Considered to be one of Devon’s and Bristol’s finest comedians, the award-winning, Alex Kitson sits down with Katerina Partolina Schwartz to discuss his upcoming Edinburgh Fringe debut, 'Must I Paint You A Picture', laughing in the face of adversity and the place of unapologetic optimism in British comedy.
How would you summarise your show?
My show is called Alex Kitson: Must I Paint You A Picture? It’s a big story of something that happened to me when I was 19. I went to America and had to end up escaping from a man in the woods and it’s a stand-up show about why I’ve been thinking about that. It’s about getting over tough times and a sort of defence of optimism, happy endings and late-night fun.
This theme that you have in your show, the ‘defence of optimism’ as you call it, is quite in the opposite vein to a lot of British comedy. How have you combined these seemingly diametrically opposed forces?
It’s the opposite of the stereotype of British comedy and also young people. I think it’s become very cool to by very cynical about things and assume things can’t get better. It’s very nihilistic. When I was writing the show, I think I realised that me being cynical and nihilistic wasn’t actually helping me. It’s a defence mechanism, it’s not helping me deal with anything. And I think comedy is so brilliant because it can help you to tackle things and I think sometimes you need a little nudge of sincerity and optimism, thinking things can get better, so that they can. The show is about recovery, you need to think that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. But it’s taken quite a long time to get there because I think it’s quite baked in to wrinkle your nose and go, “Egh okay,” at it. I’m grappling with it at the moment how best to present it, because in a comedy show you want jokes, you don’t someone to be like, “Everything’s great,” Cause that’s not very funny a lot of the time. But I’m going to get the balance right, I promise.
What would you say to reassure someone who is looking at the state of the world and feels disheartened by it.
What I would say is that cynicism doesn’t get you anywhere. It’s a shield and something that we use to protect ourselves from being too miserable and it’s definitely a good tool. And comedy’s part of that, right? Laughing at something, about how stupid everything is a really good tool, but you can’t be ruled by it because otherwise you’ll never do anything. Not to start quoting from the show, but everything good that has every happened, anything that you enjoy, is the product of someone choosing to be optimistic and choosing to think things can be better. Every piece of art, every piece of music, every delicious meal you’ve had. There’s a bit about my grandparents in the show because they’re refugees from Europe, but probably the reason you’re here is because someone thought things can be better. So bearing that in mind, trying to live that when choosing a path, if you can, make that choice. Doesn’t matter if it’s not the cleverest thing to do, if you hold that as a baseline, I think that’s probably the best thing to do.
Is there some power in leaning into the discomfort of a particular subject?
There’s definitely power, but it’s whether it’s good power. You can always apply tension or drama to something. You can achieve some kind of power and I think it making sure that power is for good, and it can be harnessed for the result that you want. If you are a playwright or you’re making a drama series on TV, you can harness dark topics for that end. It’s a little bit harder to make people laugh about something that is incredibly dark, but then it can be very cathartic. You can’t be laughing at something you’re scared at is something that I say in the show and it's something that I believe. I think there’s power in that, but getting there is tricky, but when you do get there, the results are really, really great. You can come out the show, not just being, “Oh I laughed for an hour, but “Oh there’s something more a little bit behind it.” That’s the aim, but yes, short answer.
How did you start doing stand-up?
I was just a massive fan of comedy as a kid but didn’t really know what stand-up was until I was about 13 and for the first time I was like, “This is the best thing ever.” Totally obsessed, mega-fan, really wanted to do it. I got into politics through that because obviously stand-up and politics end up intertwining and in the UK we have all these panel shows, which are topical panel shows; your Have I Got News For Yous and Mock The Weeks, on Radio 4, News Quiz and News Jack and all these ones that are very topical, so I got interested in politics and ended up very interested in America through that. The story takes place before I went to university, but I went on to study politics at uni and then started doing stand-up there in Bristol.
How would you describe your comedy style?
It’s quite high-energy. Observational mostly and telling stories and self-deprecatory as I say, just times I’ve come off like an idiot and observational about things that I can’t do that I wish that I could do, frustrations with myself.
How have you found the preparation for the Edinburgh Fringe?
I’ve really enjoyed it because stand-up’s my favourite thing to do and it’s my first show. I love being able to do longer and to tell this big story and set the tone, set everything myself and tinkering with the show and making it work. I mean, it’s what I like about just stand-up anyway, this sort of puzzle that you’re never fully done with, you’re trying to make all these jokes work; how do I make this joke work better and why isn’t this working, I can fix that if I say that. So, I really enjoy the process and especially now. The first couple of previews were quite tricky, just emotionally because I was just telling the story out loud for the first time, but once I got through the rings of that - and especially the last couple of months - I think I’ve worked out the ending of the show. I really enjoy it. I want to go to Edinburgh because I want to do the show every day, and it’s my favourite thing to do. I think it’s sad when people don’t enjoy the preparation for their shows, cause I think that’s the fun bit.
What are you looking forward the most to at the Fringe?
Apart from doing my show because that’s my favourite, I absolutely love the Fringe. I’ve been lucky enough to go up a couple of times. Even though this is my first hour, but I’ve been up a couple of times before doing various little things. And it’s my favourite place in the world, the fact that – if anyone’s never been –everyone’s trying to entertain you all at once and there’s so many amazing things happening. And of course, there’s all these incredible shows, you get to see all the stuff and I can’t wait to see all those things. Also, mostly what I love is the fact is I get to hang out with all my mates from the circuit. It can be quite a lonely, isolating job and you do run into people, but it’s like summer camp for comedians. You go do your show, you go to the performance bar for the drinks, a hefty percentage of the funniest people in the country are here and we’re all having a chat, that’s the best thing ever. So, all those things, I love the Fringe and I hope it doesn’t die, cause it’s the best.
Is there anything else that you would like to mention about your show?
I hope I’ve emphasised - I feel like I’ve gotten too serious - that my show’s got jokes in it and it’s really funny, it’s not just a lecture about American politics and sexual assault. It’s not a David Foster Wallace speech. It’s got loads of jokes in and you’ll have a good time. It’s a late-night show so all these things I’m talking about are sprinkled in and they are what the show’s about, but at the same time it’s a late-night stand-up show and I do a lot of fucking about, so it’ll be a laugh. And it’s in a yurt.
