Carl Donnelly: Different Gravy

What’s ‘Different Gravy’ all about then?

This year I turned 30 and moved to the country so decided, with my new found time and space, to write my memoirs. I thought what with the huge number of pointless autobiographies available out there, it wouldn’t hurt to add mine to the mix. It is a classic warts-an’-all tale of a hard life which turned out okay. I have even written the next ten years as I thought 30 was a bit young for it to run up to. I’ll be reading a selection of excerpts and doing stand up in between on the subjects raised therein.

How have your previews been going?

Surprisingly good. That sounds strange but what I mean is, I have done three shows prior to this that have been an hour of honed stand-up so I knew exactly what I was doing. This time around I am sitting and reading parts of the show, which goes against my stand up instinct, so I was worried it wouldn’t work. It is actually coming together well and I’m enjoying the change of pace a lot.

How difficult is it to keep it fresh for the full run and how do you plan to make sure it stays that way? 

I’m tempted but haven’t decided yet to change the show around a lot throughout the month. Obviously, I have more excerpts than there is time for in the hour so potentially I could read some different ones on different days meaning the show has the potential to have a very different tone one day to another. That is obviously a risk but as I get to the later previews I’ll know if I can get away with that. In previous years I have always allowed time in the show to chat to the audience which is obviously fresh every day but this year I don’t think I’ll have time, so will have to do something or I will go insane!

What’s your health regime for the Fringe? 

Health regimes for the fringe are a total waste of time. Even the healthiest person cannot stick to it. I normally live with the comedians Chris Martin and Benny Boot when in Edinburgh (I’m living alone this year in a bid to be grown up!) and they are both big gym goers. Last year they joined a local gym for the month and went a couple of times in the first week but by week two just gave up. You may as well accept that you are going to ruin your body for the month and just hold on. This year I am going on a stag do the weekend after Edinburgh so am worried that I will be dead by mid-September!

Last year’s Fringe was all about the London riots. What major news event do you think will force you to hurriedly rewrite your 2012 show?

The Olympics obviously go on until half way through the festival so I’m expecting some major controversy to come out of that. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were some major hiccups in the preparation and it ends up being a total disaster, so strap in for a lot of jokes at the Fringe about how crap it is.

What was your favourite joke when you were a kid?

Two nuns in a shower. One says “Where’s the soap?” The other says “Yes it does, doesn’t it?”.

That joke made me laugh for so long when I was about 9. I then told it to a friend who didn’t get it and just kept saying, “Where is the soap?” and getting increasingly more annoyed.

Who else are you hoping to see while you’re in Edinburgh?

I don’t tend to see a lot of stand-up when up there as I spend the year working with and seeing most of the people up at the Fringe. I tend to try and seek out sketch or character stuff I’ve never heard of and always look out for the weird stuff you can’t see anywhere else. I’ve seen a few previews of friends shows in the build up which I would recommend. Check out Chris Martin’s show ‘Spot The Difference’, Paul McCaffrey’s ‘Pills n Thrills and Belly Laughs’ and Pappy’s ‘Last Show Ever’.