NI comedian Dave Elliott: It's a cliche, but I was always the class clown

​"I dropped the ball for that entirely. I thought everyone will know this poster, it’ll be iconic, but no one knows it,” he deadpans, “no one has got the reference….In fact, some people expect me to be in a toga when I do the show.”

Greek god attire and misunderstandings aside, audiences have been flocking to the Bangor comedian’s uproarious new stand-up comedy show Roleplay, which is currently on tour across Northern Ireland.

As the name hints, the show shines a light on the roles we play in society, which for him involve juggling being a dad, husband, comedian, and…. housewife.

The 37-year-old father-of-two hilariously exposes the trials and tribulations of modern life on a quest for significance as he delivers a scathing and ridiculous take on the roles we play.

"My wife says that if I’m at home all day she expects me to work (hence the housewife reference)," he laughs.

“This is my fifth solo show and it’s my favourite. It looks at all the different hats that you were in life and how to react to each.”

Dave gave up his job in the civil service three years ago to concentrate fully on his comedy.

"I ​worked for the Housing Executive and I enjoyed it there, but to be able to do this full-time was the dream. I hate to use such a naff phrase, but it (comedy) was always something I wanted to do. Thankfully, I am now a full-time comedian.”

Over the last number of years his star has indeed risen. He’s been a panellist on the popular BBC NI show Blame Game, he hosts the weekly Sly Guy podcast, is a regular on the Tea With Me and General Banter podcasts, he’s co-written a taster sitcom for Channel 4, and last year he was in a couple of episodes of the hit Northern Ireland TV series Blue Lights.

"On Blue Lights I played someone who had hidden mental health issues and I was being dealt with by the police because I was causing a bit of a scene. It was a great, but it was a bit out of my comfort zone. Blue Lights has some seasoned pros, who are brilliant actors,….. and then you’re there.

"I was a bit nervous before I took part, but everybody was so great me with and supportive and I was happy with how it came out. From here the natural response is, ‘you don’t want to watch it back, I’ve made a pig’s ear of this’, but when I watched it back I wasn’t scundered for myself, which is about the best compliment I can give myself.”

Growing up Dave was drawn to the comedy of mainstream television hosts initially like Roy Walker on Catchphrase, Michael Barrymore and sketch shows like Henry Enfield and chums.

"As I got a bit older I discovered the more established stand ups like Eddie Murphy and Dave Chappelle and I was a big fan of Ricky Gervais’ stand up and his writing.

“You wouldn’t have really seen too many local comedians from Northern Ireland on television. Now, of course, there’s Give My Head Peace and the Blame Game, and people like Tim McGarry and Colin Murphy are real inspirations to me now. They are brilliant. They’ve been doing it for so long and making a living from it, it really shows that it can be done and you can still live locally too. That’s a big thing that’s important to me – I would never want to leave Northern Ireland.”

​And when did he realise you could make people laugh?

“I still think I’m looking for the answer to that,” he jokes.

"It’s a cliche to say, but I’ve always been a bit of class clown. I went to Sullivan Upper (Holywood) where everyone was very academic and focused towards careers and I never really knew what I wanted to do other than mess around. At that age when I discovered you could earn a living out of making people laugh, I thought ‘perfect’.”

He adds: “People would often ask me, is your mum or dad funny, and they’re not, they are two of the least humorous people you’d meet in your life. Maybe, it’s me rebelling against that.”

Dave’s material is based on his observations on life.

"I am the butt of the joke for the majority of things. It’s about day-to-day stuff, current affairs the odd time, but not politics. I’m at the age now where I’m looking at being a wee bit out of touch, so there’s a bit of that of that in it.”

The local comic has recently been sharing his special brand of humour with audiences across the Pond.

"I just did a few gigs in New York and that was really good fun. It was good to get over there and get into some of the venues there and to try to see if my stuff can travel – and that was the beauty of it.

"A lot of my material is relatable, where anybody in that situation can see the comparison. Obviously, I had to speak a little bit slower, but the feedback has been really good, so hopefully I’ll get out there again at some point.”

Like many performers before a show, he has his own little rituals.

“I always like to have a label off my bottle of water – I don’t know why I do that, but it’s one of those weird wee quirks that I’ll not go on stage with a bottle of water with a label on it – unless I get sponsorship deal from a bottled water company and then in that case I’ll be happy to have the branding on stage, “ he laughs.

“But usually what I do is put the kids to bed, get stressed out, run out of the house and then forget what I need to say – usually that’s my routine, trying to remember what I want to say.”

Like any comedian, he says hecklers are ‘part and parcel’ of the business he’s in.

“You get heckled at least once a night. But like with anything you get used to it and if you can see the person doing it, you can very quickly deal with them.

“Like before (in the Housing Executive) I would have dealt with angry tenants on the phone, now you get somebody who thinks they’re smart and wants to try their luck and more often than not you defeat them. So, you just be ready for it and know that it’s part of the job.”

Outside of work, he loves nothing more than walking his dog – a golden retriever called Vinny, and looking after his young children, aged six and three.

​Looking to the future professionally, Dave would like to tour more in the UK.

“The last tour I did was before Covid. With Roleplay, there’s no definitive end to it, so if it does go well and there’s an option to take it abroad, I’d love to go across the water,

​"I also want to focus a bit more on written projects – I’ve a few sitcoms that are in development at the minute. I really enjoy writing, whether it’s jokes or characters for sitcoms

So, between that, increasing the podcast reach, stand up and television writing and obviously taking on as much acting as I can, because I am very much a novice at that and with Blue Lights being such a great experience, I hope there’ll be more coming up, I’m just trying to be as busy as possible and make as many people laugh as possible. And try to get funnier as I go along.

​*Tickets for Dave Elliott’s Roleplay are on sale now from various theatre box offices: June 22: Braid Arts Centre, Ballymena; July 4: Terrace hotel, Magherafelt; July 5: Kiwi’s comedy Club, Playhouse, Portrush; July 12: Boiler Room Comedy Club – Charleys Bar, Strabane; July 13: Cushendun Old Church Arts Centre.

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