JEEVES
Ladies and Gentlemen this is Jeeves Verma, you’re listening to Blitz and I’m talking to one of the most internationally loved, half-Indian comedians in the world – Danny Bhoy! Thanks for taking the time to chat!
DANNY
No problem at all. I’m usually introduced as half-Scotish, but that’s nice.
JEEVES
Nope! I said half-Indian for a reason – I’m also of the Indian persuasion..
DANNY
Oh I see! So you want a brother on the phone?
JEEVES
Yes, we’re pretty much family anyway, I think?
DANNY
Yeh, there’s only 1 billion people to choose from – why don’t we make it one big family?
JEEVES
Yeh, the family reunion is absolutely hell.
DANNY
Yep.
JEEVES
Danny, I want to ask you, first cap off the rank, I know Danny Bhoy is your stage name – where did it come from?
DANNY
It was a nickname when I was a kid. All my family used to call me Danny Boy, so when I got into comedy, I was looking for a stage name, it just seemed like the obvious choice. Actually, to be honest with you, it was quite difficult because I phones up to register with an actor’s union and the name Danny Boy (originally, b-o-y) that was already taken by a dancing dog. And that’s absolutely true! They said “you can’t have that. It’s already taken.” And I was like “Well, can I not have it?” And they said “Nah, a dog’s already got it” and I said “Ok fine.” So that’s why I put the ‘h’ in. They said you can keep it phonetically but you have to change the spelling, so I put the ‘h’ in ‘cos that’s silent – so hence I’m called Danny Bhoy (with an h).
JEEVES
Was that really annoying to have to put an ‘h’ in there?
DANNY
No, not really! The only backlash is that, and this might be a very niche comment to make to a university paper in Sydney, but it’s a nickname, B-h-o-y, for Scottish Celtics supporters who are one-half of Glasgow’s rival teams – and they’re bitter, bitter rivals! It’s a religious divide: one team’s Catholic and one team’s Protestant. And the name ‘Bhoy’ is given to the Celtic supporters, so that’s caused me a few difficulties because whenever I play in Glasgow, people tend to flock there, for either the right or the wrong reasons. So yeh, that’s been trouble.
JEEVES
You are a bit of a trouble maker, aren’t you Danny?
DANNY
Well, I try not to be – it’s certainly not something I’ve set out to do but that’s the way it’s been.
JEEVES
Danny, you’re no stranger to Sydney! You’re almost a local! You’ve performed here several times. I've actually seen you perform at the Enmore theatre before... in one of the greatest opening visual gags to a show I’ve ever seen, ever? You know the one I’m talking about?
DANNY
I don’t know. I’ve done quite a lot of opening gags…
JEEVES
Your bagpipes opening.
DANNY
Oh the bagpipes one!! Yes, yes that was a lot of fun until I did it in Ballarat and fell off the stage – that was not so much fun.
JEEVES
Danny, you’ve travelled to Australia so many times. How many times have you toured Australia so far?
DANNY
I think this is my eleventh tour show – maybe the first few were just festivals, I think, so maybe its really only the seventh or eighth tour show that I’ve done.
JEEVES
Wow.
DANNY
Yeh, yeh. It’s been quite a journey. I used to do the regional, as well – I used to do Bathurst and Nowra and Orange and places like that for which I was, yeh, I was living the dream. Now its just tend to do cities. But it’s a country I know really well, right? I’ve been there so many times – that’s the way you really get to know Australia, is to go to the little heartland and the little town’s and villages and I think I’ve done quite a lot of them so, yeh, I feel quite like a local.
JEEVES
Well, of course you do – you’ve seen more of Australia than most Australians have seen of Australia.
DANNY
Yeh, I think that’s true of everywhere! I mean, there are people who come to Scotland who go and see stuff that I’ve never seen. I think there’s an argument that you sometimes don’t know what’s in your own backyard, you know? I’ve only been to Edinburgh castle once in my life – and there are tourists who go two or three times because they love it so much – so its one of those things that you just tend to take for granted, what’s in front of you.
JEEVES
That’s right, yeh. So this time round is there anything you’re looking forward to seeing of doing while you’re here?
DANNY
Well, it’s a quite a full-on show, to be honest, its quite a full-on tour schedule. I tend to, when I get a day off or whatever, drive out to the nearest winery and have some lunch or something that takes me away from the comedy world for a day because its quite an intense atmosphere, particularly when you get to Melbourne – Melbourne is just clearly a comedy festival – so every 10 minutes you bump into another bloody comedian – its hell with your personal life, you know? Feels like everyone’s talking about their shows and what they’re getting in their reviews and all that kind of stuff. So I tend to just try and shut off a little bit in my downtime, but like I said, I don’t get a lot of time, I’m afraid, to go away or anything.
JEEVES
Well, I hope you do and I hope you get to see some more stuff.
DANNY
Yeh.
JEEVES
So you’re actually ending your tour in Sydney after travelling basically everywhere. Actually you’re going to New Zealand after Melbourne, then coming back…
DANNY
That’s right.
JEEVES
Wow that’s fun.
DANNY
Yeh, that must have just been a scheduling thing. To be honest with you I don’t even know if I’m going to be let back into Britain – by that time Brexit will happen and I’m not sure if I’ll be welcome there or not. There’s every chance I’ll be staying in Sydney so I might be staying at your house on the couch for a while. It just depends on the political situation at the time – everything’s in one big holding patch at the moment in terms of, not just my career and my life, but terms of the world.
JEEVES
Has Brexit really made that much of an impact on you personally as a comedian?
DANNY
Well, not yet but it might do, yeh. The thing is I travel – I do quite a lot of shows in Europe, now and I’m not going to be able to sail through the nice EU only passport anymore – I’ll have to go through the non-EU queue. There’s lots of things like that that’s going to affect me but to be honest with you that’s minor detail compared to the catastrophic economic an political fallout from it so yeh, we’ll see.
JEEVES
Ok. So lets talk about your show before we finish – what are you excited about for Age of Fools?
DANNY
Oh! Age of Fools! Its basically called ‘Age of Fools’ because “The Dark Ages” was already taken. Its about the last odd two and a half years – really, from the Trump election onwards. Typically in my comedy I do some anecdotal stories and stuff but I realise that I haven’t done a lot in the last two and half years other that what’s been this horrific world of news unfold. So I thought, I’ll do that! I’ll talk about that! Its always best to talk about the thing you’re most interested in so I decided to write about the world and current situations. And it is a bit of a change in direction for me because I’m not usually very political on stage but yeh, that’s the kind of stuff in the show – it’s a really fun show – its easily the funniest show that I’ve ever written and I didn’t expect that when I started writing jokes about climate change – I thought this was going to be hard. But, its definitely one of the most rewarding shows as well because its not just funny but its important. I hope its important. And people should come and see it – it’s a really, really good show.
JEEVES
Absolutely! So when you’re in Sydney you’ll be performing at the State Theatre - May 2, 3 and 5. Tickets available via ticketmaster. Now I have some quick fire questions before we finish up…
DANNY
My favourite kind of question!
JEEVES
If you had to cook a meal to impress someone, what would you cook?
DANNY
Ooh! I do a good lasagne!
JEEVES
What’s your least favourite way to get around?
DANNY
The low-cost, no frills airlines.
JEEVES
This one’s for my sister, are you in a relationship?
DANNY
I am not in a relationship – I am a married to my job.
JEEVES
It’s a long-term commitment!
DANNY
Yep.
JEEVES
And if you had a mating call, what would it be?
DANNY
A mating call? Oh my god. I dunno… um… “freedom!!” Screaming “freedom” a the top of my voice.
JEEVES
Danny its been an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much for talking to us! Cheers!
DANNY
No Problem at all! Thanks!! Bye.
Danny Bhoy will be at the State Theatre 2-5 Mar. For full tour dates and ticket links visit Danny's website.
