Kevin Bridges Says the 'Rougher Gigs' Shaped His Stand-Up Comedy

Over his 20-year career as a stand-up, Scottish comedian Kevin Bridges sells out arenas in the UK and tours theaters throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East.

Now, he’s finally booked a North American theater tour that brought him across Canada in September and will take him coast to coast across the states into November. Bridges, who’s starred in five terrific stand-up specials, released the novel, The Black Dog, in 2022 and his autobiography, We Need To Talk About Kevin Bridges, in 2015, performs on Tuesday, Nov. 11 at the Agora.

He talks about his lengthy career and his narrative approach to comedy in this recent email interview.

Your career started in Glasgow in the 2000s. What was the comedy scene like there?

Comedy was nowhere near as big then as it is now. When I started there was one designated comedy club in Glasgow and loads of pubs that ran comedy nights in their basements or attics. Some of those were great rooms and some were wildly rough. I’d perform pretty much anywhere that would have me — pubs, clubs, bingo halls and even a prison. Looking back now, it was playing the rougher gigs that helped me improve and grow in confidence. Once you’ve performed to a room of convicted criminals or drunk angry pensioners, then performing to a room of people who have actually paid to see you is an honour!

Is there a distinctly Scottish sense of humor?

I don’t think comedy has a postcode. I have met and saw funny people from totally different backgrounds and upbringings from me, but I reckon “Scottish humor” would be very self-deprecating with zero pretence, harsh at times but with charm and of course lots of strong language.

You have what is often called an “observational sense” of humor. What comedians influenced your approach?

Billy Connolly and Richard Pryor would be the most famous ones. I loved how fearless they were and how they were always unapologetically themselves. They pushed boundaries back when there were real boundaries to push and above all they were hilarious and prolific.

You’re a particularly good storyteller too. How did you develop those skills?

I think most of the skills from stand up just come from constantly doing gigs and doing gigs to different audiences. If you need to perform to a room full of drunks on a work night out or whatever, then you have to immediately grab their attention and then hold it, so I guess that naturally helps you develop into a good storyteller.

You’ve done five stand-up specials now. What did you aim to do differently with your latest one, The Overdue Catch-Up?

There first four were filmed in massive 10,000 plus arenas, so for the 5^th one, I thought it would be cool to shoot it somewhere smaller and more intimate and do longer stories and try something a little different. I think it worked, but I’ll probably film the next one in a big bastard again.

In the special, you joke that you don’t get InstaGram. Has that changed? How do you feel about it now?

It’s a pretty grim app that has had a significantly negative effect on its user’s mental health. A hive of narcissism and misinformation packaged in layers of fake tan, teeth, lips and arses. I don’t like it and wish [Mark] Zuckerberg would do the World a solid and drag the whole thing into the recycle bin. However… it’s probably gained me loads of new fans from round the World and I probably wouldn’t be touring the USA without its help, so I take that all back. Add me on Instagram folks: @kevinbridgescomedian.

You have a bit in the show where you say you’re not taking on any new mates. To what extent is that bit based on real life?

Ha! I’m constantly meeting new people thanks to my job and parenthood, but I probably still have a core group of friends who I grew up beside and have known for years. Maybe it’s a working-class thing that Geography and History are two of the important qualifications that a friendship needs!

You have a pretty thick Scottish accent. Do you intend to tone it down for the U.S. tour?

Within reason. I try and be clear but my accent is my accent, not everyone sounds the same and if I tone it down too much then it feels unnatural. There’s about 8 hours of my stand up online so take a quick course before the show, and we’ll all be fine.

Cleveland is a great city for comedy. What do you know about our fine town?

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame and basketball! I started watching NBA during the lockdowns and love it. I read somewhere that Steph Curry and LeBron James are from the same area, which is incredible. Also, surely it’s time to get Oasis in to the Hall of fame!

And what do you anticipate the show here will be like?

I love performing in new places, so it’ll be exciting for me and fresh and live. It’s a good time to be a comedian from abroad anywhere in the USA just now. The place is nuts, even by your own high standard of nuts, so hopefully we can take a night off and have a laugh about all of that!

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