“There’s no such thing as cancel culture — if a comedian feels they’re being ‘cancelled’, it’s because their jokes are s**t.”
Comedian Daniel Sloss has bold views on, well, most things, but the perception that “you can’t say anything these days” is his biggest bugbear.
Hubris, his upcoming gig at Perth Concert Hall on December 9, will no doubt feature a variety of gags on controversial topics, but he tells me he has no fear at all of being “cancelled”.
No censorship for comedy
“It’s just not a thing,” he says emphatically.
“Comedy is not being censored. It’s just what some comedians say when they’re not actually very good.
“I’ve done jokes about death, disabilities, religion, paedophilia, cancer, all sorts of taboo subjects, and I haven’t been cancelled.
“If you do a joke that is booed, it’s simply because it’s not very good. If you’re talented and good at telling jokes, you can joke about anything.
Daniel Sloss: Hubris
“Hubris is very much a departure from my usual shows, where I do 40 to 50 minutes of stand-up and then I talk about a taboo subject. With Hubris, I just wanted to write some stand-up.
“It’s basically saying horrible things I don’t necessarily mean! I just want to see what boundaries I can push.”
Sloss, who hails from Fife, credits Frankie Boyle as one of his biggest influences, after the Scottish stand-up king helped him break into comedy aged just 16.
The influence of Frankie Boyle
His mother had met Boyle at a corporate gig and mentioned her funny son. He then offered Sloss work experience writing a small amount of material for him in two series of BBC’s Mock the Week.
Performances at the Edinburgh Fringe followed, with Sloss becoming one of the youngest-ever finalists in the So You Think You’re Funny? competition and, later, the youngest comedian to perform a solo season in London’s West End.
“I lied about my age to perform at my own gigs,” he laughs. “I was 17 and for some places, like clubs and student unions, you had to be 18.
An acting background
“I was drawn to comedy because I’ve watched a lot of it since I was a child — my mum and dad were into it, so I watched it too.
“I started doing acting when I was about 11 in a local group and I loved being on stage — although I hated the actual acting!
“It’s because there’s no feedback while you’re doing it. You only know if you’ve done well or not afterwards, when the director tells you or you see the reviews.
“With comedy, you know instantly — if the joke is good, the audience laugh; if it’s not, they don’t.
Becoming a comedian
“But it took me until I was about 16 to put acting and comedy together and say: ‘Oh, I can do that.’
“I was inspired by Frankie Boyle; he is fearless,” Sloss adds. “He is a master at speaking truth to power, which is the very definition of what comedy should be. I don’t know if I do it as well, but I really respect how nothing is off limits to him.”
These days, Sloss tours the world, with his last outing, Daniel Sloss: X, selling out across 40 countries. Meanwhile, his two Netflix specials DARK and Jigsaw are streaming in 190 countries.
Jigsaw
Incredibly, his observational comedy in Jigsaw allegedly caused more than 75,000 couples to break up and was cited in over 130 divorces worldwide by 2019.
Fans were even said to have brought their divorce papers for him to autograph at shows!
“It was a love letter to single people — I just said things that some people needed to hear, which is, you do not have to settle,” he explained at the time.
A homecoming
Hubris will very much be a homecoming gig for Sloss, who has a particular fondness for performing in Perth.
“It is genuinely one of my favourite places,” he says. “Before I got to be on TV, I did some gigs there and they were some of my best, so I’m really excited to be coming back to do it again.
“But the good thing about being Scottish is that every gig in Scotland, in any town or city, feels like I’m coming home. It’s a great thing.”
