Stand-Up Tom Stade: Naughty or Nice?

**As I pick up the phone in all my nervousness, I hear an instant apology from Stade for not picking up his phone at the exact time scheduled- certainly not what was expected. Especially from a comedian often described as ‘villainous,’ due to his opinions on the harsh realities of life displayed in his stand-up. He immediately sounds friendly and his humorous, chatty nature dominates this interview. Stade talks of his current 2013 tour, ‘Tom Stade totally Rocks’, (following last year’s sell-out debut UK tour), giving us a heads up of what to expect at Warwick Arts Centre; as well as revealing unexpected information about himself, and offering some careers advice especially for Warwick University students.**

**Let’s begin with the title of your show- ‘Tom Stade Totally Rocks.’ It’s quite a confident title and I was wondering how it came about?**

*Laughs briefly*… “Because I don’t want to have any themes to a show. A lot of people will put a title behind the show and the right jokes around that title. Whereas, me personally, I like to have a body of work that I’ve been creating before the title. Then I try and find a non-generic title that will sort of sum it all up and ‘Tom Stade Totally Rocks’ sounded just about arrogant enough!

**Could you describe your current show in three words?**

Naughty and nice!

**Would you mind giving us a sneak preview into the line- up that you will be performing at Warwick Arts Centre, which would specifically appeal to students?**

There’s a lot of things in there man, the fact that I talk a lot about buying stuff on the cheap. I’m a dealmaker, I never like to spend too much money on stuff, and even though I might have it- it just doesn’t seem right.

**On the topic of students… A lot of students often doubt the degree they have decided to take and career paths they intend to follow… Why did you decide to become a comedian?**

At first I wanted to be an actor and then it just didn’t pan out. I mean it could have if I’d pursued it, but I went to a comedy club just before I turned nineteen, and there was a friend there who was doing comedy who encouraged me to try it. He got me on an amateur night and I haven’t looked back since. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to be, I just didn’t know where in show business I would fit in and now it actually surprises me that I turned out to be a comedian because it’s not one of those choices that you consciously make. Most of the guys who do it just seem to fall into it; it’s just one of those things. I don’t think I ever sat down and said, ‘You know what you’re going to be Tom…you’re going to be a joke!’

… So, once you get there, you look back and go ‘oh! I wouldn’t have it any other way.’ From what I remember about being a student, which was one of the coolest times of my life, it wasn’t really what I wanted to be at that time. I was doing it to please everybody else and decided that once I’d done all that degree stuff and everyone else was happy, then I could go and do whatever I wanted for me.

**So, did your education influence your career in any way or is it just a part of your past?**

I don’t think that I had the biggest education at all so I don’t think my education really influenced my career. I didn’t really go to college; I took more night courses because when I knew I wanted to be an actor I didn’t take anything but acting. I didn’t really feel like going to university or college for maths or physics or any of that crap – I realised that I should just take acting classes and the things I wanted to.

**To help comedy start-ups at Uni…Could you recall your best and worst gigs as your career developed?**

That’s always a tough one because there’s just too many. If I was pressed for an answer then the worst gigs were in the beginning because you’re just trying to learn. There’s been some times where there’s you performing at a bar where nobody’s paying and you end up on a pool table telling these jokes to whoever will listen just to feel like a star. But then the best would be some of the TV appearances like the McIntyre show was so much fun for me! I had such a good time on that show! It was one of those defining moments in a person’s career.

**How do you come up with ideas for your stand up and ensure that it’s funny before you actually go on stage?
**

Well for one thing, I have a little notepad that I always carry around with me because I never know when an ideas going to strike and when the idea comes, then I write it down either on my iPhone notepad or my paper notepad- in case the battery runs out. Then what I’ll do is I’ll go and find amateur nights where I’ll do ten minutes and I’ll start working the pieces out on the amateur nights until I feel confident. Once I feel confident that I know what I’m talking about and I know where the punch lines are going to be, I’ll bring it to my audience. That’s how I work most of the time anyway.

**As he hears the rustling of my papers whilst I sort through them to find my next question he begins to laugh,**“That’s so funny man! You’re at your desk right now. That’s awesome!” **As I clumsily drop my papers, I keep the conversation going informing him of my accidental call to Dominoes where on calling him once with no reply, I went to use a shortcut on my phone that usually calls the last number on my call history, in order to call him again. Little did I know that it decided to call the second to last number on my call history; I ended up speaking to a man at Dominoes introducing myself as Tom Stade’s interviewer. He reacts…**
*laughing* You’re actually making me laugh my guts out here man, your awesome!

**Right, back to the questions…How do you control your nerves before you start a show?**

Most of the time I’m trying not to think about anything. I’m not thinking about what I’m about to say. Most of the time I’m just trying to stay in the here and now; that seems to keep everything at bay for me. If I start thinking about what I might say and what I might not say that’s when the nerves will kick in. Most of the time I’m really quiet before I go on. If you’re not thinking about it at all, then all of a sudden you’re on stage, and you’re wondering what the first thing that’s going to come out of your mouth is. Then once it comes out, you’re just sort of in the zone.

**You often bring your family into your stand up. Is this a genuine personal touch or merely a performance?**

It’s a personal touch man. The girl that I met, we ended up together and I’ve been with my crazy lady for 17 years man. Not a lot of people realise this, but when we were twenty two we got married in Vegas, I’ve been with her ever since, and we’ve been laughing our guts out together.

**And finally, your debut DVD is due for release in autumn 2013, what content does this include and how does it differ from the show you are currently doing?**

The DVD has been held back and so it was the show before this show so none of the material of the show I’m doing now is on the DVD. I did insist on it being released straight away but for some reason it wasn’t. Now it’s being released in 2013 which I’m thinking is better. People would have forgotten about that show seen as they will be concentrating on this one and the fact that it will have been forgotten would mean that they can enjoy the DVD more than they would have, had they seen the show and then went out and bought the DVD. Do you know what I mean? It’s a blessing in disguise that it actually happened that way- that it’s coming out this year.

**As I thank him for his time, he replies with a relaxed “No worries!” asking if I will be attending his show. Tom Stade is just as he claims his show to be, both “naughty and nice,” and if you still aren’t convinced or just like me- you are, be sure to head to Warwick Arts Centre on Thursday 14th March, 2013, 7.30pm to see Tom Stade perform live…I know I will be!**

_Tickets cost 15.50 (15.00) + booking fee and can be bought here:http://www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/events/comedy/tom-stade-totally-rocks_