Jake Donaldson brings tour show Neurotica to The Room Above

Geordie comic Jake Donaldson describes himself as “an anxious, modern-day person trying to be a good man in a world of toxic masculinity”.

His new tour show Neurotica, coming to The Room Above on February 25, mines real stories from his life as a visually impaired person growing up in the North East of England with a disabled, working class dad.

Though he was born and raised in Tyneside, Donaldson spent a lot of his early 20s in Bristol, and the upcoming tour show holds particular significance for him.

“Bristol is a city I’ve got a real affinity for,” he reflects. “I think Geordies and Bristolians are very similar, both having their own specific regional identities. I always love gigging in Bristol, because the audiences get me in a way those in some other areas of the UK don’t.”

He caught up with Bristol24/7 to talk about his beginnings in stand-up, and the key themes underpinning the show.

Who, or what, inspired you to try stand-up, and what kept you going back for more?

“I started off as a teenage magician (I know) and I used to do street shows in my hometown of Newcastle when I was 16, which is I suppose where I got the bug for performing in front of a crowd. I’d always been a fan of comedy, since I was a young kid. But it never crossed my mind that I could actually get on stage and do it myself until I got to university, and met some other like-minded people.

“We formed a little group and started doing sketches in rooms above pubs to audiences of 12 people, which wasn’t glamorous, but it was so exciting and fun. Then I continued to perform on my own, and one thing led to another.

“There have been times where I’ve felt like I’m banging my head against a brick wall. There are some gigs that, on the train home afterwards, make you just want to pack it all in and move to the moon. But then you do another gig the next day and it goes well, and that’s what keeps you coming back for more – it’s the greatest feeling in the world.”

As an anxious person, how has comedy helped you?

“It’s strange because I talk in the show about how creativity and art is a way to help cope with mental health struggles, and for the most part that’s true, but I’d be lying if I said that a career in stand-up comedy wasn’t fraught with things that make me anxious. But in terms of the way it’s helped me, stand-up has made me so much more comfortable with myself.

“My material is often about my personal life and the issues I’ve had with mental health, and being able to talk about that stuff openly and to have a room full of people laugh in recognition is so comforting. It always makes me feel so much less crazy when an audience laughs those routines.”

In terms of style, is it more important to tell your own truth, or to help other people access their own?

“For me, it’s more important to help my audience access their own truth, but there’s certainly an element of catharsis for me in doing comedy about subjects that reflect my real life experiences. I think most art is about holding up a mirror to the person viewing it, and allowing them to apply its messages to their own lives.

“My material is always true, inasmuch as it conveys my real thoughts and feelings about a subject, but some of it might be exaggerated – or I might tell a story that happened to friend as if it happened to me – but I’ll never do material that doesn’t reflect my real personality.

“When I go to see a show, I’m rarely bothered about whether what the person’s saying is true or not, but I know I’ve really loved a show if it’s made me feel something about my own life. At the end of the day, the audience are the ones who’ve paid to be there, and they deserve to get the most out of it.”

You cite the world of toxic masculinity in which you have grown up. Is the tide turning?

“It’s definitely getting better. By its nature, toxic masculinity thrives when men don’t talk about things. I think that lots of men these days understand what toxic masculinity is; increasingly they understand they’re part of the patriarchy and are recipients of the privilege that provides, and they are trying to be good feminists and allies.

“But when we’re caught up trying to make sure we’re doing the right thing for other people, we can often forget to give time to our own thoughts and feelings. Although men have a lot of catching up to do in terms of balancing the cosmic chequebook, no one is saying that they as individuals have to subject themselves to some sort of selfless lifestyle where their own emotional needs can’t be met.

“It’s important for people of any gender to be able to express themselves when it comes to their emotions, and among left-leaning, well-meaning, progressive men I think it can often feel like we agree with this statement for other people, but that internally, due to a combination of latent toxic masculinity and male-guilt, we shouldn’t afford ourselves this basic human process.

“Men need to have these conversations with each other, to help re-sculpt the image of what masculinity is, and how we see each other – as well as to take responsibility for our own problems.”

Jake Donaldson: Neurotica is at The Room Above on February 25 at 8pm. Tickets are available at www.tickettailor.com. Follow @donaldsoncomedy on Insta for updates.

All photos: Jake Donaldson

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