Jamie Kilstein

The outspoken US comic talks to Andrew P Street about...

...the power of comedy in dark times! Laughter is one of the only things we have that the rich elite don't. I believe every time a good person laughs Tony Abbott loses one T cell. I really mean it though: the bad guys have the money but we have art, music and laughter. That shit can't buy groceries but it can keep us optimistic enough to figure out ways to fight back.

...his favourite punchline he's yet to incorporate into a joke! ‘They should swallow a cock covered in bloody glass.'

...his audience! My show is for the outcasts, punks, LGBT, atheists, vegans, Socialists, the anti-war movement, and for people who are sick of turning on the TV and being talked to like they are fucking children.

...winning at life compared with the corporate elite! It's a matter of time before these arsehole Wall Street fucks start jumping off buildings again. I got to play the Sydney Opera House after dropping out of high school. They jump. I win.

...misjudging the sympathies of said audience! It's weird, man: I've gotten away with so much on stage except talking about being a vegan. I feel like I can get on stage and say, ‘People use religion as an excuse to hate!' And my audience will be like, ‘Fuck religion!' Or I can say, ‘The war in Iraq is an illegal occupation!' and they will say ‘Fuck the war!' But when I say, ‘Sometimes I eat vegetables instead of steak!' They will be like, ‘You pussy Jew motherfucker!' But I'm still trying.

...his hatred of mainstream comedy! I'm sick of good-looking comics talking about all the girls they sleep with. Those dudes shouldn't even be doing comedy. Just be a model, dickhead: you don't need comedy like us freaks do. Also, I'm sick of their easy racist, sexist shit: those comics should swallow a cock covered in bloody glass. BAM!