Interview: Fin Taylor

Monday, October 22 sees a return to Bristol for Fin Taylor, a hard-hitting, sharp-as-tacks comic whose two most recent shows Whitey McWhiteface and Lefty Tighty Righty Loosey have showcased his ever-increasing gift for provocative social commentary – and for winding up the liberal elite.

Now, Fin’s finger’s still on the pulse, except now he doesn’t know whether that’s flirting or harassment.

Having dealt with the topics of race and politics in his last two critically acclaimed hit shows, he’s now getting stuck into the War of the Sexes. Here he is to tell us about new show When Harassy Met Sally.

Briefly and without revealing too much, where do you stand on the war of the sexes? Has #metoo made men into nervous, shrinking wallflowers? Or are we being shown up at last for the patronising, arrogant chauvinists we are? Or is the truth a little more nuanced and in between?
Nuance baby! The show is an attempt to provide a balanced take on the movement. I don’t think it has turned men into shrinking wallflowers, I think it’s just meant that women feel more confident to report abuse and are more likely to be believed when doing so. That doesn’t mean that some concerns about the movement aren’t valid. I think it’s the certainty on either side that’s unhealthy. I guess the crux of the show is trying to articulate and explain the fractures in gender politics (from a man’s perspective of course) rather than provide any major answers.
In other words, it’s an hour of filthy comedy with some long words in between.

Race, politics, gender… politics: You’re tackling the Big Stuff, rather than just giving us funny little anecdotes about your life. Did you always know you’d be a social-commentary type of comedian, rather than a clowning around / my sex life / insert-other-types-here type? 
When I started comedy I wasn’t really engaged in the world because I was so young, but as I began to do that it slowly took over my act. I’ve only ever been a groundsman and a stand-up, so I don’t really have any personal anecdotes that would interest large rooms of punters. All I’ve got is opinions and an acute sense of what annoys people.

Do you like to stir up debate, challenge people’s cosy liberal assumptions and prejudices, etc?
I do think people nowadays have very set-in-stone opinions without having had them tested or stretched or mulled over.
I like it when I finish a book and just exhale going ‘I don’t know what I think about that’, or when a film ends and you talk about it all the way home and spend hours you should be sleeping reading reviews of it. Nothing is more boring in my mind than people agreeing with you. I don’t think agreement is very funny.
But at the same time, society is so polarised that a compromised take on things is very unfashionable. So I do think that I’m able to appear more unreasonable than I am, purely by trying to find a middle ground between two extremes.

Is there any particular strand of society you find yourself wanting to skewer most often, or are you fairly even-handed in your treatment?
Middle-class liberals are the most fun because they loathe themselves so much that telling them they’re inadequate in some way is like a drug to them.

You were based in Bristol as a student (and after…)? Tell us a little about those times, what made you want to leave Bristol, and how it feels coming back.
I was always more of an Mbargo guy than a Lizard Lounger. Had so many great nights in Niko’s just off Park Street which I think is something else now. I had to leave to pursue my career but I always love gigging here and I can see myself moving back one day. Apparently the restaurant scene is insane now??

What would you be doing with your life if you weren’t doing this?
I did like being a groundsman. Who knows, maybe I would have voted Leave.

Fin Taylor: When Harassy Met Sally Wardrobe Theatre, Oct 22. For more info, visit thewardrobetheatre.com/livetheatre/fin-taylor-harassy-met-sally

Read more: Interview: Jon Ronson on ‘Psychopath Night’ (Hippodrome, Oct 19)