Sydney comic Daniel Moore talked to Darlene Taylor about his experiences at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (MICF), his desire to be Hulk Hogan and online Boggle.
Darlene Taylor: This year you performed at MICF for the first time. What were your dominant impressions of the Festival, and how would you describe the experience?
Daniel Moore: Yes, this was indeed my first ever Comedy Festival, and the experience was wonderful apart from the bit where my dad had a heart attack back in Sydney just as it was about to begin. That was awkward. The experience was full of joy, empty seats and crying with family members, just as the brochure promised.
The festival is such a lovely time of the year. Where else can you spend a month talking to people who pay money to come and see you talk? My initial impression of the festival was poor, but I do a great impression of a dog catching a frisbee.
DT: Your stand-up contains jokes combined with anecdotes. What led to you adopting a style that’s more intimate and conversational than many male comics have used in the past, and what do your family think about being included in your material?
DM: My family don’t really know about their part in my show. As mentioned above, I talk a bit about my sick dad. Most people do gags about the crazy antics their larrikin dad gets up to at wacky BBQs. I talk about dad’s kidney failure and heart attacks, which as far as material goes are safe picks for high fives and hilarity.
I do combine jokes with anecdotes, yes. I would normally call them stories, but I like anecdotes…anecdotes sounds impressive. My style is intimate and conversational because I’m crap at joke jokes. So basically in my show, I talk to people as if it’s a conversation (although I don’t like them talking back…it’s about me, lets not forget that), and the people there are often few, which makes it intimate.
DT: On your MySpace page, you identify your ethnicity as Native American. In this country, Indigenous comics are fairly marginalised and often only come to the attention of general audiences when they participate in “special” events (for example, Deadly Funny at MICF). How important do you think it is to be overt about your background, and how do you think it has influenced your comedy?
DM: Well, being a Native American has its ups and downs. I mean, for one I’m not often recognised as Native American due to the fact that I bear no resemblance to one, nor am I technically Native American, but in a game of Cowboys and Indians, I pick Indian hands down every time.
If your background is important to you, then sure talk about it. But when people exploit it for cheap gags, I think that’s a bit weak. I mean I’m a crap driver too, but it’s not funny when I say it.
DT: On your MySpace page you also say that when you were growing up you wanted to be Hulk Hogan. Why didn’t you want to be Rowdy Roddy Piper instead?
DM: Well, you see Hulk Hogan was the most wonderful wrestler to ever grace the ring. He picked up Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania for fuck sake, and he’s HUGE. Plus he had a moustache that was peroxide blonde. Only a pretty rad guy could pull that off. Also, he had by far the longest most recgnised career of any wrestler AND he could make his boobs go up and down with, I assume, the aid of steroid enhanced muscles. Plus, Rowdy Roddy Piper wore a skirt.
DT: Your MICF show was about your decision to ditch advertising for the, umm, financially lucrative world of comedy. As Dr. Phil would say, “How’s that working for ya?”
DM: Well, I’m less of a wanker…marginally.
DT: What’s in store for Daniel Moore (besides answering really poetic questions) in the future?
DM: Well, once I get my internet connection sorted, I plan to play loads of online Boggle. I also plan to check out obscure websites such as this one, which is a pirate supply store in San Francisco. Apart from that, I’ll be performing at the Melbourne Fringe, Adelaide Fringe and Melbourne Comedy Festival 2008. I also plan to increase my audience from pathetic to mediocre numbers. Yes, ‘08 is DEFINITELY the year of mediocre!