Comedy Spotlight: Liam Bolton

Liam Bolton is a man-shaped human being who often finds himself posed, in upright fashion, at the front of darkened rooms. He co-wrote (with George Cottier) Danger Precinct, a cop show available on all good YouTubes. With series two currently in preproduction (eagerly awaited by many), the show is mesmerising,crackling with distinct oddness throughout. 

Bolton's refusal to be drawn either on his age or how long he's been performing is no doubt a calculated effort on his part to make the job of writing this preamble more difficult; something for which disingenuous thanks are surely due. 

Gigging throughout the Northwest, at anywhere within easy reach of public transport, he is the rarest of delights: a genuinely different, engaging voice and almost certainly the only man ever to transpose obscure composer Dieterich Buxtehude to a fictional dystopian future, in order to make him "less boring". After an inauspicious start, Bolton's future is now definitely a little more auspicious, which can only be a good thing.

Influences:
“I really like a lot of stuff, but I find if I have to pin down influences, I'm only really able to think of things I don't like. I think if I was a musician, for instance, I would be far more influenced by Nickelback than I would be by Meshuggah: pretty sure it's far more useful to see how not to be.”

First gig:
“Liverpool, a while ago, and it went alright. A drunk man stumbled in and threatened to kidnap me and everything.”

Best gig:
“Dunno really. (I'm English.)”

Worst gig:
“I hate both of these gig questions so much.”

Circuit favourites in the Northwest:
“I like anyone who gives it their all, with 110% effort, who brings home the bacon, keeps those plates a-spinnin', takes it on the chin and moseys up to the start line all over again. #comedy2K14”

Favourite venue:
“Hot Water in Liverpool is good. The Stands are funny. The Frog's a good laugh. Loads, really.”

Best heckle:
“I like hecklers. They're generally a good thing. Once I saw an act go onstage and when he said ‘Good evening, are we well?’ someone went “boooooo!’ Conversely, put-downs are bullying when you think about it.”

Aspirations:
“Money.”

What would you be doing if you weren’t doing stand-up:
“I used to know every word on the film Titanic, so... that.”

If you could be haunted by anyone, who would it be and why?
“Lucian of Samosata. I really like his writing and he'd hate it.”

What’s the largest animal you think you could beat in a fight – no weapons?
“A human.”

If you lived in Medieval times what would you do for a living?
“I'd really like to go to the past. I read a book that was posing as a travel guide for holidaying in Medi(æ)eval times that was really good, and I think as long as I had a laptop with a decent amount of RAM it'd be fine. It'd be funny to send an entire sixth form back in time, I reckon. Just pick one at random and send them back.”

Question from February’s Spotlight, Peter Brush: Which member of the animal kingdom do you think would most enjoy your comedy stylings?
“Humans I hope! *audience laughs for 20minutes*”