When it comes to stand up comedy, Daniel Brader marches to a different beat. In his debut Comedy Festival show Commercially Viable Comedian (Comes With Free Chicken Parma And A Pot) he promises to give you a “a real experience” by pushing “himself and his audiences”, not being “content to take the easy route to get laughs.” I spoke to Dan about this rather ambitious undertaking.
“The show’s title is ironic”, Dan explained. “It’s a bit of a piss take of those who think comedy should be formulaic and safe. To me it’s got to be a bit joyless if a comedian becomes so safe and ‘commercially viable’ that they lose their own point of view and become predictable and indistinguishable from the rest of the pack in the process.”
“I have no problem with hugely popular comedians (Jerry Seinfeld is a favourite of mine) but I feel there’s a way to appeal to a larger audience without losing your uniqueness. There has to be some kind of middle ground and people like Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Cosby are great examples of how to be relatable and appeal to many different people whilst retaining a very unique comedic view-point.”
While not explicitly pointed out in his advertising, there is “a loose theme running through it with that being the dangers of turning into a formulaic comedian in order to get quick ‘success’ and the need to stay true to yourself even if not everyone sees your vision initially. Although, it’s also largely a showcase of the material I have developed since I started stand-up just over a two years ago. I felt because it was my first show I would structure my material around a theme rather than come up with a theme and write material to fit into it, so as to ease myself into working into the festival show format.”
“I guess I see myself as challenging the audience because a lot of my material doesn’t have very traditional punchlines or obvious cues to laugh at, I don’t cover well trodden subject matter and I have strong opinions not everyone will agree with. I’m not about getting easy laughs and I don’t need everyone in the crowd to like me. If people are going to like me I want them to like me for who I am rather than some watered down version of myself. I am a passionate and opinionated person in real life and I like to show that side of me on stage as well.”
While this show will definitely appeal to a comedy literate audience, Dan assured me that “people who haven’t seen heaps of stand-up comedy will still enjoy my comedy. Yes it’s different from the norm but it’s not so obscure only comedy fans will get it. When I do regular gigs I am surprised by the range people who have come up to me and other comedians with a different approach, after shows to say they liked our stuff. It gives me faith that there are plenty of people out there who are open to comedians who do things a little differently.”
Dan performs “Commercially Viable Comedian (Comes With Free Chicken Parma And A Pot)” at F-Four for five shows only on 11th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 18th April. See the Comedy Festival Website for full details.