Marlon Davis: Finding Comedy back after his coma.

0:00Mo Gilligan: Hey, what's up, people? My name is Mo Gilligan, and this is my podcast beginning, middle and ends. Now, my guest this week is an award-winning comedian known for his appearances on television shows like Live at the Apollo and The Stand-Up Sketch Show. Now, we talk about everything from the time he got into a horrific car crash, which left him in a coma for three months, which left him having to learn to walk and talk again in order to get back on stage. Speaking to him, I learned so much. I learned from where he was from, which was Stonebridge. I also learned about him overcoming hardship and fighting for why life is so, so precious.

0:35Mo Gilligan: So please welcome to the podcast, the hilarious Marlon Davis. Yeah, but no, thanks for doing the pod, bro. Appreciate you, man. Last time I seen you was at my gig last month. Yeah. Yeah, you shut it down, man.

0:49Marlon Davis: Oh, thank you very much. Yeah, man. Your crowd's always a pleasure to play. No, no.

0:53Mo Gilligan: And what I appreciate is that you stayed. Oh, see. A lot of comics will be like, they cut, I get it, innit? it's an afternoon you're like oh listen thanks man I was going to cut another thing to go to yeah yeah you look like you was enjoying it like a fan yeah yeah yeah of course it's not just that

1:08Marlon Davis: but then there's the other people I was on as well

1:11Mo Gilligan: so I haven't seen them for a minute and then

1:13Marlon Davis: yeah and then yeah yeah and yeah Blank Page Peng Blank Peng yeah yeah yeah she was on it as well yeah yeah yeah like this other guy as well I've not seen him before but he's a Millwall fan

1:25Mo Gilligan: oh um Callum McIver yeah it's funny

1:28Marlon Davis: yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah that's just what it is yeah man i'm a fan of comedy in it so you just i'm not one of them ones that you just do the thing and just cut out and speaking of comedy you you wanted to be a comedian when you was age 15 you said that you brought a book how you brought like a how-to book of doing stand-up comedy um who inspired you to do comedy because who was like your first inspiration there's so many first then it's going to be eddie murphy yeah but then I didn't know he did stand up he was just yeah that was like me

2:00Mo Gilligan: I didn't know that thank you bro I appreciate that man come back whenever

2:07Marlon Davis: you want but like Eddie was the guy then there was like I didn't know what stand up was I started I mean you had the real McCoy and all of those things that was going on there was Lenny Henry obviously yeah yeah there was nights of the Empire are so like if you're able to stay up late it's always just comedy it's just always comedy so um which obviously is richard blackwood yeah huge influence as well um but now real mccoy is just we used to they had a segment which was stand-up comedy of course you had felix dexter doing what he did god rest his soul um but like you had people and they're like told you told you was something else because Todd you like kind of spoke to me because he was I don't know he was rebellious and he's just I don't know if you can swear on this yeah yeah yeah yeah that that appealed to me so like um yes I don't know you see people out there doing their thing there was another guy as well because I'm from Stonebridge mmm and then Rudy liquid from Harston yeah so you used to see him they used to have shows that was on

3:24Mo Gilligan: and you're like

3:25Marlon Davis: yeah I had to come out to this man I had to come out to this but then when you're saying like from 15 years old yeah it's probably I don't know I saw Death Comedy Jam

3:38Mo Gilligan: oh yes and that's what did it yeah and then did you have them on VHS or DVD no

3:43Marlon Davis: it did now it's just pirate innit you know there was a guy there was the Wembley Market it there was a guy in weberley market i hate to say his name but it doesn't matter anymore because dvds are dead like people are onto other things but nah like yeah that one there was another guy that was in tottenham and so you used to be able to like find all of this stuff and um yeah you pull it in and i don't know it just spoke to me like um people used to like go to school and like listen to music i mean like my headphones on my cd walkman that used to jump never mind i'll talk about that but i used to listen to stand up oh wow so hmv used to go down there they had a whole

4:25Mo Gilligan: section for stand-up comedy stand-up okay so like there was the ones obviously those early favorites

4:32Marlon Davis: was like the eddie murphy's obviously um they had comedy albums martin lawrence comedy album yeah

4:40Mo Gilligan: The one that really stuck though

4:41Marlon Davis: was Chris Rock. And he had like a niggers versus black people routine. And I was like, yes, that's the one.

4:54Mo Gilligan: That's it. He's saying what he's saying,

4:56Marlon Davis: but then he's preaching. And that's definitely what I want to do. So when I do stand up comedy,

5:00Mo Gilligan: that's what I'm going to do. Have a message. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I did stand up

5:04Marlon Davis: and there's no message. It's trampolines and feel foolishness. but but that's what stuck with me like I don't know I think when I first started as well what got me onto stage there was a routine I did which was to do with gun crime because it was prevalent in my ends and and it was like okay I've got to talk about this so like I'll do jokes then I'll get to this bit and that's when I used to kind of like fall off

5:37Mo Gilligan: I don't know but like

5:38Marlon Davis: the momentum because everything's like up here and then you're like okay well I'm going to say my message now and then yeah if people want to hear it okay they'll take it and receive it but yeah people are just there to have a good time they don't want to hear about the gun crime

5:55Mo Gilligan: but yeah I guess as well like sometimes when you realise there's a comic when you're telling material and you're like oh I've got something really positive to say and you kind of told this big joke or this really silly joke and then it's almost like is this guy being serious yeah yeah yeah

6:14Marlon Davis: yeah you don't know who

6:15Mo Gilligan: I've thought

6:16Marlon Davis: you've already presented yourself as this but then

6:20Mo Gilligan: when you're saying

6:21Marlon Davis: yeah it is a bit like that it can be like that but that's just about finding a way and finding your voice

6:27Mo Gilligan: yeah

6:28Marlon Davis: to be fair so I don't know myself I've come from that background as well like I started this kind of young and my background was art so with the art I did fine art I studied that at the University of Arts that's what it's called now back then it was like the London Institute so St Martin's oh yeah all of that so I've come through that okay that's amazing I know

7:03Mo Gilligan: fine art is that's real art right there you know trust me yeah I'm telling you it's not just like I'm gonna splatter and you can tell people what it is no yeah but

7:16Marlon Davis: yeah I mean with them they did find it the school was it was all to do with the tutors and their interpretation of what it was that you were doing and like certain times I was like I don't want to do nothing but then they would see that as something else

7:32Mo Gilligan: yeah they would see that

7:34Marlon Davis: as art yeah well anything's art this is the thing like you have to come my dad yeah my dad like I'm saying I want to do art and my dad was like my dad's from trade he's a plumber he's dope he's like that's a proper so like he used to bring me out with him onto sites and that

7:53Mo Gilligan: and he'd be like

7:54Marlon Davis: yeah come on and everyone's like is that your son he's like yeah it's my son he's like yeah you're going to be a plumber I was like yeah and they used to send me to the van and go and get like tools

8:04Mo Gilligan: he's like

8:05Marlon Davis: yeah go and get me a spanner but I didn't know when you get to the van you don't know what a stanner was and you come back with players and it was just shame him and then he'd be like I just sit in the van so I knew that weren't my calling like I couldn't do what my dad did like like this art thing but then with him he was like yeah it felt like it was a disappointment in a way but he got behind me in the end don't get me wrong but at the time he was like why what's all this art foolishness that you're dealing with. Like what? That was, he's like, you'll come home and you'll be like, yeah, I'll see one of your mates still.

8:44Marlon Davis: I'll see one of them. Like, yeah, what's all this this guy, right, he he said he saw some art where, like, they disturbed the pavement. And what they done, they put a whole ring around it. See, like this. Yeah. A whole ring, so no one can walk in this space where the pavement was being disturbed and then they left it for a couple of days and then it rained and that was the art a puddle

9:15Mo Gilligan: a puddle basically

9:17Marlon Davis: so my dad was like what's wrong with you and your people fuck I mean that wasn't what I was doing I was drawing pictures you can see whatever it was if i throw it like a sun you can see it's a sun yeah yeah yeah you know whatever it is you know i guess it's your interpretation isn't it yeah but yeah puddles in it i don't know so you're i feel like comedy almost found its way to you in some ways if you're like buying a book like a how

9:50Mo Gilligan: to book almost or listening yeah to stand up it's like the thing that you don't know you're going to do but you're so attracted to it you're like well i'm interested in this thing and kind of want to do it but i don't know the route in because i feel like that's the one thing with comedy i feel like if you want to be a singer you know you can say oh cool you know we're going to get this little microphone and you sing yeah i'll play keyboard get a keyboard whereas like people will let you know very early on if you're funny and i think that's the thing with comedy like if you're a funny kid he's like oh he's always funny he's always telling little jokes and but um yeah I think people tell that to you first and then you might say all right maybe yeah

10:31Marlon Davis: you know people told me yeah they're funny yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah now he's like always was like I would say like class clown I did that was always funny around friends as well and they would just tell me they're like yeah you know one you'd probably be a comedian and I was like huh because that's something you went to do and you used to daydream about it I don't know like I'd be in the bath sometimes and it'd be like visualizing this is the thing I want to do from when I was young so I was like okay I've got to do it I've got to do it and year after year was passing and then I went to this place it was Borders it was a bookshop that's not available so I went in there and I bought a book of how to do stand-up comedy hmm it was like a book by Judy Carter hmm I don't know if you it was this step this is like an American stand-up comic from New York I don't know about like the book was like my Bible and I was just done that page draft a page and you write it down it's like i gotta come up with five minutes and you have these critics that's in your head and yeah i've got people that live in my head anyway if that's cool i'm cool um but yeah yeah do like this and i was like okay we're gonna do this stand-up comedy where do you do it now with us i don't know how you got into this but we're really blessed because of london there's so much that's coming on in different areas in london it's huge yeah They've had this thing where there's a big comedy scene that's in London.

12:18Marlon Davis: Whereas if you take that to different parts of this country, it's not so much the same. Peterborough. No. I'm sure there is something going on up there.

12:27Mo Gilligan: Yeah, but there's not like the vast amount of comedy clubs that you can just go to watch as well. I think if you go to those small towns, there might be a one night on a week or a month, but I think London is always like a hub of like... Yeah, there's always... especially like, if we're talking 15 years ago, woo! Aye! I wish I was gigging them times, you know? Yeah? Trust. What I used to hear, like what Club Comics used to make.

12:55Marlon Davis: Yeah!

12:55Mo Gilligan: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Five in one night

12:57Marlon Davis: and all that kind of things like that. You're like, what are you? They're like, yeah, going from one place to the next place. I was like, that's how it was. Yeah, yeah. So like, yeah, you kind of aspire to want it to be like this and then, as soon as you got on, everything collapsed. I was like, I mean, you remember people used to talk about they used to do shows like Thursday to Sunday

13:19Mo Gilligan: and then, yeah, then it just turned into it's the way they'd say do you Thursday and then Friday double-header. Yeah. Do you Saturday double-header? Yeah, though. And I might just pop in here on Sunday. It's not really much but 300 quid. Yeah, yeah. I'm like, what? I know. You're getting 50 pounds, bro. Trust me. Trust me. I'm doing your mama competitions getting 50 pounds, bro.

13:42Marlon Davis: it was like this but they had to think it was in Time Out

13:45Mo Gilligan: so it was all listed yes it was in Time Out Time Out yeah yeah so Time Out magazine and you see people's names on there yes so you knew what was popping

13:59Marlon Davis: and you're like okay you got all these clubs and then you're like if you want to come down they had a telephone number

14:05Mo Gilligan: and

14:05Marlon Davis: you sign up and you go and I was like yeah yeah yeah so I used to go to the ones that were free

14:10Mo Gilligan: yeah

14:11Marlon Davis: yeah cause you know so I'll go to them once and then they had what they call the professional nights, I don't know junglers ones they had comedy stores so what would happen then is if you knew people, because you got into this if you knew people were playing there so you had maybe someone like Quincy was doing junglers so he would go down there

14:36Mo Gilligan: and he would go come and come down, come and see what it's like and take in the atmosphere So I was like, yeah, yeah.

14:42Marlon Davis: And you're getting that way, but with the three ones, I don't understand it anymore. Because you see established acts go down there, as well as new acts. But they're going down there to try out new material. So you're seeing people like Lee Mack. You're like, right, Lee Mack from telly, and Nina Benjamin from telly, and they're coming down and they're doing, right, and they were doing their stuff. I mean, it's trying it out, and it was really loud I'm sure they tighten it up afterwards but that's all part of the process but then I'm like okay well if they're doing stuff and it don't work then I can do this

15:21Mo Gilligan: and that kind of gave you

15:23Marlon Davis: this confidence and you went back again rehearsing in front of this mirror did the five minutes and I went down to this place it was in Central again and I rehearsed where I thought I was going to get the last I was going to get the last but I got last in other places

15:45Mo Gilligan: it was just weird but I came off stage

15:48Marlon Davis: and I was like I've done it

15:51Mo Gilligan: I've done it

15:51Marlon Davis: and it felt so much like I was like oh my god I've finally done this thing I've always wanted to do and it was just you just caught the bug from there it was just there's no turning back man it wasn't it was like because it was that and it was like I don't know you can see that I'm actually going through this again like this what it actually does mean to me it was just like I actually did this thing I wanted to do I come out and said it you've got laughs and he was like okay where do you go from here so it was just about the next one the next one was the next week and then you like this one was 10 minutes and all the jokes worked and I was like okay I've got this I've got this I went to another show all the jokes worked I was like I've got this absolutely

16:42Mo Gilligan: and then you speak about you did one you speak about your friend your friends and you talk about someone very close to you dying in 2005 and they said that that taught you that life is not promised

16:57Marlon Davis: but that's how I started this would you say that that kind of changed you

17:01Mo Gilligan: that changed your life in some ways

17:03Marlon Davis: 100 % I mean it was the first love you can say really um i've got um rf lily and um yeah she was a singer as well and she was amazing and we had was brief but it was intense you know and with her passing she was so young as well it just hit you you put you in a spin because you're like okay well life isn't promised and you have to get whatever it is that you want now, isn't it? Just do it. And that just pushed me. That propelled me forward. And I was like, okay, well, I've got this thing. This is the thing that I want to do. So just go out there and just go and do it. Not just for yourself, but also for her and her memory as well.

17:49Marlon Davis: So that just made you kind of fearless.

17:53Mo Gilligan: Yeah, because I think you need that when you're on stage because you have to go on stage and say, listen, I don't care if you don't like it or not. and if you don't have that when you first start I think it changes I personally I personally think it changes a little bit because there are times where I really care now about this I really care about the show of course less about that I don't give a fuck if you don't like it or not I'm gonna tell this joke and if you like it laugh with me if not then yeah but when I was younger it was like yeah watch you watch like did you ever do this where you would support someone and they say hey man I want you to support and I'd be like yeah you want me I'm going to shut it down bruv you got the wrong person today you know to support I'm supporting you I'm supporting me first

18:41Marlon Davis: that's it that was

18:43Mo Gilligan: that was always my attitude when I used to support someone because I think for me at the time it was like oh this is your thing this is your tour and yes like I want to be remembered too and I want to make sure when you come on yeah like I'm I would see it as like this weird competing I don't know why if I ever supported someone not to say that I have to be better than them I want to be on the same level I want people to leave and say like we came for this person but oh we really like this person yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

19:13Marlon Davis: I did something extra they weren't expecting it because you know sometimes when people turn up they go

19:20Mo Gilligan: oh it's a support act or something yeah yeah yeah yeah oh whatever they're checking their phone there's none of that they were locked into you so yeah man definitely added that value for sure I know you're brought up in Stonebridge as well Stonebridge Estate which is in the borough of Brent and you talk about it being quite a troubled area I know that estate because I remember I worked in that area for probably about a month yeah? yeah yeah yeah who knows what I was doing I was working doing this office job trying to get sponsors for this thing it was just a calamity man and you know when something is just like I'm going there I don't think I'm going to get paid you know but let's just see innit

20:10Marlon Davis: wow

20:10Mo Gilligan: so I'm travelling from Peckham to Stonebridge wow I didn't really know north west London like that yeah yeah yeah and you know there's that big tower block build it's like an office building yeah yeah that yeah yeah that build that's the building I would go to but it's when I used to look outside the window oh and there's like a road I think that might be a chicken shop or Suttonmore shop and I used to see like a couple utes on the pushback I'm like alright

20:33Marlon Davis: yeah yeah yeah it's quite good no it is it is it kicks off still no it is we do have this like cool I mean I don't really chat about it with the guy that embrace it on stage at all because you yeah yeah yeah this is me

20:49Mo Gilligan: but nah but you're going up around there mate

20:54Marlon Davis: nah you had to have your like your P's and Q's and wits about you man because yeah it's something else

21:00Mo Gilligan: I mean I love it

21:00Marlon Davis: we are we are I know like just this whole Northwest thing because we want to be embraced I said because you know you got south but you know North whatever but we are our own yeah this is what it is yeah and that's why we behaved way how we babe i think it's a low self-esteem thing because we we're like south yeah but we're not

21:37Mo Gilligan: yeah it's only until i think i started doing more comedy and then the compares where's everyone from especially in a london gig so if anyone listening in london the host will come compare mc would say north london make some noise okay east london yeah south london is the is the bigger region because you have north east and so you have south east and southwest hence why you just say south and then west london and then northwest would be its own thing and when you say it yeah we lose it yeah but it's like you know what it is it reminds me of how you know how new yorkers talk about new york where they're like yo man we got uptown harlem yeah we got queens we got Brooklyn we got the Bronx and then like Staten Island yeah

22:25Marlon Davis: I feel like that's what like Northwest Staten Island

22:30Mo Gilligan: it's like rule check yeah yo you from Staten Island man I always felt like that was the equivalent probably now probably but yeah I didn't I also didn't know that like what it was so interesting because only until like I got a bit older and I've got friends from Northwest London and they tell me what it was like and I'd be like, oh, raw. I'd be like, it's serious, hey, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

23:00Marlon Davis: Yeah, it was a bit outside, you know. But, you know, my mum would call me back in like a certain time. But like all of them, like you would, all them guys that's around there, like I grew up with Coke, with K-Coke. Used to play football with him. And there was a next guy called Spider who's notorious like snitching all that like he was in my class at school and they were like he's a snitch I was like yeah I knew that because he used to tell on me he used to have bear fights

23:34Marlon Davis: he's like super snitch or whatever I was like yeah I know he told him he used to have

23:46Marlon Davis: he used to have teeth in people People's, well not me, but like, you know, people used to, like the lunchbox. People used to go in there and take people's sandwiches.

23:58Mo Gilligan: But like, fast forward where you'd done a bit of stand-up now and you went to Edinburgh. And your show Emotional Blackmail was a huge critical success. Was that like a moment that you knew that things were about to change for you as a stand-up comic? Because I felt like not a lot of black comics were going up to Edinburgh. in general let alone doing shows do you know what I mean

24:21Marlon Davis: yeah yeah yeah

24:21Mo Gilligan: was that the moment that really started to change your life

24:24Marlon Davis: probably did there was a lot that happened in that period

24:27Mo Gilligan: beforehand

24:29Marlon Davis: before that show I'd boy things was it was kind of like fast paced like the agency they picked you up won a national competition and then I left the job

24:44Mo Gilligan: that's when I was like

24:45Marlon Davis: okay well I left the job because I was earning more money doing stand-up. Yeah. Done the job. It was, everything was going nice. And then, I had a car crash on the way back from a gig.

24:59Mo Gilligan: In Birmingham?

25:00Marlon Davis: Yeah.

25:01Mo Gilligan: I was with you that night.

25:02Marlon Davis: I know, I know. It's beautiful, isn't it?

25:05Mo Gilligan: Do that, bro. I'm playing with you.

25:09Marlon Davis: It weren't even that at all. It weren't even that. It was coming back. We did the show.

25:14Mo Gilligan: We done real deal comedy, Jamie. It was a real,

25:15Marlon Davis: it was a good show.

25:16Mo Gilligan: it was a really nice show I think it was during

25:18Marlon Davis: Easter time yeah

25:20Mo Gilligan: yeah yeah yeah I remember that I remember it so vividly because I remember I was staying and this was at a time when I'd done stand up and I was just like right I get to do a show and stay in a hotel I used to just I think it was on Broad Street yeah they would put me in in the travel lodge maybe

25:37Marlon Davis: yeah

25:38Mo Gilligan: and I'd be like

25:38Marlon Davis: ah man I'm staying I get to do a show and I get to stay yeah

25:41Mo Gilligan: and I remember saying to you are you staying as well oh and you was like no I'm driving yeah I'm driving back.

25:47Marlon Davis: And I'm like, driving? Where do you get to stay in the hotel?

25:50Mo Gilligan: No, no, I get, do you know what's mad? I get that now. Now as a stand-up, as soon as the show's done, I'm in my car and I go straight home. Okay. So that whole staying thing is, I've lost that excitement to do a show and be like, guess what? Stay the night, hotel, breakfast, buffet

26:07Marlon Davis: in the morning,

26:08Mo Gilligan: wake up. Yeah. I think you was at a stage where you was gigging and you was, you was like a seasoned comic.

26:15Marlon Davis: Yeah, yeah.

26:16Mo Gilligan: and i remember you left you was like no i'm driving back and then you you got you got into

26:20Marlon Davis: a serious car crash yeah it was a mad one i've come off the motorway and crashed into a tree it's just fell asleep but i know so many times i've done that yeah like i don't know if you're driving sometimes what you people do like to wind down the window and get coffee yeah yeah yeah yeah should have stayed should have done this but like didn't do any of that just fell asleep it's one junction away from my house this is when your brain sort of like switches off and yeah just came off the roof luckily no one else was like injured doesn't hit anyone with no one that hit me um yeah just went into this but the conditions that night was ridiculous i remember it was raining i just remember it was like in bram it was just rain rain rain rain rain rain the car was just skidded off the road and yeah hit that and then I don't know anything

27:19Mo Gilligan: about it innit like you're knocked out you're gone but um and you was in a coma yeah how long

27:26Marlon Davis: was you in your coma for 28 days fucking hell 28 days to like but he was induced though it's because of the impact

27:35Mo Gilligan: yeah yeah yeah

27:38Marlon Davis: it was mad so like yeah it was just I don't know like the family got the call I'm in this thing and they don't know if I'm going to touch if I'm going to make it like it was it was crazy and they said I wasn't then they said okay well if he does survive he's going to be like a vegetable and they were like the family were like yeah we'll just have to deal with that you know and then they wanted to put like a thing in my throat to some circle i don't know what they call it but you know then and now we talking through like that really yeah and so the stand-up would have been different how come they wanted to put the thing in your throat i don't know i don't know but like is it

28:28Mo Gilligan: like through the air, breathing or oxygen through the brain or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

28:33Marlon Davis: And then my ex, my son's mum, she was like, yeah, yeah, do it. And then my sister was like, no, don't. I'm happy that she did still. Because it would have been bad. I mean, you still would have been here. But, yeah, that would have been mad.

28:56Mo Gilligan: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. because I felt like you went into a coma for 28 days you lose part of your memory as well definitely and then did you have to like relearn

29:10Marlon Davis: everything stuff everything like talking walking it was it was in there for three months but like when you talk about the memory you've been gone like every day I wake up I didn't even know what happened so the whole thing were reset all over again so I wake up and I'm like wow I've been captured and I need to get out of here so I used to try and escape from the hospital? every day for three months? till they put a tag on me is it? yeah so like one day I got outside

29:44Mo Gilligan: and I got on a bus yeah what in the robes? I didn't know the hospital was in Rome yeah

29:50Marlon Davis: I didn't know and my dad was like where are you going? you don't have no shoes where are you going? so you got on the bus

29:58Mo Gilligan: yeah and the security came on the bus and took me out off the bus and brought me upstairs

30:03Marlon Davis: and that's when they put the tag on me and they were like nah and I got my own room then but before then I was in a ward with like other people that's out from comas but then they had other people that's been in there for a while and they'll check you I don't know it's weird because they were like yeah you're in a coma they was like yeah proper coma coma or juice and I was induced and they were like pussy coma what are you talking about pussy coma there's a coma he nearly died

30:40it's madness

30:41Marlon Davis: but there was mad like there's you know people wake up and sometimes sorry man no sometimes you hear people wake up from comas and they're speaking like different languages and they've never been to the place before yeah I've heard about that there was a guy here there was a white guy he woke up and he thought it was Bill Cosby what? he thought it was Bill Cosby and his family came to see him and he was like I don't know these crackers and they were like no what is going on? what's going on? and he used to be like hi he needs to leave here because he needs to go to an awards ceremony and they had to humour him.

31:27Marlon Davis: They have to keep the thing going. I didn't know there was a ward for all people that had been in comas. I never knew that. Yeah, and Oxford, the John Radcliffe. They're amazing. And hats off to them. They're amazing. They did bring me back. But you still do think that... How they bring you back, it was through... Memory was like song. so you know like you learn through song as children so like ABC and it's Twinkle Twinkle Little Star if you know what it's like anyway that's how we learn and they was like making me remember things through song and they were some of the nurses were cool and some of them wasn't because they'll come up to me and say hey Marlon do you know a song by Tracy Chapman and I'm like and in a minute you get there and he's like, fast car.

32:23Marlon Davis: You want me to sing fast car after I've been in a car crash? But you didn't know until you left what they were doing. These people are wicked. Obviously, they don't plan to do that. No, but they were...

32:40Mo Gilligan: Yeah, yeah.

32:40Marlon Davis: Because I used to be abusive as well. Because he licked the frontal lobe.

32:47Mo Gilligan: It's still...

32:48Marlon Davis: You're not the same. You're not the same. and it's like people when I left the hospital obviously I can't see you when I see you but people were like nah he's not he ain't the same he's not the same guy because I remember people

33:04Mo Gilligan: like some of the comics went to to visit you yeah and pay respects and see like how you were doing and stuff

33:10Marlon Davis: yeah

33:11Mo Gilligan: and ask if they can take the jokes

33:16Mo Gilligan: hey is he still using that take you on here

33:19Marlon Davis: nah I'm still using that stuff about the cat. I don't mind, you know. Now, big up them guys because, you know, they took time out to come and visit me. I do appreciate it.

33:32Mo Gilligan: But, yeah, no, it was a very, very strange time. When you go through that situation, how long... Because you said that you have to kind of rebuild your brain in terms of your memory and stuff. did you have to rethink about like oh I'm a stand up comic because I think that would probably be almost like the last thing you would think about

33:55Marlon Davis: you didn't have to no no no no thinking of material yeah

33:59Mo Gilligan: I was in there

34:00Marlon Davis: and I was telling everyone so you know who I am they were like no I was like you don't know that's something on YouTube yeah yeah yeah yeah this is me I'm going to get back out I'm going to go do stand up and then I don't these people they're in the place they humour you don't they they were like yeah someone was a fan of mine I was like what I had to go and sign someone's yeah it was I was just thinking of doing stand up comedy like soon as I left because I didn't think there was anything wrong with me

34:39Mo Gilligan: yeah nothing happened

34:41Marlon Davis: it took a while it was only until I got my phone back I was like okay I did crash oh this what happened and it's that was able to start memorizing and that's it and then I was like okay well when I get out of here that's what I'm gonna do mmm and like I was missing so many gigs I was like well oh no I was supposed to go to like to Far East to do some tour and it didn't happen and they were like just relax everything's gonna be fine no no no I

35:10Mo Gilligan: just wanna, I wanna, because it's what you do, like, you know, after a real comment, you go out and you have to, like, but you need time, you need the time, you've got the

35:22Marlon Davis: tragedy, you need the time and then it will equal, but I was like, no, I'm going out, so Laha got out, I think it was a couple of days, by the end of that week, I was like, yeah, I'm going to do a gig, and I did a gig, yeah, it was in central London, and, yeah, so how long so you've been in the coma

35:40Mo Gilligan: for three months or in the hospital for three months yeah how long afterwards until you came out and done stand up was that then it was a week a week a week bro and you jumped straight back on stage

35:51Marlon Davis: I do because I was I this is a bit because we were doing it for so long you need the attention yeah

35:58Mo Gilligan: yeah yeah I need this so you go to London and you go to the

36:01Marlon Davis: went to Central

36:02Mo Gilligan: did a gig down at 99 Club

36:06Marlon Davis: which is literally around the corner it was down downstairs and yeah and did that and it was ropey but it was like shaking on stage and all of that and you're still trying I was like yeah well you know I was in a coma and the audience was like making people nervous

36:24Mo Gilligan: because they don't know sometimes because some audiences I think as a standout when you tell them something like you tell them something like that they're like was he? I don't know maybe it's part of his act sometimes you know what I mean so they were nervous the audience and stuff

36:36Marlon Davis: they still laughed

36:37Mo Gilligan: she's got laughs but yeah I remember like

36:41Marlon Davis: there was Ed Gamble was on and he was like yeah take it easy take your time yeah just yeah yeah yeah just come back into this but it was like nah I want to do it and like come on like ready to go like you know I was like calling up the agent I was like listen I want to go on telly they were like nah I was like come on put me on anything nah I was like come on like top gear I can do it I can do it Nah just relax man Just cool Sort yourself out And everything's going to be here for you And then that's what it was You took some time And then you put pieces together For a show And you took it up to Edinburgh And yeah everything started to happen From then And then you put in a lot of work And then um the tv opportunities and then things started happening as well so yeah well this is yeah this is good but i had to learn a different kind of process more i don't know how like you write like i was very structured yeah i write everything down and rehearse it and like even before you go did the gig i'll find a space or a corner but i have to go over it like then after this no I can't remember anything that's going on in the room so I just have to take what's going on oh yeah so it's changed the way that you even write comedy

38:16Mo Gilligan: 100 % but when I seen you the other day it doesn't feel like it's changed the way you perform I feel like you're still the same comic that I've seen 10 years ago in terms of like you're so humorous you're so bubbly you're very warm and inviting and you know you're still smiling do you know what I mean like after going through that and then jumping on stage and your process and the way that your brain changes you had every reason to come back as a comic and be like I want to be like this comic now

38:49Marlon Davis: no you can't do that

38:50Mo Gilligan: do you know what I mean but you still kept because you know what I always say is that there's one thing of being able to tell material as a stand up but it's your style there's something about a comic style that is like yeah I know you for that I think comics know this more where you're like oh like I know that's your style that's your thing and I think once you had got out of the crash and I'd seen you do some stand up I was like oh like it's still the same still the same like yes the material is still the same but the style was still there do you know what I mean

39:23Marlon Davis: yeah yeah that was a thing I don't feel I don't feel like that at all whereas before you were talking about me been happy my people sort of go lucky no there's a darkness there's a darkness that has happened yeah yeah and um i was speaking to k kurt about this and he goes yeah you were like mario before but now you're like wario like the evil i'm like yeah let some of that out and i'm like well i don't know because it's it's just it's a brand it's a branding thing in it and you're a clean wholesome family man and then you're like well no no there's there's other things that's going on but i don't know what that was at the time.

40:13Mo Gilligan: Yeah. So how do you portray that in your stand-up where, because you're saying there's like a darkness in you, in your stand-up, I've always seen you as like, you are always smiling throughout your whole set. Yeah. And you laugh at your own material as well. Yeah. And you seem like you're enjoying it in the moment and I've never seen you as a comic that is, I'm really going to get you. Yeah. I've never seen you as a comic, I'm going to get you, I'm going to get you. I've got this bit that is I've never seen that from you as a comic so what do you mean is in the darkness is that something that you want to portray more in your comedy or something that you suppress

40:54Marlon Davis: it's probably something that you suppress definitely it's definitely in terms of stuff that we post on socials because I'm just giggling now because I was like again everyone's like yeah just do socials do it do it yeah yeah yeah i will i will so i remember like again i've come out from this hospital and i was

41:16Mo Gilligan: like yeah i'm gonna do i suppose something and then you're like a sketch yeah okay yeah take that down oh yeah take that down yeah

41:28Marlon Davis: so you know who that was yeah yeah it's right it's right so what you so because i feel like

41:33Mo Gilligan: this is around we're talking 20 just 10 years ago 17 18 times yeah because a lot of comics tried to transition from stand up to online yeah there was this transition happening yeah whereas I think it's a bit different now because you can find your voice in a sense of you might have a podcast you might have you might have clips that you put up but I do remember there was a phase of comics who had never really had anything online and it was like I've got to do we'll have to do sketches we didn't then lockdown came and it was like I've got to do something man so you tried to like try to transition into that I did that

42:20Marlon Davis: but then yeah people said just don't do it so you kind of lost confidence with stuff that I was posting or second guessing it and I was like wow I need a place for me to release this stuff where it was I'll tell you it was on WhatsApp but it was on a different line and a certain number of people you know WhatsApp is friends or only people that have access to it can see it and so I would pull it there

42:54Mo Gilligan: and so

42:54Marlon Davis: it was cool because you'll get your laughs, you'll get whatever you want from it and my aunties didn't see it because your aunties are judgmental. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

43:08Mo Gilligan: No, but family members, I think they... There's certain things... To this day, bro, I get people message me that I really enjoyed your stuff. They're not even my family members. But if you can just cut out the swearing.

43:18Marlon Davis: Yeah.

43:19Mo Gilligan: Young man, I think you're a very talented young man, but that F word you're saying, I don't like this word you're saying. It does. I'm like, Auntie Gladys with a bookcase, I get it, but please, let me express myself man you know I mean but in your life you spoke about life after we're having autism ADHD yeah just got diagnosed mmm are you still doing like do you still go to stuff with the hospital regarding your brain yes yeah yeah it doesn't stop that's still ongoing thing that's ongoing and it's took so long again because you're like there's nothing wrong with me you know yeah yeah yeah but then

44:00Marlon Davis: yeah people have the secret whatsapp groups about you and saying no he's not yeah yeah yeah things come in yeah you actually sort of realize it and yeah you just like okay well i actually do need this help so when did you get diagnosed um what for the adhd this is this is a couple months ago so it's October it's October and autism as well and it was like what and it was like okay when you've got when I got diagnosed with them things everything started to make more sense it was like okay

44:35Mo Gilligan: that's why I wear odd socks or that's why

44:40Marlon Davis: okay alright and this is why people apologise for me in advance yeah

44:47Mo Gilligan: yeah it's like

44:48Marlon Davis: yeah don't worry about him he's this and I get it it's like I don't know if you ever played or did dot to dot things joined up and I was like I see and I've been masking for so long years and and so yeah I'm just kind of like figuring that all out now to be honest because just being hit with all of this and reading up about it and yeah

45:20Mo Gilligan: and I guess it's like that thing where once you're able to I don't know once you're able to understand how your brain is working it gives you an understanding of like ah okay I understand now I understand why it's like you're saying why you might wear odd socks or or I can now research more about this that helps me

45:40Marlon Davis: yeah

45:41Mo Gilligan: do you know what I mean

45:41Marlon Davis: it also kind of makes sense with I stand up as well like I do it assuming I'm done leave me alone yeah

45:52Mo Gilligan: yeah I don't

45:53Marlon Davis: I don't know I enjoy performing and doing this with people and maybe you've touched people in a way but okay yeah just leave me alone I don't know it's it's like if I was if I'd done TV appearance or something like that and then it goes out and you're like okay I've gone tell you today or whatever it is so you post that and then

46:17Mo Gilligan: I'm going to watch it really? no is that because it's on television or because

46:22Marlon Davis: I think it's this autism ADHD thing because I'm like okay

46:26Mo Gilligan: I need to

46:29Marlon Davis: I need space to reset my brain I have to reset and to take it in and then after a while then I'm okay I'm able to embrace it so it's just that instant gratification I can't deal with things like that that's so interesting though

46:46Mo Gilligan: because it felt like when you came out of the hospital being in there for three months going back on stage that wasn't for instant gratification was that just to prove to yourself that you can still do this and you have a hunger

46:58Marlon Davis: because there were just people telling you that you can't you'll not be able to do any of these things again I was like no of course I can't you kind of feel emasculated in a way and I was like no I need to do this for myself to prove I can still do it and so yeah you did it yeah I didn't know when it stopped me

47:19Mo Gilligan: now you're someone who's always overcome a lot of hardship and you bring a lot of joy to others but like what do you no because honestly you're one of my favourite comics to one watch I think you're definitely one of the first comics that I've seen that looked like they were really enjoying it in the moment like you was always smiling you always had this bit of material where you could be self-deprecating in such a really funny way. Like when you talk about your voice, he's like, look, I've got this voice. Like, this ain't sexy. And it was just so fun to watch because I don't really think I'd seen a UK black comic

48:00Marlon Davis: do that. Do you know what I mean?

48:02Mo Gilligan: And the way he was able to gravitate from, I'd seen you shut down like a Sunday show, but then you could shut down like a mainstream room as well at the same time. and in my early stage of doing stand-up I hadn't really seen that much because I think for me I started off on the black circuit so then to go on the mainstream you're like can this work? I don't know if I can make this work and seeing you do it in real time was like ah Marlon does it like Marlon's my reference point of seeing someone who can be self-deprecating in a charming way smile and have like a 10 it wasn't just that let me fill the room and you know let me take back it was like I got 10 I got 15 I got 20 and it's sharp and I was like yeah that the craft of that it's like a well-rounded midfielder do you know what I mean you can cross you can shoot from outside hold up play head of the ball it's like the perfect Declan Rice do you know what I mean Declan yeah I know you're a Liverpool man I know I say Steven Gerrard yeah yeah

49:10Marlon Davis: I hear what you're saying so

49:12Mo Gilligan: So because of the hardships you faced of being in a coma and the environment where you're from as well, what do you also want your legacy to be in some ways? I don't know if you ever think of that much. You know what? At the start of this, it was to have a body of work, you know.

49:30Marlon Davis: And it was a way to have a comedy album.

49:35Mo Gilligan: Yeah.

49:38Mo Gilligan: But I feel like you've got enough material to have a comedy album. but this is the comedy

49:43Marlon Davis: I'm saying what no but I think you know what

49:46Mo Gilligan: if you put it on a vinyl I'm telling you that you got an audience there

49:51Marlon Davis: it could work they will buy those vinyls it could work it could work

49:54Mo Gilligan: man I've got this vinyl like Marlon Davis bro

49:59Marlon Davis: some say he's related

50:00Mo Gilligan: to like Sammy Davis Jr but

50:03Marlon Davis: I'm telling you bro trust me man don't knock it boy I ain't knocking it I'm not knocking it but yeah I mean Blockbuster finished didn't it at Netflix but they got

50:14Mo Gilligan: they got the finals in Blockbuster I'm just saying the things move on yeah

50:20Marlon Davis: so things move on so it was like okay so it was like yes it was to do tours and there was that you know and then what I also wanted to do because go come back to my art thing and it was I wanted to produce a show in the gallery so I got up pieces and stand up as well and that fusion for that to come together that's what I want to do

50:45Mo Gilligan: yeah so on the podcast I always ask audience members if they want to ask a question to our guests the question I have for you this is a question that someone has asked here we go when they want money is that hey bro that was me stealing the sandwiches yeah okay this is my question hi Marlon I love your stand-up are you planning to go on tour anytime soon would love to see more yes yeah yeah oh that's it that's it yeah

51:20Marlon Davis: I'm on tour I'm gonna be doing a tour when do you start touring later on this year oh nice putting together bits and pieces for new stuff now so that's what we're doing in the clubs and then yeah it's working out so that's that's hopefully next next year or the end of this

51:38Mo Gilligan: year yeah yeah so you're gonna be back on the road yeah yeah it's that all only fans in it so they start doing comedy you know i know yeah did they ask you as well no but

51:53Marlon Davis: i was like in terms of content like does it have to be that themed in that sort of way but nowadays you can just do what you want but yeah you thought about it though innit yeah

52:07Mo Gilligan: I thought about it too I think so I thought about it I know there's a few comments who got that email and he sat there and goes hey the P's alright you know it's good it's good it's good but it's the long term integrity well go on bro is it alright yeah I see you doing OnlyFans bro what's up with that bro hey wrenched you innit wrenched you bro so yeah bro

52:28Marlon Davis: once you listen to my joke you can see my bum hole on the next page bro

52:32Mo Gilligan: but honestly it's been such a pleasure to have you on the pod oh no

52:36Marlon Davis: thank you very much

52:37Mo Gilligan: I've always been a big fan and a big admirer

52:39Marlon Davis: same as yourself as well no but like

52:41Mo Gilligan: when I seen you at my gig that's the first thing I wanted to ask you as soon as you got off to be like I'd love to have you on the pod you're an amazing comic and you've always been a comic that's like you're a comics comic do you know what I mean like that's why I even I said I was like oh I'm surprised you even stayed after the gig but you just seem like I could just hear you laughing. You've got the most iconic laughing comedy, do you know what I mean? With the biggest smile. And it's such a pleasure to see you back on stage, you know, back telling material. Not that you wasn't before, but yeah, like, you know, I think people want to see you touring.

53:18Mo Gilligan: We want to see more of you on television. And you've got a story which is purely of just, you know, perseverance, where you can go through a horrific car crash, have to yeah you know retrain your brain and the first thing you say after three months is I want to jump back on stage do you know what I mean and I think there'll be so many people listening that you know whether it's like there is no giving up do you know what I mean I think you're testament to that for a lot of comics because the only thing we have is our voice and our thoughts and our do you know what I mean but we all know that listen boy if I lose my leg I jump on that stage you know you know what I mean if I still can I will still find a way to do it as long as I've got this to do it I will do it do you know what I mean

54:07Marlon Davis: 100 %

54:08Mo Gilligan: and I think that's so inspiring and I think there's so many people that listen to this pod and it will be that like how can I not how can I not carry on do you know what I mean if this person's gone through that and this is a pleasure to have you on the pod bro I'm just

54:21Marlon Davis: I just like you as a person bro

54:23Mo Gilligan: do you know what I mean thank you very much

54:24Marlon Davis: so yeah

54:25Mo Gilligan: thanks for coming on the pod my friend and this has been your beginning middle and end thank you very much my brother hey what's up thank you so much for listening to the podcast today now a lot goes in to making each episode I know you hear my voice but there's a team behind the scenes who helped make it and if you did enjoy it I'd really really appreciate if you could show the love to them by giving us five stars and if you also have the time please leave us a review it's always appreciated and we love reading the comments and of course we want to keep making it better thank you for listening and have a great day peace Thank you.