Interview: Daniel Sloss

Fast-rising comic Daniel Sloss brings his new show So..? to the Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken this month.

Said Melbourne’s Herald Sun: “An endearingly unabashed blend of arrogance, awkwardness and self-effacing anecdotes delivered with precision timing, perfectly-placed silence and unfettered confidence… Sloss skilfully weaves sensitive subject matter into a hilarious tapestry of politically incorrect and sexually inappropriate zingers… his humour intelligently and ironically calling out the hypocrisy of human nature.”

You’ve been performing stand-up since 16… how much do you resemble your 16yo self now?
Not at all. I was always confident when I was on stage, that just comes from a) me being an arrogant asshole anyway, and b) doing theatre since I was about nine. My material and delivery have changed a lot. It’s a lot less joke-jokes now, and more skeptical rants about darker topics.

Your stand-up heroes are Bill Hicks and George Carlin. Why these two, and how much of them is in your own comedy?
Those guys grafted for years and years and years. Hicks started when he was 13. Carlin had been going for well over 20 years and they both just kept writing new hour shows every year. That’s why they were top of their game. They wrote jokes, performed them, edited them, perfected them and then binned them. That sort of brutality of turning over material forced them to keep writing and getting better, and it inspires me to do the same.

The last half-hour of your 2015 show dealt with your sister, her cerebral palsy and death. Not easy stand-up material, surely?
I just enjoyed talking about death and disability honestly instead of pussy-footing around it like a lot of people. I’m a firm believer that you’re allowed to laugh at anything if the laugh comes from the right place. It’s possible to make jokes about tragic situations without making fun of the victim or the tragedy itself. And not talking about death doesn’t help people deal with it at all. Talking about it honestly, and joking about it, has always been a coping mechanism that has worked for me. And it seemed to work with my audience as well.

A year earlier, your routine about thanking doctors rather than God provoked an admonishing letter from a Christian audience member. Tell us more.
I’m an atheist, but was raised in a partially religious family. So I’ve always been allowed to make fun of religion, knowing full well that no one would ever take it personally. They’re just jokes. But when you fight faith with logic, people tend to get angry because they don’t have the logic to back up their faith and they feel personally attacked by it.
I’ve never personally attacked an audience member on stage, yet this guy insisted I had by making him question his faith. I didn’t make him question his faith, I questioned the logic behind faith itself and it clearly caused him distress, which to me proves I’m right. But I used the letter on stage to highlight how dumb it is to take anything I say on stage personally. I don’t pick certain audience members and attack what they love or hold dear. I just offer my opinions on anything, while also continuously pointing out that I’m a moron and a comedian, and to get upset personally by anything I say is borderline narcissism.

What’s the question implicit in the title of your new show? So… what? What topics do you cover within?
I talk about relationships a lot. I’ve never understood the appeal of them. Which is weird, because I come from a wonderful loving family. Parents married for 30 years. No divorces in extended family. Just love all around. Yet every time I’m in a relationship I hate it, and I see a lot of the people in my generation forcing themselves into relationships because it’s the done thing. So I’ve started questioning it. And apparently I’m making quite a good point, because so far this show has caused 20 couples to break up as a result of seeing it. I see that as a public service.

Daniel Sloss: So? Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken, Thursday, November 17. For more info and to book tickets, visit www.thecomedybox.co.uk/site/301.asp?catID=1418