Javier Jarquin interview

Javier Jarquin

Javier Jarquin is due to perform at, the 'Friday Night Freakshow' at the London Wonderground. Here he talks about being a 'ninja' of all trades...

Hi Javier. You had two shows at this year's Edinburgh Fringe - Comedy Death and Joke Ninja. What were they about?

Joke Ninja was my solo hour of stand-up and comedy, while Comedy Death involved guest comedians coming on and talking about their worst gigs. It was quite popular actually! When I put the word out, a lot of comedians wanted to do it.

How was Comedy Death born?

It came about purely as a result of working throughout the year with other comedians and being in dressing rooms, clubs, car journeys and trains together. I guess that conversations between comedians will always roll around to the terrible gigs that you've done.

I had heard so many fantastic stories and thought, 'Ah, I'd better do a show on this!' And I thought the Fringe was the perfect place to try it out.

So, if you had to pick your favourite 'worst gig' story, what would it be?

John Hastings had a very good story where he had a shot poured on him. But that's his story to tell...

Before Joke Ninja, there was Card Ninja... tell us more.

Card Ninja was a show that I did last year at the Fringe. It originated in New Zealand as a small variety act and just went from there. I'm making the move back from cards to comedy now. I've been doing the cards for the last three years and I feel it's reached a nice place. So, I thought I would now give stand-up a go again.

I class myself as an observational comedian, and we always provide a different insight into everyday things that other people do not notice. I guess that's where the 'ninja' aspect comes from; the fact that there are these humorous observations that no one else has noticed.

Can you give us a little taster?

Yeah. One thing I've really noticed with foreign eyes is your British sayings. I do a joke about how your store Boots doesn't actually sell shoes whereas Office does!

Javier Jarquin

Ha ha. Did you get into observational comedy at a young age or later in life?

I guess that when I was a teenager I started joking around and doing improv at high school. So it just went from there really.

Do you have any favourite gigs?

I loved just doing my own show and getting to go around clubs in the UK and mainland Europe. I also liked experiencing places that I had never been to before.

I also did some tours in Croatia which was one of my favourites. The crowd was incredibly up for it. Stand-up is still relatively new to them and so they really appreciated the comedy. It was fantastic audience with no heckling!

That's always nice! Talking of nice people, you have a fan on Twitter who has said that he really enjoys your comedy as you always have something different to say. Does every night of Joke Ninja offer something new for the audience?

I suppose that every comedian at the Fringe changes their material as they go along. Your first show will always be very different to your last as you are changing bits here, re jigging things and editing things on the sly. You will also adlib a lot on the night. To be realistic, every show has 80% of the same content and the rest you re jig around.

When I set up the show, I didn't want it to have a message. I just wanted Joke Ninja to be a powerful comedy show. If people laugh, I think I've done my job.

You've done a lot of gigs now with lots of different comedians. Is there anyone that you admire?

I really look up to the club headliners working the circuit that aren't necessarily household names. They go out there smashing these incredibly tough rooms. They are a lot tougher than your TV comics.

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