James Acaster interview: Stolen Props & Nominations
What would a truly satisfied James Acaster sound like? The Kettering stand-up is buoyant and enthusiastic about a stretch of tour dates that have been “better than ever”, but there’s a waver in his voice that suggests trouble in paradise…
When our conversation turns to the issue of stolen props in the Welsh capital, all James Acaster's contentedness goes out the window.
“It’s a shame, really, because it was a lovely gig,“ he says. "This prop – it would be a giveaway if I said what it was – this guy just helped himself to it after the show.” Acaster took the search for the missing item to Twitter and was eventually contacted by his nemesis.
“He sent a message saying I should have been outside signing stuff for people,” Acaster sighs, “because if I had, then all of this could have been avoided.” He pauses briefly, carefully expressing his malaise. “I tell you what, it’s very disheartening that even the people who say they’re your fans act like that towards you. You work very hard to make these shows for people, but some people – no matter what you do – it’s not good enough, you still feel like you owe them something.”
Queues of adoring audience members hoping for an opportunistic post-show photo might be something Acaster needs to get used to. A regular guest alongside Dara O’Briain on Mock The Week, he’s in the enviable position of being popular with 20somethings and their parents – which is to say he has remarkable range, capable of moments of poetic surrealism and panel show immediacy.
James Acaster on Foster's Comedy nominations
His star's ascendance has been gradual rather than explosive. Acaster is yet to star in a sitcom, or release a live DVD – but he’s building some solid foundations on the back of the gigs and TV that he is doing. A case in point is his success in Edinburgh, where he’s now been nominated for the Foster’s Comedy Award four years in a row, reaching more punters year on year without ever winning the main prize. With his latest show Represent – meandering through the peculiarities of jury duty – once again a runner up, Is it a case of ‘always the bridesmaid’ or does Acaster consider the nominations to be evidence of his consistency as a writer and performer?
“I see it as an endorsement,” Acaster says, before quickly offering a qualification. “But I don’t think anyone should ever feel ‘overlooked’; that’s an unhealthy way to look at it. It’s just a small group of people going round, watching shows and deciding which ones are their favourites – take any small group and you’re going to get different names every time. But I take it as a massive compliment, and I didn’t think I’d ever get nominated once, never mind four times…”
If he is bothered, then he does a good job of not showing it. Acaster says that made extra effort to appreciate Edinburgh as a punter this summer – he picks stand-up Chris Kent and physical comedian Holly Burn as personal favourites – and took a more relaxed approach to his own performances: “I didn’t take it as seriously this year and enjoyed it a lot more. In the past it’s been a big stress, you worry there’s expectation on you, what reviewers are going to think. A lot of people focus on TV deals, good reviews, awards… and it’s easy for me to say that because I have been nominated, but it’s not the be-all and end-all.”
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Acaster even found time to briefly cameo in Max and Ivan’s punishing main event The Wrestling: “I had no rehearsal, I just knew I was going to get hit and I’d sorted out that I wanted to come on to Destiny’s Child and sing over the top of it.” Worth the pain? “Yeah definitely, it was different – the crowd really gets behind you. Bridget Christie said it was one of the favourite things she’s done in Edinburgh, ever.”
The spirit of adventure seems alive in Acaster, who tried out comedy as a means of ticking another activity off the bucket list, to be filed along with skydiving. “I had a kitchen job that took up 12 hours a week, I spent a lot of time doing nothing. I just wanted to say ‘I did this once’ – and I enjoyed it, but I wasn’t going to do it again. I was in a band and didn’t intend to do comedy, it was just a bit of a thrill.
“When the band finished, I had no qualifications to fall back on, I didn’t go to uni, I was a bit trapped, and it was meant to be something I did while I figured out what to do with my life. But very quickly I was obsessed with it, probably before I even started enjoying it.”
James Acaster's future projects
Acaster may be fixated on comedy, but it’s an internal focus. Moving forward, he’s careful not to have ambition for ambition's sake, especially with regard to future TV projects: “I’d only want to do something that I felt was needed, or worth watching. It’s a nice position at the minute to just work on projects I’m quite passionate about and see where they go. I’ve learned to just enjoy coming up with ideas and writing them and being creative and just focusing on making something that you’re proud of – it feels good at the end, and even when it gets turned down, you’re still proud. In the past it was often, 'Of course that got turned down, I didn’t even believe in that idea!'”
With our time together up, James Acaster is off down the motorway to play for another expecting audience. “Sorry if I’ve come over negative”, he says, with veritable warmth. I assert that any negativity is long forgotten, and that Acaster sounds, well, content.
He laughs, and leaves me a final anecdote: “Holly Walsh saw me once and said it was the worst she’s ever seen anyone die on stage. She was pretty sure I’d never, ever have a career in stand-up.
“She was wrong, but she’s very glad to have been wrong”
This is what a satisfied James Acaster sounds like. Just don’t steal any of his stuff.
James Acaster: Represent plays Oran Mor, Glasgow, 25 Nov, 7.30pm, £14