Interview: Jody Kamali

Southmead-born Jody Kamali and Bedminster-born Jayde Adams meet in the middle this week, to perform previews of their forthcoming solo comedy shows for the Edinburgh Fringe. The critically acclaimed Bristolian comedians will test-drive their new shows at The Room Above (The White Bear) in an eclectic evening of comedy and variety.

A high-energy character comedian and actor best known hereabouts as his YouTube alter-ego Terry the Odd Job Man, Jody’s latest show Hotel Yes Please is set in an absurd hotel (“imagine if Willy Wonka ran a hotel where The Mighty Boosh met Fawlty Towers.” He plays all the characters, including flamboyant Fernando the concierge, dimwit Jeff the Chef, a Bristolian actor who leads a shambolic murder mystery evening and more. Jody’s also worked alongside Harry Hill on Harry Hill’s Tea Time, and most recently appeared in the Bristol-filmed Golden Years, alongside Bernard Hill and Simon Callow.

Jayde Adams

A Best Newcomer Nominee at last year’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards, Jayde Adams joins Jody on June 23 with her new show about popularity. On the following night, meanwhile, Jody is joined by the oddball clown Cheekykita, who will also be previewing her new solo show.

Tell us about these preview gigs, Jody. Do you enjoy them as much as standard gigs?
I find previews exhilarating because you don’t know what’s going to work. The material is new, and therefore you are out of your comfort zone. Plus you are essentially trapped with the audience for 60 minutes, so there’s no escape. Sometimes, I enjoy performing previews more than an Edinburgh Fringe run, as there’s less pressure and you tend to perform better.

Willy Wonka, The Mighty Boosh, Fawlty Towers… That’s some nice influences there. Tell us about the show.
I love the character of Willy Wonka. As a kid, I always found it fascinating that there was this surreal, colourful, fun and odd chocolate factory in the middle of a normal town. Hotel Yes Please is my own little chocolate factory, where audiences can check in to this weird and wonderful world I have created. The audience are the guests, and I play the characters you’d typically find in a hotel. Fernando, an endearing, shambolic hotel manager; dimwit Jeff the Chef; Bristolian actor Steve, and many more.

Jody Kamali pics: Lorna Jane Newman

Where did the idea come from for a show set in a hotel?
I stumbled across an actual hotel in India called Hotel Yes Please on my backpacking travels in 2007. The hotel, while trying to look luxurious, was very shabby and very weird, with everything out of place, but it just oozed charm. The owner was oblivious to the shambolic running of the hotel and just thought his hotel was like any other.

Tell us a little about the world of the show.
It’s a very surreal, but inclusive character-comedy show. I work hard to bring the audience into my world. I am hoping audiences will relate to many aspects of Hotel Yes Please from their own positive/negative experiences of staying in hotels.

Is Terry the Odd Job Man still out there?
Sadly ‘Our Terry’ just exists on Facebook at the moment, where he shares the odd update of his life in Southmead. I really want to make more videos as Bristol has changed a lot since I made the DVDs 7 years ago. I am going to upload clips to YouTube from my two DVDs. I can’t believe it’s been seven years. I now get randoms coming up to me in a pub and saying ” I used to watch yer videos at school…my teacher used to play them”. Terry will return…watch this gert space mind!

How do straight stand-up and character comedy compare for you?
I find most straight stand-up formulaic and predictable, but there are some incredible upcoming stand-ups out there that I admire. I have tried straight stand-up in the past, and I am just not good at it. When I am a character, I feel alive and limitless. When playing a character, you can go anywhere and push that character’s limits to the extreme. When you get bored of a character, you can drop it and create another. It keeps things interesting. I guess that’s why I stopped performing Terry the Odd Job Man. I did it for so long, it stopped exciting me. I wanted a new challenge.

Are you still based in Bristol?
I now live in Beckenham, a leafy suburb of south-east London. I find there is more opportunity here for me. I run a big monthly alternative comedy cabaret night there, which often sells out. The night is pretty bonkers. Beckenham is renowned for being a quiet, conservative area and you would never think such an alternative night would work there – but it does. They lap it up.
I am not sure if or when I will return to Bristol. My best friend, CBeebies presenter Andy Day, lives in Bristol and constantly urges me to move back.

See Jody’s new show on Friday, June 23 (8pm, with Jayde Adams) and Saturday, June 24 (with Cheekykita) at The Room Above (The White Bear), 133 St Michael’s Hill. To book tickets, visit www.billetto.co.uk/funny-thing-is

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