Larry Dean on Out Now!'s last hurrah
Larry Dean returns home to say goodbye to one show and hello to another.
In his university days, Larry Dean used to drive hundreds of miles from his Southampton base to perform comedy. Not even special gigs, just ten minute slots where they were available. Times have changed somewhat. Dean’s 2015 Edinburgh show Out Now! saw him pack out the Pleasance night after night, bagging the Glaswegian a Fosters’ nomination for Best Newcomer, and marking him out as a talent with the potential for real crossover appeal.
Even through harder times – and there’s been no shortage – Dean never suffered for a lack of work ethic or passion, although he insists he’s just an attention seeker. “I’m incredibly needy,” he says, “so having people in front of me, laughing at my misfortune, will always make me happy – if I don’t have a gig I feel really bored.”
Out Now! showed Dean performing a time-honoured comedy balancing act – part audience swordplay, part honest portrayal of real vulnerability. His note-perfect delivery, witticisms and unique take on life as a gay man (casting a wry glance at the obvious stereotypes) all struck a chord with audiences and critics alike.
“When I was writing the show,” says Dean, “I tried to figure out the exact point where I could be really honest. Where I could talk about stuff that’s extremely personal – rather than the usual dick jokes.” There’s a pause before the silence is punctured abruptly by the sound of Dean cackling and adding: “Though you can never get enough of them, obviously”.
(Continues below)
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Now, at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, Dean performs Out Now! for the last time. Unsurprisingly he wants to “give it a good send-off” for a partisan home crowd, although he’s taking nothing for granted: “I’m trying not to get too excited. Pride comes before a fall.” With the closing of that chapter imminent, attention turns to the future – a glimpse of which he hopes emerges from a 'work in progress' show he's also putting on at YesBar.
“All my new stuff seems to be about death and wanking”, he says, to which The Skinny responds by suggesting Death and Wanking would make a rather fetching title for a solo hour. He doesn’t dismiss it out of hand, but politely hints it might fly in the face of the persona he’s worked so hard to cultivate: “People will think it’s about a rock star suicide.”
While that might be an entertaining performance art piece, it’s not Larry Dean. In this world, ‘death and wanking’ is shorthand for “mortality and loneliness”, Dean’s own way of turning personal struggle into artistic expression. “You write what you know,” he offers, “and so far this year I’ve broken up with my boyfriend and been to two funerals.”
Another struggle is challenging the preconceptions audiences bring to his shows: “I always find whenever I do gigs in England I get compared to other Scottish acts. I met Craig Hill a couple a weeks ago, and since we’re both gay Scottish acts he’s been told, ‘Oh, you’re like Larry Dean,' and I’ve been told, ‘Oh, you’re like Craig Hill,’ but we’re nothing like each other at all! As soon as people hear an accent they think, ‘Oh, they must be the same.’”
With that, our time is up. Dean's away to see Billy Connolly – the default point of comparison for Scottish comics since long before banana boots were given pride of place as museum exhibits. “He was the first proper stand-up,” he says, admiration all over his west coast tones. It’s an exciting time, and he’s making a name for himself – not as ‘the Scottish comedian’, or ‘the gay comedian’, but as Larry Dean.
Larry Dean: Work in progress, YesBar, Mon 14 Mar, 9.15pm, £5.
Out Now!, YesBar, Fri 18 Mar, 7.15pm, £10/£8.