With lockdown now in place in the UK due to the Coronavirus, Honest London continues with the Lockdown interview series. We interview fantastic self-employed people during this difficult period from their homes and find out what they’re doing to keep motivated plus creative ideas to continue working.
Second, we have tall and funny stand up comedian, Ryan Dalton.
Ourselves at Honest are enjoying watching Cuppa with Ryan every day at 7pm on Instagram Live, It’s really nice to sit with a cuppa yourself and listen to two comedians just having a chat as if we were all stood in a kitchen together.
- Hey! I'm Ryan Dalton. I'm tall (6ft7), ginger, vegan & got a great shirt collection.
- I am a stand up comedian. Essentially, I stand on a stage in front of hundreds of people, complain, they laugh (mostly) & I get paid. Pretty sweet.
- From the age of 12 or 13, I've always enjoyed watching live comedy. My Dad would often show me clips of stand up, that were probably not suitable & I definitely wouldn't understand the punchline, but I would laugh anyway. As I got older I just watched more & more, over & over, it almost became an obsession. I enjoyed watching the speed of which comedians would act. Someone would shout something, something would happen & they would have a reply ready. When I got to my early 20's, I was tempted in to giving it a go at an open mic night, it went well (considering) so from then I continued.
- When it comes to marketing, social media is the best way. I will always post my weekly upcoming gigs on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter & show links for tickets. Also on my website (courtesy of Honest London). I update my website for the most of gigs & what's on list for Ryan.
- This story I find hilarious for numerous reasons. Whilst performing my 2019 Edinburgh Fringe show, When Nature Calls, I was half way through a show & got to a section where I mock pugs & the people that own them (disclaimer: I love all dogs including pugs but pugs have gone too far). I make the joke, audience enjoy then a couple in the middle row get up & start walking out. I ask them "Is everything okay?" They reply "We have a pug & we found this extremely offensive!" They left & the audience & I just p*ssed ourselves laughing. Just shows how much some people refuse to laugh at themselves.
- I live in London, so a lot of my shows during the week are London based. However I also travel around the UK. Best thing is to keep an eye out on my socials to see where I am next. I also travel to Ireland 3 or 4 times a year for shows.
- Like all comics & people in the arts, it's like our job has been put on hold. I've had all my gigs for 5 months cancelled or put on hold. So it's been challenging, not performing & not feeling as busy feels very odd however, there are people in worse situations. I will say that it has been an interesting time for me creatively. I am more active in a productive manner on social media & I am seeing this a lot from comedians. So as always, there is a positive.
- You can follow me on social media. I have started a new daily show called Cuppa With Ryan live on instagram at 7pm. I am joined by another comedian where we have a sit down cuppa & chat for 10 minutes. I've got some great guests line up for the next week too! I also have a wildlife podcast called Into The Wild which you can listen to on iTunes or Podbean for non Apple users. Again I have some great guest interviews line up. After all that, if you've enjoyed my content, on my website I have a Ko-Fi link where you can buy me a coffee for £3.00 to support me in these current times. I would love that!