Carey Marx: "I write the darkest, nastiest jokes when I'm happy"

Carey Marx has been impressing audiences for years with provocative, intelligent shows - this year's Laziness & Stuff exhibited his characteristic control of language. Before his return to Edinburgh for winter club shows, he talks to The Skinny

Feature by Simon Fielding | 07 Dec 2011

There's a sensitivity to the nuances of language in your comedy. Have you always been interested in the comedic possibilities of words?

I do love words. Slumber is a nice word, don’t leave it lying around. I don’t remember ever learning the word osmosis, it just got in my head. If I wish to completely tear a concept apart I have to work with the concept itself and the way it is understood by those who support it. Their words are often my entry point. It’s nice to attack a concept so completely that you also crush the words that describe it.

Words are the most criticised thing in comedy. Swear words. Words that refer to crimes or horrifying events. For some people, a word takes over the joke. A joke with the word 'rape' in it is a rape joke. Is a joke with the word 'shit' in it a shit joke? If I tell a joke about something on TV that I watched whilst in a hotel room, is it a TV programme joke, a hotel joke or a room joke? Take the expression, ‘The C word’. The word that sentence refers to is only powerful because of the word ‘The’. Otherwise, it is just ‘A C word’. So, even the word ‘the’ is extremely potent.

Carey Marx finds a subtle way of swearing
in front of children; Edinburgh, 2006

When you started out in stand-up, did you have a notion that comedy might somehow contribute to political or social changes? If so, has your view changed in recent times?

I used to think that comedy, at least great comedy, had far reaching effects. Nowadays, I think it changes little. This is a good thing. There are many points I’ve made over the years that I disagree with now. It’s lucky no one was taking me too seriously. I think my jokes should have ended homoeopathy, belief in psychic power and even God. Still, it is possible they’ve contributed to the slow demise of these things.

In your show Laziness & Stuff, you talk about being in love with your wife.

I try to find material in both the positive and negative influences around me. I mention being in love with my wife because my material is becoming increasingly honest, compared to the surreal adventures I used to claim.

Many people seem to think that dark comedy comes from an unhappy place. That is not necessarily so, and certainly not so for me. I write the darkest, nastiest jokes when I’m happy. And, well, saying an uplifting thing creates a space to be evil about something else. And, some of my material comes from things my wife and I laughed about. A woman once complained about a joke that made fun of my wife. But, it was my wife who’d written the joke.

Laziness & Stuff was well received this year. How do you progress from material that has been praised? Is there a temptation to shift gear and try something that reacts against your last show?

I have no idea at this moment what material will be in my next show. I’m maturing in my comedy writing and in my perspective on life. Each show reflects where I’m up to, so my next show will be shaped from all the things I’ve learned, thought about, faced, suffered, beaten or lost to in the year coming. It’s equally possible that I’ll have a mad whim and write a show about pigeons. Pigeons are quite funny.

Carey Marx at the New Zealand Comedy Gala, 2010

Carey Marx is at The Stand, Edinburgh 8-10 Dec http://www.thestand.co.uk