Scott Capurro

Hey kids, thought you might like to know what some people are writing about my attempts to make ours a better world by doing not one but TWO shows at the Edinburgh Fringe.

First there’s this gorgeous feature in The Independent, promoting both my chat show and my one lady show here at the Fringe:

My Secret Life: Scott Capurro, comedian, 48
Saturday, 13 August 2011
Capurro says: ‘Like most stand-up comedians, I’m both visual and a bit autistic, and I can’t focus on two things at once. Unless I’m dealing with hecklers’

My parents were… practically strangers when they married. My mother was in love with someone else, and my father couldn’t keep his hands off her. Once over the threshold, she became his maid.

The household I grew up in… was full of animals. Friends were busy eating sugar while I was bottle-feeding baby raccoons and setting out mice for our pet owl, Barney.

When I was a child I wanted to… escape. My neighbour joined me on a journey that left us, at night, atop a local hill that felt like a distant mountain. I was eight years old. A helicopter’s searchlight eventually identified us.

If I could change one thing about myself… I’d understand monogamy.

You wouldn’t know it but I’m very good at… maths. I can do difficult percentages in my head and I really enjoy accountancy. I’m a loner and when I was in school, books were my ONLY friends.

You may not know it but I’m no good at… subtitles. Really, there are just far too many, even in French films. Like most stand-up comedians, I’m both visual and a bit autistic, and I can’t focus on two things at once. Unless I’m dealing with hecklers.

I wish I’d never worn… headgear. It attached to my braces and pulled my overbite back, setting my teeth properly. I waited until they were buried before I asked my first boy on a date. His name was Jeff. He had perfect white teeth.

What I see when I look in the mirror… I used to like myself with facial hair. I grew a moustache in Australia 10 years ago and it looked fierce. Now if I skip a shave, I appear as though I should be on some sort of list of dangerous, hungover roadies.

I drive/ride… public transport. I believe in it, fortunately, because I’m a terrible driver. North of the Golden Gate, on a dark freeway, I drove into the gut of a huge deer and it exploded. I was on the phone, bitching about something. After that, I sold the car and now I mostly rely on the bus.

Movie heaven… is my local DVD rental place, which is all woody inside, and run by some adorable, pale, thin-armed nerds who organise a Tuesday night film retrospective at the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club. The host with scrambled-eggs hair mispronounces everyone remotely foreign. The seats are stiff and upright, they only serve Tetley’s tea or jug wine and the place is freezing cold, even in the summer. I’m a regular.

My secret crush is… Gordon Brown. I met him at the – snore – the Hay Festival. We shook hands and said hello. He’s got a very strong grip, which made me tumescent. He’s also mastered a gorgeous smile. He seemed glamorous and contrite at the same time, like Jimmy Carter, whom I also adore.

My greatest regrets… are too embarrassing to list, because they’re mostly professional, self-serving and egocentric. What’s important is my mum knew I loved her.

What’s the point? Win every argument, and disprove authority. All we have is our ideas, or someone else’s, and every idea and fact is worth joking about.

My life in six words… I’m not Hindu, I’m a hippy.

A life in brief

Scott Capurro was born in San Francisco in 1962. As an actor, he appeared in Mrs Doubtfire, before turning to comedy, winning the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival in 1994. Guests on his live chat show, Scott Capurro’s Position, have included Michael Barrymore, Vivienne Westwood and Boy George; it is currently at the Gilded Balloon in Edinburgh, to 24 August, while his stand-up show, Who Are the Jocks, is at the Pleasance to 29 August. Capurro lives in east London

There’s also this loving profile of my show, in Fest Mag:

Confounding preconceptions will undoubtedly be a challenge for Scott Capurro, whose reflections on parenting used to be restricted to Madeleine McCann gags. Sharing his grief for his late mother and his nascent nesting urges, the controversial gay comic has written arguably his most shocking Fringe show yet.

Who Are The Jocks? takes its title from the last words the Columbine killers uttered before they opened fire, bleak inspiration even for the San Franciscan. And yet, it’s reflective of his residual anger at the macho homophobia that started in school and continued through to a recent assault in a Cardiff comedy club.

However, in discussing the death of his “only authority figure” and the exemplar for his abrasive wit, who sold him cocaine at 18, outed him to the world and whom he describes the “funniest person I’ve ever known”, Capurro risks having audiences empathise with him.

“I’ve never looked for common ground – it embarrasses me,” he shudders. “This is the first show I’ve written where I think there’s going to be familiarity with my feelings. And I’ve never wanted that, an audience relating to me.”

“The only way I could deal with my mom’s passing was to do so creatively,” he says. But can he keep empathy at arm’s length and do her irreverent humour justice? Resolving this dilemma ought to be cathartic, if not oddly Oedipal.

“Mothers do date their gay sons. They treat us like boyfriends,” he laments.

“Apparently women feel safer watching me now than ever before. I know that’s supposed to make me feel good, but it doesn’t. I think ‘Oh how can I fuck you up, how can I torture you?’ Then my director reminds me that’s not the point this time.”

Now, this first review is all about our chat show Scott Capurro’s Position:

Scott Capurro’s Position Review
By JD Stewart – Posted on 08 August 2011
EdinburghGuide
5 STARS
Venue: Teviot House
Company: Scott Capurro / Gilded Balloon
Performers: Scott Capurro and David Mills

The only point of reference I had of Scott Capurro before seeing him this year, was his performance in the film Mrs Doubtfire – making up Robin Williams and singing Don’t Rain on my Parade. In one of two shows he has at this years festival – the other is about the death of his mother – Capurro is joined on stage with David Mills for an interview style show with acts who are in this years festival.

Bringing a show that takes place in London and can sometimes last for three hours – if Vivienne Westwood wants to chat, you let her chat – can be no easy task. The main thing for this show is making sure all fits into the time given (a paltry sixty minutes) just doesn’t seem like enough.

Both Mills and Capurro are incredibly likeable. Their witty banter and sparring is possibly the most entertaining thing I have seen from two people in a long time. It is clear that not only are the good friends, but are in complete understanding of the boundaries to have with each other – I could have watched the two of them all afternoon.

The other aspect of a show like this is the clear amount of variety. Who will be there and what you will see is day-by-day dependant. It is like a lottery of possibilities, with guests already ranging from critic Kate Copstick to Queer As Folk USA star Hal Sparks.

I am aware that there are other shows with a similar set up to this one this year (most notably The Hamiltons) but this is the one that needs your time. Be prepared to be enticed by two men that can most surely coax anything from anyone.

We received this from Three Weeks, a fantastic 4 STAR review:
Scott Capurro’s Position
Scott Capurro / Gilded Balloon

Dynamic talk show duo Scott Capurro and David Mills present a ‘car crash’ of characters; with different guests daily, they showcase some of Edinburgh’s rawer talent while cracking Susan Boyle, homosexual, and paedophile jokes. Karen Dunbar, the Ayr/Glaswegian comic, talked about her career and growing up in Scotland, while Roy Hutchins of the Zanzibar Cats performed both comic and moving spoken word. An art critic from the Scotsman was there to discuss how “corporate venues” slaughter the fringe spirit, and finally, Barb Jungr was joined on stage by Simon Wallace on the keys in an absolutely captivating cover of Bob Dylan. These two aren’t afraid to bring controversy on stage, with all five Hitlers at the Fringe joining them next.
Gilded Balloon Teviot, 3 – 29 Aug, 4.15pm (5.15pm), £9.00 – £11.00, fpp148.
tw rating 4/5

This mention is also about the chat show, written by Naomi Bridges at the National Student (adorable!):
4 STARS

Scott Capurro is probably most famous for being the comedian that constantly pushes boundaries surrounding gay life, politics and popular culture and for being deliberately provocative in his material. Or you may know him from his role in Mrs. Doubtfire.

Scott Capurro’s show, Position, is one that changes day to day as it takes on the premise of a talk show where different acts at the fringe come on to talk about, well, their acts.

With David Mills supporting, no one is safe and audience and guests alike are gently ribbed and fall victim to the charm of Mills and Capurro. Resistance is futile.

Pete Bennett guested on the show and talked about his act at the fringe and, quite predictably, living with Tourette’s syndrome. Growing up in Brighton, Pete Bennett was fully immersed in the gay scene and regales the audience with anecdotes of how he used to ‘get babysat by trannys’ and his penchant for S&M. Listening to him talk about his split with his wife and what brought him to the fringe, Bennett’s honesty reminds the audience of why he won Big Brother in the first place. A rendition of ‘Miss Great Britain’ – a Sex Pistols inspired punk song about the time Bennett met Miss Great Britain – towards the end of the show gives the audience a sneaky peak into the world of Pete Bennett and what his show this year is like.

Usually three acts guest on Position but unfortunately one had failed to turn up, however, Mills and Capurro carried on regardless the audience were treated to an hour of light-hearted chat and a glimpse of what is like backstage as the acts talk about the fringe and what it is like to start out in the business.

Thoroughly enjoyable.

And this from Scotsgay:
The Edinburgh Fringe 2011
Scott Capurro’s Position
4 STARS
Scott Capurro’s Position
Gilded Ballon

This is one of two shows Capurro has this festival, and this one is a two-man chat show he presents with the amazing David Mills. Together, these two queens are invincible – with their acid humour and knowledge about everything on the planet!

They introduce a different panel of guests every day, and when I was there it was Nicholas Parsons (I found him rather arrogant); Melvin Brown (maniacally laughed the whole way through his interview – he’s either the cheeriest or highest man alive!) and Dave Lynn (a.m.a.z.i.n.g. live singing drag queen – I want to see his show now!!) Capurro and Mills are stronger than the sum of their guests, although taking the entities of Mills and Capurro and knowledge of their existing chat show in London, I thought the result would be verbal carnage. However instead of a diatribe of abuse, the interviews were really well structured. Capurro and Mills clearly had a lot of respect and adoration for each of their guests, and this showed another dimension to both of their personalities. This is a professional yet funny show, which is more like a big group chat show as Capurro and Mills invite total audience interaction too. Capurro throws in a bit of controversy – ‘women can’t do comedy because they have feelings” yet it’s all so tongue in cheek that even a militant feminist can’t get too pissed off. Mills’ perspective on showbizz – ‘Iit’s not all cocaine and blowjobs from Paloma Faith … you’re lucky to get a titwank from Peaches Geldof’

A fantastic way to spend an hour, in the company of two amazing men who will have you in rapturous laughter! Capurro and Mills acidly take on the world, while showcasing the best of the fest.

Brace yourselves, here come some reviews of my one persona show:
Who Are The Jocks? at the Pleasance Dome, nightly, 8 pm.

COMEDY
Scotsgay
5 STARS
Who Are The Jocks?
Pleasance Dome

When I initially read the title of this show, my initial thoughts were that it was based on the colloquial term for Scottish people. This is actually a reference to the words uttered by the Columbine High School killers, just prior to them gunning down their fellow school mates after years of bullying. I had also assumed that this year’s comedy show would be like Capurro’s others – topical humour that cuts right through the morality bone, but with a same-y feel to previous years. How wrong was I!

In some ways, it’s the same Capurro we know and love. Goading us, pushing us, shitting over every ember of moral fibre that ever existed and then taking it down a notch or two from there. There’s no topic too raw as Capurro drawls over Jesus,‘bit too toothy, that blow job, you Jewish whore … what a shame you only got nailed once’ . And as he leers at a 17 year old virgin in the audience, ‘I’ll cut you up and jack off over your corpse … there’ll be no witnesses’. And then there’s this whole other dimension as Capurro’s material, and indeed demeanor, is poignantly shaped by the death of his mother. He talks candidly about viewing his mother’s dead body; the comedy slippers the funeral home gave her – like ‘Carry on Dying’‘, the funeral, and then the dull ache of living without this person who was such a huge influence on his life (as well as his cocaine dealer).

This performance is the evolution of Capurro. He was always great – he was always the best way to spend an hour! He would always leave you with Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness for the next 48 hours after making your body spasm with laughter. Adding this emotional element to the performance has elevated it to another level, and although Capurro peppers the passing of his mother his own brand of bad, we’re still left empathising with this little-boy-lost-come-aids-ridden-paedophile-vegan-serial-killer!

These 4 STARS came from The Scotsman:

The first few rows aren’t for the faint-hearted at a Scott Capurro show, and his material isn’t for the squeamish either (Who Are The Jocks?, Pleasance Dome, ****). Capurro’s oversexed and outrageously witty persona is something he has honed over many years and many Festival appearances, but since the very recent death of his mother there’s now a sensitive and vulnerable side to his performance too.

It’s not pure catharsis, but it is moving to see such a confronting comic work through his own grief.

I ADORE Fest Magazine:
4 STARS
BY PETER GEOGHEGAN
PUBLISHED 06 AUGUST 2011

SCOTT CAPURRO
Who Are the Jocks?

Woe betide any Fringe punter who wanders into Who are the Jocks? anticipating a breezy exposition on Scotland and its characters. The jocks in Scott Capurro’s latest show aren’t the Krankies, Billy Connolly or Clare Grogan – they’re the American football players who topped the Columbine killers’ hitlist. And Capurro hasn’t come to mourn their passing.

“Controversial” has been an epithet attached to Capurro’s comedy ever since the stick-thin, nasal Californian won best newcomer at the 1994 Fringe. Now living in East London, if the one-time Mrs Doubtfire star (”I played a gay. I know, hard to picture”) has mellowed with age it doesn’t show. There are riffs on Islamic fundamentalism, Madeleine McCann and the Holocaust – and that’s just the opening salvo (by the end of which a couple of folk, perhaps expecting quips about sporrans and Nessie, have made for the exit).

Capurro might make Frankie Boyle look like Michael McIntyre but, unlike many supposedly transgressive comics, he knows his way around a gag, even if the routine in question involves simulating oral sex with Christ.

The show hinges on two events—the death of his mother and a disastrous show in Cardiff—which are woven through the gleeful tirade of offense and filth with much aplomb. But Capurro is at his best when ripping into the audience about their looks, ethnicity and preferred sexual positions. Bawdy, edged, thrillingly quick witted: slaying sacred cows is seldom this funny.

This mention is from The Quietus, which I think is sort of classy:

Pushing past the endless waves of grinning jugglers, trying-too-hard buskers and jaded London media whores, your Quietus correspondent is on a mission to find the sick, dirty, dark heart of the Fringe. This means avoiding the zany-haired Australians and sold-out posh-boy stand-ups, and instead seeking out veteran provocateurs like the London-based San Franciscan comic Capurro, whose latest Fringe show Who Are The Jocks? weaves tender reflections on his mother’s death around button-pushing jokes about incest, the Columbine massacre and rough gay sex. Great stuff.

More to come of course. These are merely a taste. Quotes and other profile bits will appear here as I scour the papers neurotically. xxx

Hey kids, the San Francisco Bay Guardian, which everyone who’s anyone reads, has hosted a readers’ poll, and I won best comic in the Bay Area for 2011. I know….HOT! I’ve included the award, right below, just cuz it reads like Christian gospel SHOULD read, and the full link is below that, in case you think I’m lying again. I’m a Sagittarius after all.
Check it out.
BEST COMEDIAN
Scott Capurro

Best of the Bay 2011 Editors Picks: Arts and Entertainment
http://www.sfbg.com/specials/best-bay-2011-readers-poll-arts-and-entertainment

NSFW — or Anywhere — Kamau Tries to Warn You Away From Scott Capurro: Does It Work?
By W. Kamau Bell, Wed., Mar. 2 2011 at 7:30 AM
Categories: Comedy, Humor

Scott Capurro is an offensive comic. He is NSFW … or home. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I’m not judging. Scott wouldn’t have it any other way. There are many different types of comics. There are prop comics (Gallagher, Carrot Top), guitar comics (Flight of The Conchords, Henry Phillips, Rob Paravonian), Hip Hop comics (Katt Williams, Mike Epps, 97% of the comics who appeared on Def Jam, 99.9% of the comics who appeared on BET’s Comic View), alt-comics (Eugene Mirman, Kyle Kinane, Kristen Schaal), urban adult contemporary comics (Cedric the Entertainer, Steve Harvey, Sinbad), and many more. And this is just a scant few of the categories. Feel free to add your own. One day maybe we’ll cover them all here, but anyway … Scott Capurro is an offensive comic. He’s a button pusher. He has written an act designed to make you go, “HOLY YIKERS! I can’t believe he said that!!!” And the thing is … it works. I’ve been a comic for more than 10 years. I’ve seen lots and lots of hilariously unrepeatable things. I thought I couldn’t be fazed, and in Googling video clips of Scott for this blog, I saw like nine of his in a row where I was like, “HOLY YIKERS! I can’t believe…” I was floored.

And Scott is not just offensive. He’s funny. Scathingly funny.

See, many comics are attracted to the idea of being offensive comedians. But only a very few pull it off. Other than Scott, the comics who I believe do pull it off are … Doug Stanhope and … and… Hold on… I’m sure I’ll think of somebody else. Give me a minute.** And that’s the problem. If you decide to be an offensive comedian, then you have to know that there is a fine line between offensive comedy and being just regular old Glenn Beck offensive. And the problem is every person in the world draws their own line of offense in a different place. “HEY LOOK, BUDDY! You can make fun of Catholics, but leave the Presbyterians out of it!”*

But Scott has what many of those wannabes don’t have. Scott has style. He exudes a gentle, affable style that makes everything seem OK while he is surgically eviscerating his subjects. And like a sawed-off shotgun, he’s hitting everything in his sights. Message to the especially squeamish, DON’T SIT IN THE FRONT ROW. He’ll get some on ya.

Maybe Scott is a prop comic. In fact maybe he’s like a highbrow Gallagher. Only his sledgehammer is his words. And the watermelon is our delicate sensibilities.*** And if that sounds like your cup of arsenic, then this Saturday, March 5th at 8:30pm, Daly City’s own**** Scott Capurro makes a rare Bay Area appearance at Marga Gomez’s Comedy Brains at The Marsh in Berkeley.

And if you often find that you are the type of person who doesn’t like to have their brain melon smashed, then this Saturday, March 5th at 8:30pm go to anywhere else but Marga Gomez’s Comedy Brains at The Marsh in Berkeley. Because if you do go, you are pretty much guaranteed to spend the whole evening going, “HOLY YIKERS!”*****

*Yes, this is an actual heckle of another comedian that I heard in a comedy club.
** Ryan Stout. Although he swears that he’s not offensive. He says he’s just being logical.
***Damn. This metaphor got lost somewhere along the way.
**** Yes, he’s originally from Daly City. maybe that’s why he sees the world in such stark tones. They probably didn’t even have the Target when he was growing up.
*****What? You don’t say, “HOLY YIKERS!”?

‘I want the audience to take offence’
By: Lhendup G BhutiaDate: 2011-05-29

Among other things, comedian Scott Capurro, who will be performing in the city this week, will present a piece centred around the Koran and Bible

You probably know him as the man who transformed Robin Williams into Mrs Doubtfire in the hilarious comedy, or have heard his voice when he did the voiceover for Fode Annodue in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. But Scott Capurro, who performs in Mumbai this week, is also a well-known American stand-up comedian and writer. Not for the faint-hearted, his comedy material is known to be provocative, referring often to gay life and culture, politics, race and racism. An interview:

How are you preparing for Mumbai?
I’m reading local publications, and trying to keep up to date on the BBC news service regarding India. I’m fascinated by abortion in India, its history and the original intent by lawmakers; and the way it’s been abused by certain people. Very similar to America, really.

What will you be up to here?
I’ll be telling jokes about current events in India. Of course, my act is riddled with self-obsession, so I’ll speak obsessively about my boyfriend and my weight gain or loss, depending on the day.

We hear you will be doing a small piece about the Koran?
A small piece? Have I been edited already? I intend to discuss the Koran as a reaction to the Bible, and compare the icons. I wouldn’t say I’m worried about someone taking offence. I’m counting on it. I mean, if one goes to a comedy club and sees a series of comics, one might expect to be offended, but live performance is a gamble.

Does your material change from place to place?
In Britain, I’m careful about discussing race, because the audiences tend to be a bit touchy. Race is okay in the US, but international politics isn’t, since war is less a battle and more of a geography lesson there. I hear I should steer clear of European politics in India. But we’ll see.

How do you see a comic play an instrumental role in society?
I think a comic might be the only person working, if necessary, without restraint. Comedy is meant to strain people’s sensibilities, and if the show ends with at least a few audience members questioning their own political views, or just wondering how they could’ve laughed at, say, AIDS jokes, then that’s a good show.
Our job is to make serious subjects funny, or at least palatable, and the club is a free space, so the crowd can laugh, in the dark, about whatever they like. I envy the audience. They have a chance to change.

Can you tell us about how you started in comedy?
I started in a gay club in San Francisco. God, it sounds like I’m going break into a song. Anyway, I found a reasonably supportive atmosphere, and from there, I went to the UK and played a few festivals where I garnered some attention, probably because I was unique. American, queer, up-front and just self-hating enough to work on the circuit.

Your future goals?
I’d like to just drive up to the theatre, roll down my limousine window, bark out my jokes, roll the window up and drive away. I’m kidding. I’d want to be driven.

What else will you be doing in India?
Lots of yoga, and cruising of parks.

At: 8.30 pm, June 2 to 5, The Comedy Store, 3rd floor, Palladium Mall, High Street Phoenix, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel
Call: 43485000

Repeat offender (******)
Scott Capurro has made a living out of pissing people off, says Aditya Kundalkar.

You might remember Scott Capurro as one of the guys who helped Robin Williams become Mrs Doubtfire in the 1993 movie. Even if you don’t, you’re not likely to forget his gig at The Comedy Store this fortnight. Capurro has earned a reputation for being a provocative comedian. The list of people he’s offended include Christians, “Japs”, racists, “lezzers”, children, vegetarians… the list goes on. He’s known for being candid about gay sexuality and when he spoke to Time Out from his London home, he said he was researching Mumbai’s queer culture and getting ready for his first gig in India.
What kind of preparations have you made?
Well, I’ve got my typhoid shots. I’ve been told to be careful with cold food handled by hand. And I know that homosexuality was decriminalised last year so I’m not supposed to worry about that. Although I am worried that someone will get up and break a beer bottle over my head. I had a nose job three years ago and it cost a couple of grand and my father would be really annoyed if it got broken.
Do you always think about your gigs so much?
Not really. Not in Europe, I don’t worry. In America, my set’s a bit different. But that’s really because Americans are not interested in European politics at all. For India, I’ve been told to not talk about London – the Indians don’t really care. The more you talk about America the better off you are.
You’ve been described as the most scathing stand-up comedian. It couldn’t have been easy to earn that title. I have to be cautious to a point. When I play in parts of America that aren’t San Francisco or New York or LA, it can be a bit terrifying. I can see people squirming and I can only assume they’re doing it because they hate queers. And they’re not used to a gay man who’s not really, really effeminate or in drag. But I’m sure I’m going to hit on some men in the front row. I’m sure I’m going to imply I’ve had sex with them. I’m sure I’m going to make them nervous and make them anxious about their sexuality. It’s all part of what I do, but I can’t do that and not take responsibility for it. I have to be aware that it’s not my culture, it’s a new culture.
Do you ever think that what you’re about to say might be too offensive?
Sometimes I’ve forwarded emails that I shouldn’t have done. Other than that, talking about stuff, either on stage or off, I have no regrets. For example, last night at [London’s The Comedy] Store I started talking about the Koran which I intend to do when I’m in India and the audience got a little nervous. But I didn’t regret it. I feel like, y’know, Jews and Christians can laugh so Muslims should be held to the same standard, and I think that it’s a compliment to the Muslim community and to those who read the Koran to satirise it on stage because it proves that we’re all equal.
Does anything offend you?
When a comic is patronising to the audience or steals material from other comics. You can tell that their stories aren’t their own. Or all they do is tell pub jokes. The time you get on stage is your chance to alter people’s perceptions. Comics are meant to be a bit annoying or stimulating, or accusatory, or in some way alter people’s ideas about the way they see things. There’s so much to talk about in the world around us. What’s the point of ignoring it? And I’m certainly not going to talk to the audience as if they’re children. I want them to feel [like they’re] a part of the show. It’s not a fucking seminar.
Scott Capurro will perform at The Comedy Store on Thur May 26.

Now I’m truly international. Maybe I’ll do lots of yoga whilst I’m there, or just hide in my hotel room and enjoy the room service and crisp sheets. I will definitely report back. Probably on facebook, I’m becoming a fan of that. I’m so easy.

COMEDY REVIEW: Scott Capurro
The controversial comic isn’t afraid to tackle the taboo subjects on his return to Belfast

Updated: 10/05/2011

McHugh’s Basement is jam packed on the final weekend of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival, a sold out crowd ready to witness American comic Scott Capurro’s return to Northern Ireland. It is no surprise that the event is so popular – Capurro is one of the most notorious comedians on the scene, well known as ‘the comic who makes people cry’.

Local comedian Shane Todd gets things started. The young Holywood comic has seen his fair share of success, with numerous appearances on BBC NI television, and he delivers some well-timed gags. However, despite a handful of belly laughs from the crowd, he is met with a slightly lukewarm response. It’s not really Todd’s night.

Capurro takes to the stage sipping on a coffee and greeting the crowd warmly. Despite his fierce reputation the comic is instantly likeable. His wicked material is delivered with a deadpan camp drawl, combined with a lot of heart and a lack of fear.

It’s difficult to relate his material in detail, as Capurro’s comedy is every bit as controversial and blue as is reputed. Much more importantly, however, it is extremely funny. Not just funny, but ribticklingly hilarious – Capurro delivers far more than just the shock laughs he is best known for.

The barrage of gags comes thick and fast. Capurro is a consummate professional and thinks on his feet with impressive speed.

Throughout the evening, just about every conceivable taboo is not just broken, but pummelled beyond recognition. A large proportion of the jokes are pointed not only at the audience, but at the comedian himself.

Topics covered include Capurro’s reaction to the anti-gay sentiments of certain members of the muslim community in London (where he is now based); why he has sexual fantasies involving Jesus but not Muhammad; how it’s OK to make holocaust gags because ‘nobody laughs in Germany anyway’; as well as an assortment of one liners involving the royal family, Christopher Reeve, AIDs, fisting, anal rape and paedophilia.

This might sound shocking, and it is. But one must hear these jokes in context to appreciate their point. It is clear that Capurro is definitely not, as has been reported before, a bigot, racist or, indeed, the antichrist.

The evening is spiced up even further with some genuinely thought-provoking banter between Capurro and audience members of various nationalities and sexualities seated in the front row. The night culminates in a graphic, screaming whirlwind of a foul mouthed one-man re-enactment of a particularly shocking sex act that the comic had previously engaged in with his boyfriend.

It is perhaps surprising that there is a lack of Northern Ireland specific material – the Troubles are usually easy pickings for boundary-pushing comedians. Indeed, after the gig, I overhear an audience member criticise Capurro for ‘not being political enough’. However, it almost feels like a reprieve to avoid the easy jokes of this ilk.

Obviously, Scott Capurro is a comic who subscribes to the notion that comedy should have no boundaries. His logic dictates that to avoid certain ‘untouchable’ subjects only breeds prejudice. Everything must be open to ridicule, or nothing is.

This is a sentiment I can understand, although for me there is a further stipulation: the material should also be funny and not just provocative or mean-spirited for the sake of it. Furthermore, it should be thought-provoking and ideally delivered with skill, style and charisma. Fortunately for Belfast, Capurro has all these qualities and more.

Me: Thankfully there’s no star rating, so one must read the review. How oldy worldy and truly stimulating. xx

The Telegraph
Dominic Cavendish
April 5, 2011
Scott Capurro’s Position: * * * *

Talking of revelations, if you want entertaining and exclusive celebrity tittle-tattle, here’s a tip: try your luck at Scott Capurro’s Position. This weekly chat-show, resuming every Thursday at the cosy, louche but essentially welcoming Vauxhall Tavern, can always count on its camp American host’s rude and waggish input but the guests are unbelievably good value too. Last week, David Baddiel, Omid Djalili and fondly remembered pop-act Right Said Fred were in the house, spilling copious beans. By rights this should be on the telly but it’s not – so get in on the act, if you’re passing.

Vauxhall Tavern tickets: 08444 771000. www.scottcapurro.com www.scottcapurrosposition.com

I’m so glad Dominic liked the night. It had a celebratory feel to it. Exactly what David my co host and I are trying to create. Let’s hope we can keep it up. Oh, Misses. x

Remote Goat’s Review of Scott Capurro’s Position
****
“The gayest gay-bar in gay-town”
by Andy Currums 01/04/11

In 1996 seven of the Little Rock Nine came face-to-face with some of their white tormentors on The Oprah Winfrey Show, nearly forty years after their famous school days. This televisual event wasn’t just a pinnacle moment for chat shows, but a pinnacle moment for world history; Oprah had used her place on the public stage to right social wrongs, to bring justice to where there had been none, to reunite a divided nation and to turn prejudice into love. As Oprah basked in the glory of her success and awaited canonisation, she probably didn’t realise that fifteen years later the humble chat show would consist of Omid Djalili being interviewed in “the gayest gay-bar in gay-town” (his words), pretending to anally wank himself with a Mars Bar whilst impersonating an American Jew complaining about the selfishness of bisexuals; “They lick all the pussy, they suck all the cock, I mean c’mon!”. And that is, believe it or not, an exact description of what happened at Scott Capurro’s Position at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern on the 31st of March 2011.

Scott Capurro’s Position is a dirty and debauched evening of entertainment and is undoubtedly one of the best ways to spend a Thursday night in London. Capurro makes for a dirty and debauched host who uses his cheeky charisma and genuine intelligence to reveal a similarly dirty and debauched side within all his guests; resulting in interviews that are often hilarious, regularly insightful and always, if you hadn’t already gathered, dirty and debauched. Capurro quizzes his guests on their sexuality, beliefs and how their unique identities and backgrounds have moulded them and their careers, often opening up truly interesting and enlightening discussions between himself and his line-up of famous faces.

Obviously, all chat shows live or die on the interviewees’ openness and willingness to participate and the line up on the 31st (David Baddiel, Right Said Fred and Omid Djalili) all happily dove into the sex-mad fun and confidently bantered with Capurro and the audience to make for a superb opening trio of guests. But, with Capurro at the centre of the show and an interesting list of public figures to come over the next five weeks, The Royal Vauxhall Tavern, “the gayest gay-bar in gay-town” (Dijilli, 2011), need not worry as it almost certainly has a hit on its hands.

I must finish on a personal note: the experience and majesty of hearing Right Said Fred perform an Unplugged, acoustic version of their nineties hit “I’m Too Sexy” was simply outrageous and no words will ever to be able to describe its bizarre brilliance . . .

Showing until 05/05/11 Royal Vauxhall Tavern | 372 Kennington Lane, London, SE11 5HY

And now my personal note: Don’t worry, if you’re up North and can’t make it, David and I are bringing this show to the Edinburgh Fringe. See you in August. Well, I won’t see you, I’m too famous now to hang, but you’ll always be in my heart. If I can find it. Now keep your distance. xxx

» Review: Scott Capurro
Capurro’s set was a fearless assault on his audience and the world. Challenging everything, he turned the idea of political correctness inside out and upside down. You laughed and you cringed as he upset everyone with his acid tongue and razor sharp observations. His delivery was near flawless, quick-fire and merciless, only faltering when a drunken woman at the front finally got to him. No problem though, he ripped her apart, ate her alive and then spat her out. Politics, racism, sexuality and his mother – not even she was spared his barbed tongue in what had to be the most blisteringly funny comedy set I have seen in years. Forget Frankie Boyle, Scott Capurro is on fire and taking no prisoners.

Komedia, 26 March
5/5
Andrew Kay

What a relief, this show is new and I’m a bit terrified of it. Some gays complained about the ticket price in Glasgow last night. They didn’t want their money back, they just wanted to stay and watch MORE comics. One (me) just wasn’t enough. And there was me, thinking I was too much. Way too much.
See you at the Pleasance Dome, 8 pm, for the entire run of the Fringe, whenever in August that is.

A LOVELY GUARDIAN REVIEW ABOUT MY CHAT SHOW, WHICH IS ALSO LOVELY.

Scott Capurro’s Position (with Michael Barrymore) – review
Royal Vauxhall Tavern, London
4 / 5

Brian Logan
The Guardian
Friday 8 October 2010 12.19 BST

One day, someone will make a great film, or write a great book, about Michael Barrymore. Maybe he’ll do it himself – but that’s harder to imagine. He experienced extraordinary fame, followed by an extraordinary fall from grace, with evidence of maladjusted vulnerability thrown in. Since the dead body of Stuart Lubbock was found in his swimming pool in 2001, Barrymore has been doomed to live in the image of his earlier celebrity. Whether or not he was in any way culpable for Lubbock’s death (he has never faced charges relating to the incident), he will, presumably, never escape its shadow. All he wants to do is make us laugh – but can we?

Barrymore has seldom talked about his feelings relating to the case and its aftermath. He almost certainly wouldn’t do so on TV. So his appearance at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern is a coup for comedian Scott Capurro, on whose live chatshow, Scott Capurro’s Position, Barrymore appeared. The first half of the event showcased the best and worst of the format. Capurro’s interview with standup Robin Ince was a clubbable chat between friends, in which Ince rehashed sections of his act and nothing new was revealed. The second guest, Lembit Öpik, yielded more laughs, and insights, as he fended off Capurro’s X-rated questions. “Do you prefer women who are lifeless and dead inside?” asked Capurro. “What is your stance on paedophilia?”.

But only when Barrymore appeared did the show’s bantering backchat give way to something more psychologically gripping. Upfront, Capurro declared himself a Barrymore devotee – and there was real warmth for him, too, among this mainly gay crowd. As Barrymore said, in reference to his once firmly closeted sexuality: “[These people] were brought up watching me. They knew what they were looking at. I didn’t know.” The whole story was recapped before our eyes: Barrymore’s Bermondsey upbringing; his early career as the link between song-and-a-dance, working men’s club comedy and the anarcho-alternative style to come; and his fascinating relationship with his wife, Cheryl, to whom he was “a husband, a lover, a child, and a career”. Cheryl dominated him: she told him what to wear, told him to cure his homosexuality by drinking white wine – and even now, he seems lost without her. (She died in 2005.)

It would take a hard heart not to sympathise with Barrymore as he talks about his efforts to conduct himself “with good grace” on his “journey”. He regrets inviting friends – and strangers – to his house on that night in 2001. “That’s my part in it,” he says. “I didn’t say no.” He talks about the unwatchable failure of his West End comeback in 2003. And even though he’s clenched with nerves throughout the interview, he talks about his recovery. “It’s taken this long to get a tiny bit of peace in here. And I haven’t had that since I was eight.” The crowd claps supportively, Capurro asks his next question – and on an instant, Barrymore turns on his interviewer, for cutting off the applause prematurely. “I think I could have had more there, Scott.” It’s an extraordinary moment, in which Barrymore dares to imply that even his vulnerability is an act designed to please a crowd. That pushy, unpredictable talent to amuse is very much intact. But will Barrymore ever again be able, or allowed, to use it?

Scott Capurro’s Position
Royal Vauxhall Tavern, London
Runs weekly, Thurs nights

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2011

Apparently I have the sour honor of being one of the top 30 stupidest characters from the Star Wars series. Well, Greg and I. We played a 2 headed sports announcer. I thought we were funny and playful, but this magazine article disagrees. I do like the shape of my head in the photo though. I think pointed heads are sexy, but then I’m an old hippy from San Francisco.
x
http://www.totalfilm.com/features/30-stupidest-star-wars-characters/fodesinbeed-annodue#content