trying to promote something else. And that's like, oh, this AI thing. He's not on TikTok. So that's not Joe. Yeah. And it's terrifying because it's like, yeah, it's, yeah, that's another.
00:29:35
Speaker
what I heard of big company, huge multinational. It was in the Financial Times, so I'm not giving anything away. They just lost 20 million quid because the criminals took a recording of a meeting of their directors, put it through deep fake AI and created a recording of the directors saying to put certain amounts of money into certain bank accounts and giving the instructions to finance to do it and the deep fake was so good that they lost 20 million quid. Yeah I can imagine. I think that's their like that's the real issue right now is it? is because yeah
00:30:17
Speaker
you know, what's it going to be like in three years time, you will know the difference.
Future Plans and Business Philosophy
00:30:21
Speaker
No, no, don't you think though, I think that will make us really ah appreciate face to face contact again. Yeah. Because we'll get to the point where you can't trust what you're seeing and you're going to have to go and see people for real and meet people for real. So I actually think it will have the consequence of pushing people back out there and getting real life experiences because you'll go, well, I've watched it, but it might just be a deep fake. I'm actually going to go and watch them live. Yeah, yeah.
00:31:03
Speaker
Yeah, it's scary stuff like. Yeah. The guy seen one and it was like Joe Biden announcing that we're going to a war with Russia. And I was thinking, what? And it turned out to be a deep fake. And it's like, well, that's really scary. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I know. I know. Let's not talk about that, Naz. Yeah.
00:31:31
Speaker
where What are your plans for the business? Where are you taking it?
00:31:36
Speaker
ah Just as far as it can go, really, you know, um just look like we're covering good ground across Scotland, maybe thinking about doing England soon in Ireland and just start there and just kind of see where it goes from there, really. Brilliant. That's amazing. I don't want to think too big, you know, they just You can just sail in the boat, you know, see what happens. But um I mean, especially like there's a lot of comedians from England contacting me to organize tours, but they just come to me now and say, Naz, can you just deal with Scotland for me? Right. And um so that seems to be kind of a good I've kind of positioned myself kind of well, where people are asking that.
00:32:30
Speaker
So I don't know, it just depends how many more comedians are keen to get involved, you know. I'm always finding new areas to do it in and yeah, hopefully, hopefully London next. Yay! Big time, big time. It's just fun. I'm not really
00:32:55
Speaker
I think after, before Covid, I used to be like, oh, I need to make loads of money. And now I'm like, the funny thing is now I'm kind of not caring as much as about money. You know, you've kind of almost, you know, and now because of that, it's growing, the business is growing. It's so weird. Yeah, I think it's when you stop forcing it, Naz, don't you? Is that you just enjoying it for what it is? Yeah, yeah. um That's the thing, I've heard that with a lot of things, wouldn't you? but just stop you know The money obviously is important, but if you feel like you're building something, well, yeah see what happens. I like that attitude. And what if your business had a personality or a character, either how would you describe it or who would it be? Who would it be?
00:33:54
Speaker
Colombo. Do you know the guy Colombo? Certainly do. Everybody thought he was dumb. Yeah. And then he got all the information out of people and actually, you know, oh, he's not, he's not so stupid after all. a So alright but that that would be me. I like that. So you kind of come across as this very laid back, chilled out, slightly, you know, kind of pitching up, just seeing how it goes. But under that is a really sharp mind. a Well, I'll take that. Include that in your clip.
00:34:35
Speaker
I will do. I think it's I think when you Like I say about the money set of things, when you wake up the morning, you go, I want to make money. It doesn't really, you know, it's too much pressure, but see when you just see it as I want to help people, when people reach out and you go, Nas, can you help me organize this? And I'll say, yeah, actually, I can actually. Yeah. you know Yeah. So all right now it feels good to help, you know.
00:35:10
Speaker
It does, it feels nice and you make people laugh, you bring joy to people's lives, which is magic. Yeah. Yeah, that's a good thing. It's just, you know, when you see them, um, you know, when you see the audience, sometimes we look people and the people, you know, you see that they absolutely love meeting that person and being there. And then you think this is what it's all about. Like forget all the drama online and things like that. You know, it's like,
00:35:41
Speaker
And it feels nice that you contributed towards that. and And when we meet in real life, all that, like you say, the drama online disappears. And I think, I think Katie Hopkins is, I've never met her. So, you know, who knows? But I suspect the people like her and other people when you when you meet them in real life and the people who troll people like her and up troll other people when you meet them in real life they're probably they're probably all right you know they're probably sound yeah you're only seeing like tiny seconds of clips and
00:36:25
Speaker
and a persona that they want to portray to get likes and clicks and all the rest of it. And in real life, they're probably nothing like that at all. Who knows? We could be completely wrong now. I don't know, but who knows? No, it seems to... ah That's an impression I got from Roy Chibby Brown when I spoke to him. Yeah. about doing chi When I spoke to him, he was so polite and nice. didn't even notice and then and then obviously on stage it's a persona it's an act it's not real you know he's you know it's and it's like oh no is it is it's an act it's his act it's he knows his audience and he's yeah playing for his audience but it doesn't mean he's nasty person and all that stuff
00:37:18
Speaker
No, no, it really, really doesn't. a Years ago, because I'm a Mancunian, I went to see Jerry Sadevich. Oh, yeah. Because my mate and was married to Mark E. Smith of The Fool, so Jerry and Mark knew each other and we got to gigs and, you know, my claim to fame is being on the guest list at the Hacienda. I've never mentioned that on the podcast, but there we go. and And I thought it was hilarious, you know, and he's he's really, really, if you think Frankie Boyle is close to the bone, go and see the side of it. It's like, Jesus Christ, it's on another scale. He is. The thing is that people go there knowing that expect of it. Totally. So surely if you don't don't go with you, you know,
00:38:12
Speaker
yeah but He's another one that should be getting more bookings, but a lot of venues just won't take him. I know. He's so funny. You're right. You only go because you know you're going to be absolutely offended and spend most of your time going, oh, that's a bit closer. Oh, Jerry, that's a bit more, you know, even for me, but you're still laughing. If you don't like that sort of thing, don't go. Just don't go. Yeah.
00:38:40
Speaker
It's a shame if it doesn't happen because there needs to be spaces where things like this can't happen because if, you know, if people want to see them and they're prepared to pay money and they want to see it. But then what happens is a lot of these venues are kind of like council run and, you know, you know and and you know, all it takes is for somebody high up to step in and go, no, that's not happening. Because we don't agree and it's like, oh, where does this end? I know. I know. They've got to have, you as I said right at the beginning, comedy is an art form. Art has always pushed the boundaries. And comedy more than any other art form, I think, because in comedy, the the funny thing is saying the unsayable. That is the funny thing.
00:39:34
Speaker
Yeah, it's saying the thing that most normal sane human beings wouldn't dream of saying and that's the role of the comedian. And yeah, but um anyway, it's just a shame that this is dying out. Everybody's becoming so like, straight down the middle now, you know, just worried to say anything and it's not It's not dying out. It's online. So you you it when you look at the people who now watch and listen to things like you know Joe Rogan, and I mean, he gets 11 million people you know regularly.
00:40:19
Speaker
And so I think it's like there's a public face and then there's things that people are actually doing in their own lives. and Joe isn't too controversial, though, is he? He's a really good, yeah, he's good at what he does, I guess. He knows how to get them to me, but he seems to be quite impartial and stuff on some subjects. Yeah, he just gets a range of guests on that a lot of people find controversial. Yeah.
00:40:53
Speaker
it he like Like you, I mean, he gets them from all spectrums and all spaces and he gives them a voice and he asks questions. It's like you, it's like, yeah, come along, do your stuff. If the crowd like likes you, we'll rebook you. You know, if they don't like you, we won't rebook you. Yeah, that's it. Because people are interested to hear what some people have to say. Yeah. Yeah, but definitely. but Yeah. and um
00:41:24
Speaker
Yeah, it's just becoming one of those things slowly. We're slowly getting stripped away of what we can do and what we can can't do. So which is a bit of a shame. We'll continue to do podcasts and say what we want, Naz. And then on the 4th of July, because there's a UK election, we'll stand for PM.
Political Views and Leadership Discussion
00:41:49
Speaker
you fifty
00:41:52
Speaker
So who do you think is going to win? I think Labour will get in. I think we need to change. and ah do scotland would you think Well, I don't normally get political and because I then would get cancelled. ah but a i I would just like to see the SMP crawl back under the rock from which they came. and because they oh Yeah, I know that's me cancelled. That's me lost another viewer. and
00:42:27
Speaker
i I just think they've destroyed a really fantastic country and they've divided it unnecessarily and they've not invested, they've not attracted investment. I think it's really sad. I remember it was all Westminster's fault. Yeah. seems to be the default default ah argument now, is it? Well, um in my book you take responsibility for your actions. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, anyway. Yeah, I think Scotland, we're we crying out for something. oh but We just want to have the person leading the country voted by the people. That's really, is that not what democracy is? and Totally. You know, whoever wins it fair and square, you know, but it seems to be, it's funny because they seem to always
00:43:22
Speaker
say oh the Prime Minister was never elected and when we got Boris or he was never elected then we got Theresa she was never elected and it was like and Rishi was never elected and now they can never say that now because it's like wait a minute no it's true but we'll see what um we'll see what happens hopefully just we can get the kind of disorder again because it's just I hope so I really whoever comes into power I really want them to have in their head that they're here to serve the people and that they're here to serve the best interests of the people and I really really want them to put family at the heart of everything they do and I don't just mean like family in the two parents two kids sense I mean like
00:44:17
Speaker
whatever shape or size a family comes in and and I mean close friends to that but actually valuing family and what it does and how it raises kids and how it helps the community and your family could you be your household, your business, your community and I mean family in that really broad sense because we've lost community and I think it starts with family. yeah oh maybe you should run
00:44:50
Speaker
I've got too much of a dodgy past now. There's no way that I'd be out before I was in. Right. Okay. I've taken away too much of your time. I could talk to you for hours, Columbo, because I'm sure we've got some more stuff to share. and But well done. I'm going to crack on. How do I book to go and see Katie Hopkins? Do I go on to her website? um Yeah, you can just go, you can book it from her website, or you can ah also book it from our website. I looked on your website and I couldn't see where she was. I was doing it on mobile, but... Yeah, it's because we've got so much other shows happening. Just, if you just search her name, it should should come up. All right, I'll do that. I do that. I want to go and see what she has to say. Yeah, cool. Okay. Amazing. Okay, thanks a lot.
00:45:49
Speaker
No, that's a super start. Stay on the line a sec, because I've got to upload your end of the recording. So we'll say goodbye now, but stay on the line. Bye, Naz. Thank you. Bye.
00:46:06
Speaker
Meet Jane Cooper, who is transforming the way she supplies medical staff to the and NHS in the UK by reducing their costs. And she's looking at the values of their business and how to incentivise their teams based on the amount they reduce the costs to the NHS by. So get this, that's going to be a team of recruiters receiving a bonus based on how little commission they charge. Love it. Listen and learn. See ya.
00:47:00
Speaker
at the Entrepreneurial Journey podcast.