Rob Rouse: The Comedian's Comedian!

Rob's just been voted The 'Comedians' Comedian - Best Act' -  at The UK Comedy Awards, so we sat down with him to ask a few questions about his upcoming tour, his life in comedy, and what to expect from new show, Funny Bones. 

Rob will be coming to Scarborough to perform new show Funny Bones for one night only on Sat 21 March. Get tickets online here, or call Box Office on 01723 370 541.

What’s Funny Bones about and what can audiences expect?

It’s about the very serious business of not taking things seriously, a simple equation to happiness.

Don’t get me wrong, I deal with hard hitting topics like reading glasses, scotch eggs, garden centres... that kind of stuff. I’m right on the edge and I won’t be silenced. I also deal with AI, and there’s stuff about dogs and bins too and loads, loads more.

It’s a piece of pure entertainment. I think it’s the funniest show I’ve ever written. All the ideas in it have been developed at live shows and rigorously tested and tweaked for maximum silliness. The longer I’ve been a comedian, the more it’s dawned on me - that’s what this job is all about.

Who are your comedy heroes?

Vic and Bob have made me laugh so much over the years. They grabbed me from the very beginning and I love everything they’ve done as a double act and in their respective solo endeavours. They’re magic.

How does performing live compare to doing comedy online, on TV, or on social media?

Performing live is the most important thing to me by a mile. I love it to bits. I can’t wait to start the tour! It’s weird that we’re now living in a world where we’re meant to put clips out all the time, despite the fact that most people are watching them on the loo or while they’re watching something else on the telly.

Social media is everything all at once all in the same place, there’s no focus. It’s like being in a library trying to read a book and someone repeatedly coming up to you asking you if you want to buy a car, or remortgage or saying “Here’s ten reasons you’re wiping your bum wrong!” It’s insane!

Getting completely loose and having a laugh on stage feels like the sanest thing to do. We all know why we’re there - to laugh and connect.

You’ve worked with some amazing people - what’s it like meeting your heroes?

Upstart Crow was an amazing experience. There were so many people involved in it, people I’d grown up watching, and countless incredible guests who you can’t believe you’re sat round a table reading the script with, like Emma Thompson, Adrian Edmondson... not to mention working with Ben Elton every day!

One day when I came into rehearsals, Harry Enfield was sat on a chamber pot (in character, I should add) and they were between scenes and he looked up and said - in the style of Dave Nice - “How was yur weekend mate, did yur have a big night out or a quiet night in mate?” That was magic. I also remember doing a support slot for Reeves and Mortimer at a tiny club in London when they were working on a new live show. After I’d done my bit, I turned round and walked off past them waiting to go on as their folk singer alter-egos, Mulligan and O’Haire, holding a stuffed duck.

I nearly fell over.

Of course, you’ve worked with a duck before…

Yes, I made ten spoof movie trailers on an absolute shoe-string with me, my now wife and our pet duck Shaniqua (now no longer with us - R.I.P.) playing all the characters.

They’re all on YouTube. My favourite is ‘The Duckminator’.

You’ve also done shows about dogs before. What is it about animals?

I think dogs make us look at our basic natures. They also have absolutely no shame or concern about what we think about them, and I think that’s a great starting point for comedy.

When were you most embarrassed?

I don’t really get embarrassed. It’s either a super-power, a total emotional blind-spot, or a serious character defect! Perhaps it’s partly this job and partly having raised small children, but I think my embarrassment chip has been utterly burnt out.

What was your favourite TV show as a kid?

Looking back, there was very little choice. You just watched what was on. What was great was that so much of it was live, so things were always going wrong on air which was hilarious!

Elephants crapping on the Blue Peter studio floor, kids swearing during phone-ins, people dropping things on cooking programmes. I found an episode of Blue Peter on Youtube recently where John Noakes climbs to the top of Nelson’s column without a safety rope, up a series of decorating ladders haphazardly tied onto it.

He’s over 100 feet in the air, climbing in flared jeans, a tank top and a pair of dress shoes - you know, the kind that would be lethal on wet leaves. They were different times! Risky times.

What’s the best thing you ever bought?

A drum kit.

I’m a terrible drummer, but my son started playing on the kit when he was really little and now he’s absolutely amazing and wants to be a professional musician, so it was a smart purchase in the end. Luckily we’ve always lived next to very old people who can’t really hear.

Ever walked out of a film before the end?

I don’t think so, but I have fallen asleep whilst watching a film a lot. Anything over 2 hours, I’m gone. There’s so many films from the ‘Frozen’ era I went to with the kids, where I’ve seen the beginning and the end but have absolutely no idea what happens in the middle.

What’s the weirdest thing in your wardrobe?

A Christmas tree! We don’t have any loft space, so it lives there 50 weeks of the year. Really livens up a wardrobe to be fair!

Latest News?

I’ve just been voted The ‘Comedian’s Comedian - Best Act’ at the UK Comedy Awards!

It’s really lovely as it’s voted for by all the professional comedians on the circuit. I’m rather overwhelmed by that - I feel really honoured and don’t quite know how to process it!

And I also was voted Best Act at The Yorkshire Comedy Awards this year too, so I feel very lucky. If you’d have told me in 1998 that I’d still be doing this and loving it more every year, it would have blown my mind...

Come and see Rob performing new show Funny Bones for one night only on Sat 21 March. Get tickets online here, or call Box Office on 01723 370 541.