John Thomson says his parody can struggle in clubs

John Thomson says modern audiences don’t understand his stand-up character Bernard Righton – and it’s even tougher in the South of England.

The alter-ego was born in the days of alternative comedy, as a liberal alternative to the divisive gags of old-school comedians like Bernard Manning.

But he said: ‘I tried some new material at the Comedy Store in Manchester to see how Bernard worked on the younger crowd. It didn't go well at all!’

The character uses the set-ups to racist or misogynistic jokes, but subverts the original punchline with a non-joke, such as: ‘ How many Pakistanis can you fit in a Mini? Four adults and one small child, providing you have the correct safety seat fitted.’

Thomson said that after his Comedy Store gig he overheard a punter saying: ‘This one comic was terrible… he couldn't remember the punchlines so he made it up.’

But he said the main problem with performing his character now is that audiences don’t give him time to reveal that the character is not racist after being triggered by offensive words in the set-up.

‘You don't get breathing space at gigs,’ he said. ‘You start, “This black fella…” or “This Pakistani” and someone will shout: “What about it?” And it’s harder to play down South.’

Thomson was speaking at the UKTV Live event in London to promote his new Gold show Legends of Stand-Up & Bernard Righton, in which the character introduces classic comedy clips as if the performers were playing in his club.

He said: ‘Bernard is one joke, really, so it works well as a compere, because you pepper the show. If you do a whole set as Bernard it’s kinda hard.

‘We have some footage that's quite rare. We have Woody Allen doing stand-up at Granada’s studios, Joan Rivers, Jasper Carrott… You forget how relaxed Jasper Carrot was; how at ease he is - it terrifies me. We’ve got Spike Milligan, and you don't associate Spike with stand-up.

Thomson said his own influences were ‘Dick Emery, Eric Morecambe – but without Ernie he'd be nothing –  Tommy Cooper, who with Eric with that natural instinct and timing. To watch them work was a massive influence on me and I hope that's rubbed off.’

But he says vintage stand-up should be preserved for future generations to enjoy in the same way classical music is. ‘It might be lost,’ he said. ‘It's our duty to be curators of comedy and keep it going.’

And of his own experiences of stand-up, he said he only got into it to get his Equity Card to allow him to get unionised acting work, but kept going as it paid the bills when he was still a student.

‘I find stand-up very unpredictable,’ he said. ‘It’s like being a comedy gladiator, you never know what you're going out to. No one's guaranteed not to bomb.’

Published: 8 Sep 2015