Wit Large

Why do a smart-person comedy night?
Comedy is always a little bit smart. When you go to see someone tell a joke, you're consenting to laugh at another person's cleverness. That consent is really important. But in most Sydney comedy clubs... I don't know if it's the way comedy is promoted, or the beer, or some kind of smart poppy syndrome-everyone gets nervous, and that consent goes out the window. Comics dumb their jokes down, apologise for being clever, and the audiences clam up. So, I wanted a room where the audience knew in advance that the comedians were going to be attempt to be smart, and nobody was going to judge you for using your brain. And where you can enjoy a glass of wine without worrying about the gig being hijacked by a drunken buck's night. You won't get a buck's night in a bookshop, unless the buck is dyslexic.

Is it comedy, or lecture? Is it smart-talkin' done by amusing people, or amusin'-talkin' done by smart people?
As long as you don't misuse that apostrophe, you're in. It's definitely a stand-up comedy night, but there's permission to be as smart or interesting as you like, in a variety of different ways. For example, David Cunningham's stand-up is a bit like a comedy lecture, full of funny and fascinating facts. Lila Tillman's brains are put to more practical ends: a mixture of political outrage and hardcore nerdery. Tommy Dean is a natural  debater. At first you think you're watching a traditional comic, spitting out hilarious stories and observations, but when you listen closely to what he's saying, everything hangs on the deductive logic of his argument. But clever jokes aren't just about 'facts', they can also be about simplicity and wit. Some of the cleverest jokes I've seen have been on Twitter, because you only have 140 characters with which to get your point across.

What determines your choice of performers?
Honestly, the most important thing is a comedian that make me laugh and then go, "ooh! That's clever". You can often tell those acts because the audience will laugh twice: straight away at the delivery, followed by a slight pause, then once again as their brains catch up to their bellies. I've also deliberately booked acts that aren't afraid to risk using their brains to win over a hostile crowd, and, where possible, comedians that are also writers - Bruce Griffiths, Lou Sanz, Sam Bowring for example. I've also reached out to a couple of non-comedy writers to do comedy spots. For example, Toby Truslove [of Thank God You're Here] might bring his character Chip Calhoun, to read from one his romance novels.

And the audience?
One important factor: the show is on at 5pm on a Saturday, so although there's no real restrictions on language or material, it's not an adults-only gig and my politics are inclusive. So I'm not after comics who rely on dick jokes or bigotry to get their laughs. Sorry if that's your thing, potential audience.

What do you hope to achieve with the night?
It's all a bit of an experiment, really. Can you even DO comedy at 5pm in a bookshop? But if it works, I think it'll put the emphasis back on the comedy itself, rather than 'the pub venue where comedy happens to be on in the background'. And it's an early show, cheaper than a cinema ticket, and includes some complementary wine, so people can go on to the pub after if they like.

Are you going to mess with the format, given the nature of the performers and the setting?
Wit Large will start with a more traditional stand-up night, but in future months we'll experiment with different formats, like debates or nights themed after bookshop departments: 'Biography', 'Philosophy', 'Science FIction' and so on. But most importantly, I'm hoping this will stop people coming up to me and saying "I don't normally like stand-up comedy, but...". It makes about as much sense as "I'm not a racist, but..." Of course you like stand-up comedy, it's just you've forgotten what comedy can be because you're used to seeing it in an RSL, or a dingy club, or on a TV network obsessed with maximising its audience share.  You only have to look at the sales of Stephen Fry's Opera House tour to see there are a lot of people in this Sydney crying our for funny that is different and not afraid to throw its brains into the foreground.

What's your favourite nerdish highbrow joke/reference?
The most obscure throw-away gag I ever wrote was probably, "a met a girl from Lichtenstein, where everybody's made of dots". There'd always be one modern art fan laughing loudly while everyone else stared in silence. It's not hilarious, but it is highbrow. My favourite nerdy joke is an old Marcus Brigstocke gag about the moral panic over violence in computer games: "if Pac-Man had affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in dark rooms, munching pills and listening to repetitive electronic music". Andrew P Street