Why Balham Comedian James Mullinger owes alot to Jimmy Carr

James Mullinger is yet another successful Balham Comedian, who'll be appearing at our new comedy club, Rise of the Idiots at the Exhibit, December.  He took time out of his busy schedule - which includes looking after his 5 week old baby, to give Balhampeople this special interview.  Here it is, unedited and compelling.  Enjoy.

 James, I believe you're a local boy!  Whereabouts do you live (roughly) and how long have you lived there?

I live on Langroyd Road, near Tooting Bec tube station. It is famously the road where our great local MP Sadiq Khan grew up. I met him for the first time last week and he is inspirational, as you would expect him to be. One of the few politicians who really care about his constituency and truly adores Tooting and Balham. He's also very funny. I have lived in South London for over ten years and moved to Balham three years ago. I love it here and am very happy to bring up my son here.

What's your favourite restaurant / cafe in Balham?  Where do you hang out and why do you like those places?

I love A Local Independent Coffee Shop on Balham High Road. They serve the best coffee in London and it's cheaper than anywhere else. It's also a lovely place to sit and write jokes, watching the world go past. If you can get a seat that is!

Thorold Wines off Ritherdon Road is a Godsend. They sell the worlds best wines at a fraction of what a supermarket would charge you. I also love The Exhibit, they offer locals everything we could possibly want - arthouse films, children's events and of course comedy!

Does living so close to the Banana Cabaret inspire you?!

Incredibly and bizarrely, Banana Cabaret is one of the only clubs in the country I have never performed at! I've done every arts centre, theatre, comedy club, pub function room, broom cupboard and outside toilet in the UK. I've played every club in New York, Montreal, Toronto, Sydney, Belfast but I've never done a gig at the nearest club to where I live! Madness I know. That's not to say I wouldn't perform there, it just hasn't happened. There's no doubt though that it is one of the best clubs in the world.  I saw Simon Pegg recently and he was talking with fondness about his time on the circuit and he said that Banana Cabaret was his favourite club to perform at back in the day.

It seems an incredibly hard thing to do, standing in front of a boozed up audiences telling jokes.  What an earth made you get into doing the comedy circuit?

I had always wanted to do it. My whole childhood was spent listening to Ben Elton tapes and watching Frank Skinner's extraordinarily good live videos. My first gig was early 2005 in the back room of a Caribbean bar in East London. The day building up to the gig was spent reciting my script and feeling nothing but abject fear. I can safely say that the only way I would have been more nervous was if I was doing the gig while bungee jumping from the Brooklyn Bridge. To give in to the fear and eschew the gig in favour of a night in front of the television would only have been admitting to myself that I did not have what it takes. I had to at least try and live my dream. The stage was a door on beer crates. The gig went surprisingly well which set up an unrealistic expectation because the next five bombed.

I did the clubs mainly compering and doing short sets for four years before I did my first full-length show The Bad Boy Of Feminism which is about my time at university studying for a degree in Women's Studies. The show was a study on modern feminism and asked the question whether I could still call myself a feminist despite telling filthy jokes on stage. I toured the show for five months around the country and ended with a sold out run at the Soho Theatre last June. Those were probably the best gigs of my career. Playing to a packed theatre of people who had come to just see me rather than just being there to see a line up of comics. The pressure was immense but the gigs went great and I flew out to Canada the following day to do some shows in my wife's hometown on a massive high.

Tell me what do you love and what do you hate about your job?

I live for stand up. The buzz of performing cannot be matched by any amount of money. If I had to give up stand up I would fall into a manic depression within days. Obviously I do desire financial security but not as much as I crave getting up on that stage every night.

I hate it when the last train home from a gig is cancelled and I have to sleep on a station platform, almost freezing to death. I hate it when audiences are too rowdy and are out to sabotage a gig. But thankfully neither of those things happen very often. Generally there is nothing to hate about this job. Obviously I'd like to not be away from home so much and spend more time with my wife and son, but I think we all feel like that no matter what job we do. I feel incredibly lucky to do something I adore, I get to travel around meeting lovely people, hanging out with brilliant comedians. It's a great life and I feel hugely lucky.

How do you feel about a new comedy club opening up at Balham? Could Rise of the Idiots be one comedy club too far for Balham?

You can never have enough comedy clubs especially in a lovely, friendly place like Balham! Banana Cabaret runs on Friday and Saturday and Rise Of The Idiots is on Sunday. There are enough people looking to have a good time to ensure every club is packed.

I am delighted about Rise Of The Idiots. The Exhibit is a lovely venue and the top room where the club takes place is the perfect room for comedy. The people of Balham are a fun bunch and will welcome it I am sure. The co-owners of Rise Of The Idiots are both veterans of the Glee Club chain, the best clubs outside of London - Anthony Donoghue and Adam Jaremko. I met them both at the first show in Balham last month and they have a winner on their hands. They are choosing original, edgy acts so that people get the best stand up comedy experience - thought provoking and hilarious. Phil Nichol is headlining the show on 5th December and there are few acts in the world better than him.

Who's the best person you've shared the billing with?  What comedians are genuinely good people?

I've been lucky enough to perform at the Just For Laughs festival in Montreal twice so have performed alongside some true greats including the late Greg Giraldo. Jerry Seinfeld is the greatest stand up of all time and I interviewed him last year for a magazine article and that was a real career highlight. Watching him is a masterclass in stand up. Chris Rock is a genius but Louis CK is the comic I aspire to most. His ability to say the unsayable and his profound honesty make him the most important comic working today. The best British based comics working today are Shazia Mirza, Scott Capurro, Robin Ince, Richard Herring, Shappi Khorsandi.

Jimmy Carr is a unique talent with the best work ethic of any working comedian. He is also very supportive of new acts. When I was starting out I entered his Comedy Idol contest and I made it through to the final, which was a gig alongside him at The Comedy Store, which was filmed for his DVD Stand Up. He really helped me out that first year, helping me with my material and performance style. And appearing on his DVD led to an influx of bookings, which would normally be unheard of for such a new act. I owe him a lot. We are still in touch now and I cannot thank him enough for helping me and others out when we were new to the comedy scene.

I have also worked a lot with Michael McIntyre. He gets a lot of stick from jealous comics which is very unfair because he worked very hard to get where he is today. Audiences love him because he is an amazing stand up comedian. He should be commended for this, not criticised. We still see a lot of each other and he is a good friend as well as someone I enjoy watching, whether in a 50-seater pub gig or the O2.

What will punters get from coming to see you at Rise of the Idiots? What can they expect from James Mullinger?

They can expect lots of filthy laughs but also some more thought provoking material about the importance of modern feminism. I like to provide a balance. Comedy should be funny first and foremost but I do like to make people think a bit too. Rise Of The Idiots is my kind of club - intimate, friendly with an intelligent crowd not afraid to laugh at more shocking jokes. It will be a lot of fun for me as well as the audience.