Toby Trees

Faces of the Fringe: Alex La

This is my second time at the Fringe. I first came a few years ago to get a real sort of sense of it all, but this is my first time doing a show. I’m also doing about 4 spots a day at the minute, which is great because I’m getting so much time on stage, but it’s kinda tiring. I’ve been doing comedy for 7 years now, but I don’t think of myself as a comedian. I think because I’m not doing it full-time, I don’t really feel I can call myself a comedian. And, even so, I can’t say for certain that I definitely want to do it full-time. I love comedy, I study comedy, but I don’t know whether I’ll always want to do it. I’m just enjoying it while I am doing it. I’m improving and I’m learning a lot while I’m here about the differences between American and British audiences in terms of humour. I feel like audiences here, or some audience members, want to be involved with the show. They maybe have a few too many drinks, think they’re a comedian and try to get involved, which can be fine, but it’s different here to heckling in the US, where they usually respond to things, or say when they don’t like something or they’re offended by something. Like, I had an issue with a guy in one of my first shows for being quite hostile towards me for how I look, which was uncomfortable for me and for my audience. Another member of the audience actually got up and started calling out the guy, and we got him kicked out in the end. I’ve never really had to do that before. I’ve also noticed a difference in how people laugh. My girlfriend lives in London, so when I’m visiting from New York, I do gigs there, and in London they often do polite throat laughs, whereas in America we all laugh from our bellies. I sometimes find that jokes American audiences find really funny, British audiences don’t. And like, sometimes jokes I enjoy telling aren’t enjoyed by audiences. It’s hard finding a balance with what I want to say on stage and what audiences might respond to, but I try to remind myself that I am doing this for me and not always for other people, so I try to do what I enjoy as much as I can.