Andy Zalzman: “Aristophanes is a complete comedy: political satire, slapstick, and silly jokes” | platform

How did you get into the world of comedy?
A little by accident. I had tried stand-up in my final year at university, and then played three open mic gigs at the Edinburgh Festival, which provided strong evidence that I should give up. So I did. Eighteen months later, after a vague plan to try to get into sports journalism ended in me sub-editing articles on stock markets for a business publishing company (even less exciting than you might think), I booked one gig, a Wednesday night open house at the Comedy Cafe, hosted by Daniel Kitson. If things had gone badly, I don’t think I would have tried to stand up again. Things went well enough to continue, and within a year I was getting a few paid gigs, and stand-up gradually became my “job.”

Can you remember a party that was so bad, it’s now so funny?
Around 2002, I performed in Killarney, Ireland. A very popular local act had to pull out, and they asked me to headline the gig instead. It was at a hotel nightclub where it was cheaper to go to comedy and stay to watch the music rather than just go to the music. So the audience was a mixture of people who wanted to see someone else, and people who wanted to dance. The response to my group was a fascinating mixture of silence, hostility, confusion, indifference, resentment, and pity. The disco noise kept me awake until 4am.

Are there any pre-show rituals?
Be thankful I’m not in a Killarney nightclub.

Do you have a comedic hero?
I don’t really like the idea of ​​heroes and hero worship. I loved the comedic invention and satirical ambition of The Day Today and Brass Eye before I stood up. Seeing Robert Newman on the sidelines in 2000 inspired me to try to write more political material. I studied ancient Greek comedy at university, specifically the plays of Aristophanes. In football parlance, it’s ‘all-out’ comedy – everything from political satire and literary parody to slapstick, puns and silly jokes. If he had not unfortunately died over 2,400 years ago, I would love to have dinner with him. With translator.

What is one of your favorite gigs ever?
I did a few gigs at Naveed’s Comedy Club in Dhaka, Bangladesh while covering the 2011 Men’s Cricket World Cup for ESPNcricinfo. Naveed started the first comedy club in Bangladesh a year or so ago and asked me to perform there. It was in a small room in the basement of an apartment building, set up like a New York club — brick wallpaper, pictures of Seinfeld, Steve Martin and others on the wall. It was a strange, wonderful and inspiring experience.

Best structure?
In my early years in comedy, I did a lot of gigs in the student union. At one session in Leeds, one of the people sitting in the front row went to sleep. Didn’t fall asleep. I actively decided to go to sleep. It’s hard to answer that.

I used to do my fringe shows in the afternoon, and if there was a Test match, people would sometimes shout the latest score at me. That was helpful, but it indicated that I didn’t have their full attention.

What inspired your latest presentation, Zaltgeist?
-The increasing impossibility of understanding the world and its politics.

Does sarcasm seem harder, easier, or simply weird in 2025 compared to recent years?
All three of these. Plus: more stressful, more repetitive, and more healing.

What’s next for you?
We hope to see England pull off the greatest comeback in cricket history to win the Ashes. Then head home for a new series of The News Quiz and a Zaltgeist tour.