Jai Cameron
Photo: Jeremy Guzman
Finding things to laugh about has never been more important than it has even over the last couple of years. For Melbourne based stand-up comedian Jai Cameron his biggest source of laughter has come from his newborn daughter Rory. In fact Jai has found such a rich vein of comedy gold in becoming a father for the first time that he has created a brand new show which he has called Daddy. Jai will be performing Daddy at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in April.
Speaking to Pario in the lead up to the show Jai told us about his journey developing this show, how he came to develop a love for stand-up comedy & the importance of bombing as a new comedian.
With his new show focusing on fatherhood Daddy seemed like a rather obvious title, but as Jai revealed the actual inspiration behind the title came from an unexpected source.
"I called the show Daddy because every time people would come up to me after Ruby was born they'd say, 'how are you going Daddy?' which felt really weird because usually only my wife calls me that."
These interactions though quickly made Jai realise there could be a really interesting & funny concept behind a show about the topic of parenthood.
"The show covers a whole array of observations about the joys & tribulations of parenthood," explained Jai. "The show is very much about me & my wife, but ultimately it is about my daughter & what I think she is going to be like at my age... She has very dramatic facial expressions & a very good use of her eyebrows. She is also very good at a fake cry. So I think drama is going to be in her blood."
Now that Jai has broken the ice & built a show all about his daughter he is excited to have a deep well of comedy to tap long into the future. Although also realises that at some point the well will run dry.
"It will get to a point when my daughter knows what I'm doing & will probably say 'dad you can't use any stories about me' but for now I'm going to use all of the comedic content that I can out of her childhood."
In fact Jai's plans to wring out all of the comedy gold possible with a newborn doesn't need just with stories of his experiences so far, he actually hopes to have Rory on stage with him during the festival he told Pario.
"I'm going to see if I can have Rory strapped to me for the entire show, because I'm a tight arse & don't want to pay for babysitting," he said with a chuckle. "Plus I think it would be really interesting trying to do an hour's worth of content with a child on your chest."
In terms of Jai's journey as a stand-up comedian prior to developing Daddy he took a rather unusual path. Rather than beginning with very short open mic sets Jai dove into the deep end by developing an hour long show as his debut.
Whilst Jai explained that this path was incredibly difficult, & is perhaps not the path he would take now if he could do it all over again. Despite this it is path which he said has made ever subsequent show seem easy in comparison.
"[My path] was basically a baptism of fire into the comedy scene," recalled Jai. "What was really good about the path which I took was that it taught me to roll with the punches straight away. I've never been as terrified as I have been before that first show... Doing an hour show as my first show was really stressful, I don't really even remember how it went. I was just on autopilot... Doing an hour show definitely made everything else a little bit easier but I've still had multiple nights where nobody laughed, which is really awkward."
On the topic of bombing Jai explained that it is an experience which every single stand-up comedian will experience during their career. Jai also feels it is a crucial part of developing your own voice as a comedian, even if it feels terrible in the moment.
"I don't think any comedian could say they've never bombed. I think for a lot of comedians you have to accept failure... It's so important to bomb, to fail, & to struggle as a comedian. In life it's a very similar thing, if we're not having failures in our own lives we don't really have funny moments to joke about.
"Bombing the worst feeling in the world, you feel like you are downing in the middle of the ocean. It feels like hours when you are standing up there but it is so beneficial to the growth of a comedian though. Even the best comedians in the world can bomb, it's part & parcel of being a stand-up comedian."
Follow Jai's creative journey on Facebook.
Buy tickets to Daddy at: www.comedyfestival.com.au
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