Andrew Lawrence: "Success went away a little bit"

The poster for Andrew Lawrence’s current Best Kept Secret In Comedy tour has a single quote on it from the Guardian: 'Lawrence, should he so wish, could be the defining stand-up comic of his generation.'

That quote says a lot about where Lawrence is now. His 2006 Fringe Debut, How To Slaughter Your Loved Ones, announced him as the great white hope of British comedy, picking up a Best Newcomer nomination along the way. Kate Copstick was asked recently to name the most electrifying Fringe debuts, and she instantly gave two names: Doug Stanhope and Andrew Lawrence.

Yet the rising tide of Stadium Comedy has notably failed to carry Lawrence with it and many people have wondered why. Is he too dark? Do audiences not get him? Or, as that Guardian quote seems to imply, does he just not want it enough?

Reflecting on his early achievements, Lawrence says, “Success, of a minor kind, came too early. I was funny, but I was young, had no experience, no knowledge of the industry and no-one looking after my interests and protecting me. I wasn't ready and I struggled. TV people made a judgement on my abilities, and those people don't change their minds much unfortunately. Then success went away a little bit.

“Since then, I've always worked as hard as I can, often to the detriment of other things in my life. I don't care about awards. I don't want to be famous. I've always wanted to live somewhere nice and have some quality of life and for that you need to be earning a certain amount of money. I still don't have that. I'd really like to have that.“

There’s a certain irony in the title of the show as well. If Lawrence – with a string of TV appearances, several of his own radio shows and plenty of champions in the press – is the best-kept secret in comedy, then it isn’t for want of trying. Does he wish he had as high a profile as some of the other big names in comedy?

“I've come not to expect anything out of the comedy industry because I realised after a while it doesn't work on merit. I was probably quite naive not to work that out earlier. Most of the comedians you see on TV have talent but they also got very lucky.  For every comedian that makes it onto TV there are ten struggling around the circuit who have the potential to be as good if not better. Some comedians on TV know they got lucky and are appreciative and hard working, and good for them. I'd like to be in their shoes.

“What I would absolutely love, is to be in a position to sell out a 100-150 date tour every year in 500-800 seat capacity theatres, for the next twenty years without having to do a load of trash TV to sustain it. There, I said it.”

TV success is a cruel yardstick to judge Lawrence by, seeing as so many of today’s comedy superstars are so bland. While his contemporaries have mellowed themselves to broaden their appeal, Lawrence has sharpened his act, becoming an exemplary writer of word-perfect routines. This in itself makes him unusual in a world where spontaneous banter is valued over good writing. Lawrence admits that it’s become important for him to have the jokes right before going on stage.

“I don't have as much confidence going on stage as I did when I was younger, I've taken one or two knocks. The best performers are instinctual and incautious; I used to have those instincts but I don't anymore. I try to be myself on stage and I think the stronger your material and the more material you have, the easier it is to be yourself. Whether I'm in a terrible mood or a great mood, I can take that on stage with me, I just have to be doing the right material. I'm looking for new material constantly on stage and off and I'm always trying to make it funnier.”

Best Kept Secret In Comedy will see more of the Lawrence that we’ve come to know and love and be slightly scared of. There will be apoplectic, explosive rants, delivered with a blistering eloquence and a black, black heart. Lawrence has always been dark and angry, so before he goes we ask him to tell us about something that makes him happy.

“I'm in my kitchen looking out into my garden. About five minutes ago next door's cat, chasing some small bird, trips over a flowerpot at the front of my shed, and seems to look quite baffled about what's just happened. The small bird then appears consequently to be strutting across the top of my fence in a sort of victory dance. I quite enjoyed watching all that, I suppose.”

Every underdog has his day.