He’s a correspondent on The Daily Mash (BBC Two), has written for Mock the Week (BBC Two), Joke Thieves (BBC Two) and has appeared on shows including Stand Up Central (Comedy Central), but the multi-award nominated Peter Novellie is perhaps best loved for his live stand up.
Returning to the Fringe this August with his new show, Hear Novellie, See Novellie, Speak Novellie, we catch up with Pierre on his South African/Isle of Man upbringing and the funny side of ‘not belonging to a team’.
Tell us about your new show, Hear Novellie, See Novellie, Speak Novellie.
It’s a satire show for people without a team. I feel pretty homeless at the moment so it’s a satirical show designed for people who feel similarly, and it’s a satire on the idea of belonging to a team, and that being a part of one is…good.
You were born in South Africa, grew up on the Isle of Man and have a French name, but where’s your favourite crowd in the world to play to?
Any basement in a major city, but I really don’t like performing in Hull, they don’t like me there. Whatever it is that I’m selling, they’re not buying.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to take a show to the Fringe?
Triple check your landlord. There’s some really dodgey ones out there.
What’s the weirdest thing anyone’s ever said about you in a review?
People quite often describe me as ginger, or blonde. But I have dark brown hair. It’s quite strange. I also read a review where they thought I was French the entire time but was pretending not to be…
What’s surprised you most during your career in comedy?
I suppose how many comedians there are that make a good career out of comedy but are in no way famous. There’s a sort of ‘middle class’ of comedians that aren’t unpaid open mic-ers, but who also aren’t on Mock the Week.
Why did your family move to the Isle of Man from South Africa?
We moved there for my dad’s work, and partly because Johannesburg was really dangerous at the time. In comparison to living in South Africa, it was really rural. I rather enjoyed cycling around the countryside, tipping over cows.
Are there many other South African Manxmen or are you the only one?
There’s actually over 100 of us, we’ve got a proper diaspora going on.
What’s the worst thing about standup?
The amount of effort it takes to look like you’re not putting any effort in.
If we only have enough money to come and see one show at the Fringe, why should we come to see yours?
They should come see it if they like outsider satire, if they feel homeless and left behind by politics and the mainstream or if they’re a bunch of absolute nerds, who are politically malcontent. If they want a satire show of things they already agreed with at the start, they probably go see something else.
Hear Novellie, See Novellie, Speak Novellie: Pleasance Upstairs 1-26 August, 7.15pm
Tickets available here.
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