UK Stand Up Comedy Legend, SLIM

0:06Mo Gilligan: Guys, please give up for Slim. Let's join us on the podcast.

0:14Mo Gilligan: How do you find doing like these podcast things? Because I feel like you're quite old school man, Slim. Do you know what I mean? It's new, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah, it is new, this podcasting. Yeah, I'm in my 50s. So podcasts are what? Eight years old, 10, maybe. I'd say about 10, 15 years. Yeah, yeah. 10 properly. Yeah, like they was around. Do you know what I mean? Like you'd see them on like, if you've got like an iPhone and stuff, but I don't think we really cared until, do you know what I mean? It was like, okay, cool. This is a thing that you can tap into. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

0:47Mo Gilligan: Do you ever get nervous when you do podcasts? Cause I feel like on stage as a comic, I seen you on stage, I think when I was probably, oh, thank you, Gelly. I think I seen you on stage when I was, I'd say I was 17. and I mentioned it in my book and I mentioned it when you'd done my documentary as well. Like you just felt like the people's comic. Do you know what I mean? Like, and you just didn't seem nervous. You seem very fearless. So like whenever you do these things, you ever get nervous because it must be different from doing stand-up, no? You get nervous for, I think, most things you do because it's almost a test.

1:26Even going on stage is a test for us. Yeah. So it's the feeling of wanting to do good. It's like the audience, you know, they would have taken some form of test, whether it be driving test, exams. But you get that little butterfly in your belly. Because obviously, you know, you've got the test, you want to do well. And I feel like that every time I go on stage. But I've learned to use it to my advantage, if that makes sense. I'm never terrified, but you still want to do well. the fearless part you've got to go out once you you walk from behind the curtains you've got to show a certain fearlessness because it's literally a room full of strangers that you've got to entertain and get immediate response from as well so it is a challenge but you've got to be fearless in your challenge and I think after you kind of get the first couple of pays I won't lie do you know what I mean you think wow they give you this much I was on stage 10 minutes I'd have to work all day for this shit yeah yeah the fear goes yeah

2:37Mo Gilligan: it does it goes I remember we done a show for Real Deal Comedy Jam actually and I remember it was headlining and I don't know if you remember this but this was I think we might have been in Leeds and I think you had your phone broke and you had to go to I think it might have been like a CX to buy a phone. And like, I remember that weekend because there was a few shows that I would work with this comedy production called Real Deal Comedy Jam. You kind of get booked for like a, I'd probably say like a, it'd always be like a week where there's always a bank holiday. So you might do a show on Thursday night.

3:16Mo Gilligan: It might be Good Friday. And then they might do another show on Saturday, Sunday. So I think we went to Leeds and then Saturday we might have been in Nottingham And then Sunday We'd finish In Birmingham I think it was Rosie's And I remember that weekend You kind of took me Under your wing Not in a sense of You didn't mean to But you just did You're just one of those You're a comics comic I would say Do you know what I mean And I'll be honest It felt like I was with my dad Because the way you would roll The way Slim rolls yeah Because I remember You just had a bunch of cash Because Where you do a lot of these shows You get paid in cash innit And then we went to CEX And he's like Yeah man Let me just buy a fucking phone, man.

3:55Mo Gilligan: This phone's not working. But like, you've always been like a comics comic. You talk about your parents a little bit. Sometimes when you stand up about being, you know, from Jamaica, you got it on your top today and stuff. Do you know what I mean? How much did that instill in you in terms of the Slim that we know before you was a comic? Do you know what I mean? Because your name's Danny. Do you know what I mean? But everyone would just, I feel like we call you Slim. do you know what I mean I feel disrespectful calling you Danny I'm not gonna lie seriously yeah yeah yeah yeah no I mean I was born to older parents my mum had me when she was 43 I think and my dad was like 50 do you know what I mean so proper old old parents so it was almost like it's almost like I grew up with my grandparents do you get what I mean so there's certain I don't know that was probably a lesson they taught me because there was further along the line in life and more wisdom than, do you know what I mean?

5:02Because my mum was a calm person. It's like the other day I thought about it and I thought, you know, the whole of my life, I never ever saw my mum get in an argument. Not once. Not with her sisters, siblings, my dad. She was just that calm person. Do you know what I mean? My dad, he was like everybody's friend. so I think I got a mixture of both of them do you know what I mean and as well being Jamaican I think as well if you're because people always say oh you're quite approachable I don't know if you ever get that they say oh you're quite approachable I don't know what that means I'm a comedian but you do get that they say oh you're really approachable and all that but you know growing up with the right parents I don't want to just say it's a Jamaican thing but obviously I agree with Jamaican parents and Jamaican people on the whole they're actually glad for your success they don't like you to be a braggadocious with it though does that make sense?

6:06you can be good at something but don't be braggy to the community you're from like yeah I'm the best shit and blah blah so you just you know no matter what talent you got or what you bring to the table you just you recognise it and you just calm with it yeah so I think yeah maybe that's why um you know the younger comics coming up I was that younger coming coming up um my immediately elders in the comedy world were everybody from like the real McCoy if you don't remember the real McCoy that was so you know there were the Curtis Walkers and the Felix Dexters and all that so yeah I knew how it feel to be the young one and they welcomed me with open arms yeah yeah i've got a lot of uh encouragement and that um from all the comics themselves individually you know at some point have come and gave me words of encouragement so seeing younger comics come through uh knowing how the industry can be um yeah if i can make them feel a bit comfortable by maybe giving some words advice or like yeah i'm always yeah i'm

7:16Mo Gilligan: always up for that i'm that kind of person yeah yeah i think very early on in my in my journey because i'd again i'd seen you at oh it was right in the corner actually where was it it was um dettford uh the theater just up the road in dettford um what is the name of the theater there you go the albany thank you person from the audience appreciate that appreciate that but um yeah i seen you at the albany and then to be that because i feel like what happens when you're on the black comedy circuit you can go from doing two shows and you do all right and before you know it you're on a lineup with like yourself richard blackwood kane you know genie yashere like within two or three shows yeah that don't happen on the mainstream circuit no do you know i mean there's no way you start doing three shows and then you're like robert michael mcintyre just just we went car from warehouse and he was a man of form that i just don't think that happens and I feel like it's really beneficial that people like yourself like are around a lot of the younger comics like myself at that stage where it's like you guys don't put an arm around us but I don't know it's just the way that you lot move whether it's like your craft of on stage and how you are off stage is like oh Rala I really I feel like I know this man do you know what I mean I don't feel like he's a comedian and I've got to sit there and study the game and stuff.

8:39Mo Gilligan: He's just like, all right, this is a cool guy, man. I can't wait to see him again at another show. Do you know what I mean? So how did your comedy journey start? Because you went on stage, it was at 93, at Hackney Empire. Yes. And performed to like 1 ,500 people, even though you'd never done stand-up before. I know. I know. That's mad, bro. I know, I know. Sometimes you've got friends that can push you into, you ever got a friend convinced you to do something? and it's a bit like that and it just worked out for me I mean we've all seen people that's gone on to like shows like the X Factor and these kind of and I saw Simon ask the guy one time who told you to and you can see he goes the guy's oh my mate's my mate's in the pub and you can see he was a bit simple and what they've done they've hyped him up do you know what I mean and he's gone on stage and he was actually terrible but he's yeah yeah yeah so Curtis hyped me up like that but I don't know if he was setting me up I think what it was I would I was hanging around with Curtis and Ishmael for maybe a year going comedy shows every so often and just chilling with them and their management knew me and you know I got to know the whole team.

10:03And over time, they would say to me, have you ever thought of doing comedy? Because obviously the interaction would have, and that they'd notice the humour in me, and they'd say, haven't you ever thought of doing comedy? Which I'd never had. As you know, making your friends laugh, or going on stage and making an audience that don't know you, they ain't got no reason to laugh at you. They don't know you like that. That's a total different thing.

10:30Mo Gilligan: so I thought alright I'm alright at making my friends laugh I knew I could do that but yeah I never thought about it so when Curtis Curtis and Ishmael split up there was a double act and they split up and Ishmael sorry Curtis went on to have a solo career so that was his first one man show as a solo artist and it was at the At The Empire so at the break he said to me I'm gonna put you up for fun go up for go up for five minutes and say something

11:06the only thing I could think about is like what I knew which is I was a dad then I was 21 but I was still a dad I was a dad from 17 so I had kids and I kind of knew about that and I knew about you know certain little things I thought well what do I talk about came the break after the break he says right I'm going to put you up before I go on go and do just a little something up there so I won't lie I had probably two two double brandies I did and uh that's your drink innit double brandies man and I'm Bob Marley special filtered

11:46I did

11:49Mo Gilligan: I like I like how some people say okay alright Bob Marley special filtered and uh I did I went on stage it was like Dutch courage for me went on stage and I think it was talking about meeting your girlfriend's parents for the first time. And as I say, it's totally different now compared to back then. Because now kids can be in your house for three days and you don't know. Other kids that ain't your kids. They haven't come to say hello. They haven't said, do you know? So back then, you know, you go in the house, you've got to find a parent, you know? You're with a girlfriend, she introduces you to a mum, a dad.

12:32You're in the front room. You're going to go up into the bedroom. And sooner or later, the mum and the girlfriend disappears into the kitchen, leaving you alone in the front room with a dad. Which no young man wants. And the joke premise was, we end up saying, shit, we don't really mean. Just to make ourselves look good. So you sit down with a dad and you start interrogating. Well, what do you want with my daughter? You know, we would say things like, you know, she helps me with my studies, you know, she's got good influence and blah, blah. But what we really mean is, why should I have one fit bottom, you know?

13:12So basically, it's the premise of what we say and what we really mean. You know what I'm saying? Your smart drunks, who mean never touch the stuff? What we really mean to say is, why? You have some reason. you know it's really stupid little things but i was up there for about really in reality about three or four minutes about three minutes i you know five minutes is a long time when you're first starting out to actually speak to strangers and make them laugh so it's about three minutes i've got a really big laugh at one of the things i said and i got excited inside Inside, you wouldn't see it, but inside it was like, they're laughing.

13:55And the laughter died down. And my mind went blank. When I say it went blank, it went blank. So now I'm looking at them. They're looking at me. And you know, as a comedian, you're thinking, what do you say? What do you say? And I said, tell them the truth. So I said, look, I ain't going to lie. I've had a couple of brandies and a bit of a spliff. and I forgot what I was going to say next. And everybody laughed like that and I said, my name's Slim, goodbye. And that's it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that was, yeah, that was my first, that was the first one, bro.

14:31Mo Gilligan: So like when you've done that show, is it true you never had, you didn't have a set basically? So what was that first taste of like laughter like? Because I think for every comic, it's different. I think for me going on stage and getting that thing of like, Like, oh, I wrote something and then I told it and people laughed. And it's like a weird, like, kind of like describe it as magic almost. How did you feel though? I think how I felt was almost like, oh, these are just words. Like I've not done any, because I got a lot of my comedy when I was young, especially as a kid from like films I might like.

15:09Mo Gilligan: Yeah. You know, Eddie Murphy, Jim Carrey. And it was always quite silly because I was always seeing that in a film. but then going on stage and being like oh I've written this little line about this with a little accent let's see how it goes and then getting that first laugh is like it's almost like magic it's almost like someone has sprinkled like some kind of glitter over the audience and you're like oh raw shit you lot are you lot you lot find this funny yeah what was that what was that moment like for you how would you describe that moment they love me you do it's that kind of feeling If you go up and you can make a whole, you know, group of strangers, it's not workmates, as I say, it's not people you're actually connected with day to day.

15:52These people don't know who you are, especially when you're new and you're able to, you know, get a reaction like that out of them. Yeah. Yeah. It's a good feeling. It's a great feeling, man.

16:05Mo Gilligan: You speak about the love and then you had a job which was a bus driver early on. Yeah. And you have a lot of material about being a bus driver. which is so, so funny. It's very hilarious. I feel like that's a job that I don't know. I don't necessarily say it's a job that you would hate, but the love that you have for it when you speak about it in comedy makes it seem like the funnest job ever. Do you know what I mean? Do you think so? I feel like I'm moan about it. No, but you have these really fun stories that when a job is so hard, you're like well I have to love it because yes it's hard and I might hate it but I actually do love these small stories and things that happen and the way that you was able to like transform that into comedy that people could relate to I feel like seeing you as a comic and the way you used to have like your material that was so relatable but so personal to you made me sit and be like how hard can it be being a bus drive because like slim makes it sound quite fun do you know what i mean so you was a bus driver for 15 years yeah so like when when did the transition happen where like you said i i'm gonna leave this behind because i know you had a job just before being a bus driver you work as a mechanic for that bmw or something like that i was uh the delivery driver for bmw so i basically like yourself you know now mo you know you get people We'll deliver the cars to you.

17:38Mo gets his cars delivered to his fucking front door. So I was the guy that would drive. I would drive, come and collect your old car and drop you off your new car. It's a great job, man. It's a great job. You got to drive every BMW. Come on, a black man in BMWs? Yeah, it's wicked, man. I actually enjoyed the job, but it came to a point where I was earning more money on the comedy circuit than I was in my nine to five job. Oh, wow. So, but you know what? We've been conditioned that even though I was making more money in comedy, in my mind, I'm like, you need a nine to five job. Ain't that mad?

18:22Yeah, yeah. You're making more money, but we're so conditioned. You can't be self-employed. You need proper work, young man. And strange enough, It was an incident that happened at BMW that made me decide that it's time to leave. So I'd done, well, from the beginning, for context, when I used to work nine to fives, I never actually told anybody in the nine to fives what I was doing. I didn't say, oh, I'm a comic or I'm a big comic or I didn't say, if you knew, you knew. But I wasn't one to go in there and advertise it. How come? I don't know. I just think it didn't, it didn't really matter. Do you know what I mean?

19:08There's no use you boasting about. I remember I had some friends back in the day say they, there are princes and that from back home in Africa and this and that. And I'm thinking, but you live next door to me on a council estate. Do you go, do you go, do you go, do you go, do you go, do you go, do you go, do you go, do you go, do you go, do you go, do you go,

19:35me going into work and boasting to the fellow workers that i do this big job you know it just didn't matter in the environment we were in at the time because i'm doing the same job as you so i just didn't it weren't something for me i felt to brag about um but anyway i'd done i was there maybe i was in bmw for about a year and a half but about six months into it i'd done um mtv which was Cole Joel's Comedy Fun House. See, I was still working then. Do you know what I mean? You were still working at that time? Agency work. Yeah, I was still working. But this is what I'm saying. In my mind, I'm thinking you can't let go of your nine to five.

20:16It'd be like you right now saying, I still need to go back. I'm still a leave of hers. Do you see what I'm saying? I know it's crazy, but that's what I was just thinking. Do you find that the reason

20:26Mo Gilligan: why you didn't leave because it's like a security? Do you find that? Yeah, it's most probably security. It was security. No matter what, they will definitely pay you. Where being a self-employed comic, you've definitely got to look for your own money. So I've done the MTV thing. I didn't tell anyone at BMW I was going to be on it. But there's a lot of young mechanics at BMW in their 20s, early 30s, who saw the actual show. So the next day I came in, they're like, Yo, we see you on MTV. Big man, you didn't say you're a comic. You didn't say this. So there was a lot of hype going on in the work environment.

21:10And then one of the directors, there's three directors at the one I was with in Battersea. Two of them are all right. One always walked past me, never says nothing. You know, certain people like directors, they don't think they have to talk to you, you know. It's this guy. so he's seen all these people coming up to me and you know office thing it just goes around very quickly so it's gone around to him so he's approached me I'm thinking he's coming up to say something nice he come up and said oh I've heard we've got a bit of superstar in the office so he says to me he says you don't have a tie on and I thought here we fucking and go do you know what I mean here we go so I said well I'm agency and they haven't given me a tie and blah blah gave me he says follow me and when he done that and turned around I really felt to punch him in the back of his head I know I know but it's just they're following me

22:19so I went with him and he gave me a tie and I said thank you I didn't bother making that face but I knew the moment he gave me the tie I was leaving and I left by the end by the end of the week the Friday I left I just thought yeah this guy's gonna actually gonna start giving me hell to let me know the balance the balance of power and where it is because he didn't like that no one says hello to him those kind of people you know no one says hello to them they're very so for him to see all these people hyping over me and saying, no, well, I'm not going to say hello to him. I'm going to let him know I'm in charge of you.

23:00Yeah, yeah, yeah. So really, I ain't going to lie. I really do thank that guy because that gave me the push to actually just say, fuck it, I'll be self-employed. And I've been self-employed for about 15, 16 years. Oh, wow, man. Thank you.

23:21Mo Gilligan: what did it feel like once you were finally self-employed where you're like you don't have the security of the nine to five you know what I felt I'll do alright because the gigs were still coming in I felt like I was slowly climbing the ladder rather than you know going down it but that makes you kind of dig deep and have faith in yourself properly you know because now it's for you to actually make the name for yourself make the money For yourself Rather than relying on You know Somebody else You just turn up Do their hours And they give you the money So I mean Yeah I Being self-employed Yeah It's the best thing That yeah That could ever happen really It's like a different hustle Isn't it When you gotta like Do a job That is like This is how I pay the bills Yeah As opposed to having that security Do you know what I mean Yeah Yeah I couldn't Yeah Being self-thought about it And yeah I didn't make a mistake leaving DM man you still in contact with that that manager have you seen him since no I haven't seen him at all you know what I mean this is this is what I'm saying this is a weird world if I had maybe reacted differently to him or whatever you know but yeah you just sometimes because you know and I knew that I had it in me to make the money on the comedy circuit that's why I just thought yeah just leave you know ain't the first time I've walked out on a job sometimes you've got to show them that you know I walked off the tourist, we were talking about the tourist buses earlier similar thing, I walked off that man kind of, you do what you're told shouting at me in front of everyone do you what you're told, do you understand me, blah blah and at the end of that shift I never returned I didn't, I remember they phoned me the next day this is the thing with them, they had the mouth they phoned me the next day and i said yeah i'm not coming back oh well what's wrong come in we'll talk about it and you know now they want to talk about it and listen no man i've took back my power from you if that's how you're gonna talk to me if that's how you're gonna deal with me so yeah um yeah i think i'm supposed to be self-employed you've had a lot of like people facing jobs like as a mechanic you've got to deal with people's i like a mechanic or delivering cars.

25:49Mo Gilligan: It's like very much people facing jobs, bus driver. How much has that aided you in being a stand-up? No, it's probably 100%. I was never cut out for the office. I knew it from, like, I was leaving school. I just thought in my head, I can't get an office job. No disrespect to anyone who works in an office. I just, I was too fidgety as a child to work at. Fidgety people are not meant for offices. You know what I mean? so I needed to be out and about. That's why I'd done more driving jobs. I knew that would suit me being out and about. And yeah, as you say, people facing. So going out, doing the different jobs, different people, different classes, you kind of, yeah, you become a kind of people person.

26:36Can understand, you know, the way how different people live, different cultures. Yeah. So 100 % doing the, the manual. it's proper manual work yeah yeah yeah it's given me a broader insight into different cultures etc

26:55Mo Gilligan: as a comic yeah what is your experience like because you've been on you've done comedy longer than probably probably half of my life if I'm being honest yeah because you're what you're 20 years in now isn't it I'm 32 years in you're 32 I'm 32 fucking hell bro yeah Jesus Christ so you've done comedy for 32 years yeah I started at 21 I'm 53 now right look look look I can listen I can listen I love it you because I know how old you are but I love it when people are like oh I know the age thing is mad so you've done it for 32 years and you've predominantly been on like the black comedy circuit but I know you've also played like things like the working men's men's clubs You've played like, you know, some of those mainstream rooms, especially I feel like when the mainstream rooms were at their height, like the junglers where you could do a weekend and stuff.

27:53Mo Gilligan: What is it that you say is like being the secret to your success? Because the black comedy circuit, I feel like is you have to bring your A game every time you do a show. And I feel like if you started off, you know, the first time you're on stage to 1 ,500 people, it's almost like you set your own benchmark that's so high that we don't, in the black comedy circuit, get the chance to be mediocre. Do you know what I mean? We don't get the chance to be like, hey, man, my name's Josh. I've got this joke about my cat. Do you like cat jokes? We don't ever get that opportunity. So what's been like the secret to your success for 32 years?

28:37I think writing material that, because when I became a comedian, I wanted to be able to entertain not just my own people, as in sense of black people. I wanted to entertain everybody. I wanted everybody to be able to laugh. I wanted white people, Asian people, whatever. No matter where you come from, I just didn't want to say, I can make my own people laugh. And that's it. Because there is certain comics which, you know, we all know out there, maybe they'll be good for a black comedy night, but you don't think they would be able, they must probably lose other cultures, maybe because everything they're saying is a bit, a bit really cultural.

29:25I don't want to say too black, because that's, you know, I was trying to be diplomatic here. You see the diplomacy, I'm tapping my fingers, and my bread is like, just say too black, too black.

29:39so the way I wrote it was it was so able to be received by everybody so it doesn't matter what colour culture you come from everybody's ridden on a bus you know I'm giving my experience

29:54Mo Gilligan: you always say this this phrase which I've always loved which is like funny is funny yeah funny is funny man so yeah the way I wrote and the way I still write is to make sure that will everyone get this? You know? The way how I deliver it can be different in the sense of, okay, Hackney Empire, the crowd has got to be majority black, black Caribbean and black African, mainly. So I can be, I will say, a bit more black. Yeah? So I haven't found that next word yet. So I'm going to have to, I'm going to have to,

30:39I suppose there's any culture. If there are Indian comics in front of a whole Indian audience, he can go right into it. You know, culturally, he can go deep because he's not going to lose anyone.

30:52Mo Gilligan: Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, I try not to lose people by writing, in the sense. You like me saying, not too black in it. I'm sure you don't. let's go for it bro we all knew what you were trying to say but we could see in your eyes you were fighting I was fighting I was fighting we could see the fight just say black Slim you've been voted by a lot of comedians especially your black peers as their favourite comic and a lot of people call you like the godfather of comedy when you I kind of look at you as almost like an uncle figure because of when I first started you was one of those comics that you wasn't trying to be preachy to me that was I know I'm only given my my encounter you wasn't ever trying to be preachy you just felt like one of the cool elders that was like oh like this guy's cool man I can have a drink with him like and he's not trying to tell me like young man you should have be drinking that rum you know no you're like uncle cool man but you always felt like so so how does it feel that when like someone like myself or like your peers call you like the godfather of of comedy because i always say that you're a comedian's comedian do you know what i mean it's very rare in comedy that like a comedian's like this is this is a comedian that i want to watch not watch to study i want to sit there and just watch and laugh do you know what i mean how do you find it when you get like you know those titles Titles and stuff, man.

32:30Well, do you know what? They're always given to me. Any title out there that people see, I've never said, make sure you put this on a flyer.

32:45I feel honoured. Honoured and grateful, I suppose, given the title, because it shows respect, a form of respect for me in the industry. and you can't say you don't like that rather than a man calling you a dickhead or something like that. Do you know what I mean? If you get like a... I'd rather, yeah, I'd rather the title than be called a dickhead. So yeah, I feel honoured.

33:13Mo Gilligan: So what was it like in 2005 because you played at the Hollywood Comedy Store. You're one of the first black comics to perform at the Hollywood Comedy Store and just a little backstory. If you've never been, anyone's never been to the Hollywood Comedy Store, it's it's of course world famous do you know what I mean people like the names they just even have on the wall that have performed there it's the kind of place that like you know Dave Chappelle would just pop in on like a Thursday night to try out some stuff Kevin Hart would just come in on a random Saturday but it's really like a proper mecca of comedy where I think the first time even when I went there in 2019 comics hang out at the comedy yeah they do that doesn't really happen much over here is a proper hangout spot for comics you'll see some famous comics just out there just chilling yeah yeah yeah do you know what I describe it as you ever seen the film Men in Black yeah you know they got that hub right you know when he goes into the place and you go down the lift yeah and you've got all the aliens from all parts of the universe and they're all going somewhere like it's like that you've got every type of comic you've got the comic who wears the Hawaiian shirt yeah and he's trying to like be friends with like a big comic you've got the podcast comic you've got and it's a proper home of comedy and the first time i went there i was very intimidated i wasn't even performing i just went to watch but i was like oh this is this is real this is like a this is like a all the comics that i admire has probably started there or are here just hanging out yeah so what was that like for you in 2005 to like perform there i was no it is nerve-wracking because obviously you're abroad, you're in America, which obviously they've got some real top talent out there.

35:00So you saying, oh, I can join you guys. I started on this three floors in the comedy store. So you've got the belly room, which is the smallest one right at the top. Small room holds about 100, 150 people. Then you've got the middle room, which is roughly about this size. Yeah. Middle room. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Then you've got the ground floor is the large room. Now that's the main room where all the greats that you would know or see. So I started at the belly room. As you know, when there's a British dude in LA, it's like they know. It's like they've got some kind of alert signal to let them know you must have got that when you was there.

35:46Everyone turns up who's the British dude?

35:48Mo Gilligan: Oh my God, yeah, yeah. Right. Was they nice to you? They were. The other comics. They were really nice. They were cunts to me, man. Were they? Oh, bro. Maybe, maybe, because remember, you've gone over there, like, made it real big. I mean, I'm still in their eyes like a struggling comic. It don't matter how big you lot see me here, over there. But like you, you've got Netflix, you've got, and you're just walking in on their territory. So they're like, fuck you, British guy. I'm saying. Fuck you, man. So maybe that's what it is, but they was quite welcoming to me. And you have to remember, this is 2005.

36:24Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you're talking, yeah, 20 odd years ago. And so I started, I'd done the first show. The management for the middle room had come up to watch me. They asked me if I would do their floor the next night, which I did do. The manager, because each floor's got their own management. The manager for the main room saw me in the middle room and said, would I like to do the main room? And I said, of course I did. And yeah, they gave me 15 minutes and I absolutely loved it. And yeah, I want to say I tore it down because I think I had nerves. But yeah, I've done well enough that I came off the stage and thought, yeah, I can come in and do my team.

37:09Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, you'd have to be there and adjust over time. But for them getting the jokes, understanding everything, my punchlines and yeah I was good with that I think it's definitely it's so different to like

37:23Mo Gilligan: the east coast to the west coast because when you're in the east coast they have I think more of a closer connection of like some of the London references yes and you know especially if you're Jamaican because there's loads of Jamaicans in New York as well on the west coast I mean sorry in the east coast but in the west coast I feel like it's that they don't they don't get from London Jamaica they don't they're like man man do the fucking jokes man I don't know who the fuck you is man you that's what it was like to me but um yeah i i feel like um i know i had a horrible time don't get me wrong the the set the set went well yeah but i remember like i again i think what i've always learned here as comics when you're in a green room our green rooms are smaller there's normally about four maybe five on the lineup if and if there is five it might be two or three people in the middle so you might have someone open 20 you might have three people in the middle that might be new and then you might have like a headline of someone like yourself at the end to close but they had I remember there was like 10 comics on that was crazy they had 10 comics and I think it was oh they have a night it was on like a Monday but all their nights it's like it's not just a Monday night comedy club it's called like Chocolate Mondays or something like this Chocolate Sundays no not Sundays because that's at the ah that's at the Laugh Factory this one was at the store but it had something to do with chocolate and black I don't know what it was but I went into the green room and I've done the everyone's waiting there and I was like oh what's going on man how's it going you're right nice to meet you man I'm Mo one guy looked at me and he was like hmm you got an accent huh I was like yeah yeah okay and I was like what the fuck does that mean bro like but then first two minutes was shaky I don't think whenever I'm over there I think I don't know now because of things like I don't know whether it's top boy or whatever they didn't believe I was British so the first 60 seconds you just got a crowd who were like man why this dude changed the accent I'm like no this is how I speak and then I think after that and then what I'd done I started having some references about some Jamaican takeaways like in LA and then I was like ah okay he's from here and I think once said the Jamaican thing I was like oh I like Jamaican food I was one guy in the front he go yo man bop bop bop Kingston and then after that the crowd yeah man yeah but it's one of those places the reason why I bring it up because I feel like it's a natural home of comedy because I feel like here this is your home but then whenever you take comedy outside of your home it's it's it's very difficult in a sense of like are they gonna get me and I feel like that especially for myself as a black comic where I'm like oh are they are they even gonna get me do you know what I mean I know that they might not get the UK stuff but are they gonna get black uk comedy yeah and you've done shows all around the world you've done shows that like army barracks and stuff like this um and you've supported a lot of high profile comics some of the names like bill bellamy eddie griffin kevin hart um you've toured at places where there's army barracks like i was saying like the falklands the middle east um what what what kind of what is your drive when it comes to comedy because like to perform in some of those places or support some of those people and take it across the pond there's something i think in every comic where it's that you're saying funny is funny you want to see how far it far it can go but how how does that kind of what's that thing that kind of makes you wake up in the morning says i'm going to the falklands to do comedy do you know what i mean i like to make people laugh that's number one and I like to challenge myself where comedy is concerned so I like to do shows that you know are challenging in the sense of as you say going to a war zone or going to entertain troops that are literally out there just bored as hell sometimes yeah yeah yeah what's it like entertainment it's really good Falklands are really really good I enjoyed that I don't know why we went to war over the Falklands.

41:37If you see the Falklands, it's just like one big rock. No, seriously, when you go on, Google the Falklands and you'd be surprised why they went to war. But from what I hear, it's something of efficient rights and some kind of money thing. But yeah, the guys there though, they're brilliant with us, man. They was actually glad for, you know when you're bored and your cousins come over or somebody else

42:03Mo Gilligan: rather than what's in your house. So, you know, they took us out, showed us around for what, you know, stuff we could see.

42:13The orcas were good. It took us to see some whales and all them kind. They took us shooting, firing range. Yeah. So, yeah, I had a whaler for time. Took us to go and see the fighter jets sitting in the hangers and all that. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, that was great. I mean, there's not a lot of people can say they sit down in an F-16 fighter jet. You know what I mean? So for me, you know, it's excitement, man. Challenges, excitement, and just making people laugh. I'll get up and go anywhere in the world.

42:44Mo Gilligan: You supported a lot of high-profile US acts on tour. Like I mentioned before, Bill Bellamy, Eddie Griffin, Kevin Hart. How did that come about? that came about from i do believe from my first real superstar or american comic that i actually supported was uh john witherspoon god rest these souls so those that might not know john witherspoon is john witherspoon plays ice cubes dad in all the friday films i don't know if you watched a Friday film, the old dog catcher guy. Every time I'm in the kitchen, you're in the kitchen. So yeah, he came over in 2004, I think it was. Hang on, I'll tell you exactly when it was.

43:362000 2000.

43:40It was 2000. I'll tell you why. We both have children born in the same year. That's what I discovered. So basically he had a 10 year old I had a 10 year old. But I remember I was driving the buses. I was driving 295 buses. I remember what number it was. From Clapham to Shepherd's Bush Ladbroke Grove, sorry. And my manager at the time phoned me and he said, do you want to support John Lewis? And I said, well when? He said, tonight. Now I'm on the bus. And my shift don't finish till maybe 9 o 'clock, you know. They need me by about six. So I just said to them, yeah, book me into that man. I can't remember what I told him.

44:24I must have told him I'm sick or something, man. I brought the bus back. Went home and checked. I mean, I just made my excuses. It was at the Clapham Grand. That's where it was, at the Clapham Grand it was. And I'd done really, really well. and John was really impressed by it. You know, he pulled me to the side and he says to me, you know, have I ever thought about going to America before to do comedy? I said, no, he said you should, man. He said you got some original material there, man. And that's when I really decided maybe I might have something. And then obviously Bill Bellamy came after 2005 and that's where I went back to, I toured with him in England and he invited me back to LA.

45:18So I went to LA off the back of that. And then 2006, I toured for Kevin when he came over here on his little London, well, not London tour, UK tour. So we'd done Manchester, Birmingham and London, I think. So I got to know him then. At that time, he wasn't a major movie star. So he didn't have security. he didn't have so the manager just said to us look we'll give you that Mercedes van thing and you lot cruiser and you lot just go around London yeah look after Kevin he says I swear you know what I mean I took him I took him to Tinseltown I didn't know he's American innit and back then that's the only real thing that I thought and you know I'm not looking on it now I should have been embarrassed to have brought him there because but But off the back of that, I suppose it's just word of mouth that slowly people's just saying, right, if we've got this big comic, we'll get Slim to support him.

46:29And that's how that went. So yeah, over time, Eddie Griffin came over, supported him, came over again, supported him again. John Witherspoon came over about five years, six years before he died. For the rest of his soul. So I support him on that one as well, which was great to see him again, yeah.

46:49Mo Gilligan: When you support those big comics, especially like in your hometown, like in, I say hometown, but in the UK, is there like a sense of, as a comic, where you're like, where you're kind of supporting them, but you're like, all right, I'm going to absolutely murk this 10, 15 minutes to show you what I'm about and what I can do here. Does that make sense? Yeah, not so much for the artists I'm supporting, more for, because your audience turns up and people that know you, but then you're supporting this guy. So it's, can you keep to a good level where you make a good showing for yourself? Does that make sense?

47:34Because you don't want to go out to see a British artist supporting maybe a really big American artist and he flops. do you know what I mean so for me it was more the people turning up the people that know who I am I'm going to show you that I can hold it up amongst even the Hollywood uh elites and that's why I made sure any set that I always do anyway whether it's I'm supporting someone or not any comedy show I give my best and yeah so that's what I've done with them so the audience was impressed and also the artists were impressed. So yeah, it was good for me anyway, money-wise, yeah.

48:22Mo Gilligan: Amongst a lot of us comics, especially on the black circuit, Eula won't know this, but whenever you're on a line-up with Slim, you never want to be after Slim because you're very effortless on stage where you can just have a conversation with someone and it could be a joke about children or whatever. And as comics, we're like, oh, I know where you're going with this. It's your point of reference of, hey, you've got kids, your kids do that. And then you go into your material. But then you really don't leave any crumbs on stage. So going after you is like, oh shit, I've got to clean up these crumbs, boy, because but um i think like in terms of you as as a comic you're you you've been able to make like material that's super relatable to comics you're very very likable when um you appeared on my on my documentary we went to your house and i remember you saying um you know when you you do stand up at night it's almost like a kind of clark kent yeah feeling i don't know if you remember this yeah where you said you know in the night you feel like you know i'm doing this thing and I'm Superman.

49:36Mo Gilligan: And in the daytime, I go back to feeling like Clark Kent. What is that Clark Kent for you? Because I think every comic has that day to night feeling where it's like nighttime, I do this thing. And again, we work at nighttime. That's normally the time where we're just used to being up at night. Whereas daytime, we're like, oh, I need to do something. Because sometimes I was waiting for the time to go so you can go and gig and do your stuff. What's that Clark Kent feeling like for you? I mean, at the end of the day, it was, it was where I had to be at the time. So as I said, I was working, I wouldn't give up the work.

50:15You know, I had my comedy career. Yeah. That was going good. So yeah, me, as I said, disappearing off my bus duty to go is like, you know, Clark Kent disappears off his work. To go and save the world, you know? I just thought, that's how I felt. so that's what it is but did I feel

50:40I don't know you asked some really good fucking questions man laughter laughter laughter kudos to you sir kudos laughter yeah well it's just that you know no matter how big people like people cheered you you know 1 ,200 people cheered you and blah blah blah but in the day now I'm going back to picking up passengers That might abuse me Do you understand? So it's total two separate Kind of lifestyles I was living As I said I've done it Until I didn't have to do it anymore So yeah

51:22Mo Gilligan: Do you ever feel like You know we spoke about this as well About in terms of We spoke a little bit About the black comedy circuit And you know you've appeared on shows like labby apollo so i didn't know russell howard hour um and like you appeared on like my documentary black person funny on channel four but then i also feel like you know that someone like yourself should have been on tv way sooner um then then you did do you know what i mean like you're extremely funny like i've seen you in a ton of different comedy clubs I've seen you the O2 arenas do you know what I mean shut it down um how does it feel that you like I don't know because I've heard you say it from how you you've expressed it yeah but then is there like a sense of like uh yeah like outcomes because I've had it definitely in my career where you're like oh rather maybe I should be on that lineup you know like I feel like I'm good enough do you know I mean I can hold my own especially when you know you can hold your own especially when you might be on a lineup with comics you're on a level with at a comedy club.

52:30Mo Gilligan: They're like, hey man, Slim, you're fucking amazing, bro. And you're like, I know this, my guy. I know, I know. But how does that make you feel when you go back home and you do feel like Clark Kent and you see someone on TV and you're like, so my name's Josh, got this joke about my cats. You're like, are you fucking serious, bro? I don't know. Nothing against anyone called Josh as a comic, though. Let me just put that out there. Do you know what I mean? But no, how does it... I don't know I'm just in my own lane you know I think as well we've got less vehicles for actual comedians to actually appear on you had proper comedy shows or stand up comedy programs on TV I think they're dying down because we get more reality shows now so that's why there's a shift more what the comics doing online stuff yeah yeah Because, but for me, I mean, yeah, it would be nice to get TV work.

53:29TV work, you know, pays out. But so does touring. So does gigging. I work every week. Week in, week out. Week in, I'm booked up for most of the year at a time. So the work's still coming in. I'm still staying relevant. I still have an audience. so yeah sometimes you think well it'd be nice if i got that next stage until then where i am do i want more yes but am i bitter at where i am no because i enjoy what i'm doing as i say i if i need that change i do as you say something else like you know i've got this bbc thing coming up soon and going abroad and so it's never ground dog day for me yeah never the same thing and i'm just doing the same thing but it would i want more absolutely absolutely how was it doing live

54:36Mo Gilligan: with the apollo for you because i felt like you went on there at a stage where it was like like you like you were due to be on live with apollo do you know what i mean so did it feel like this because i i think the reason why i ask as well because you started off at hackney empire 99 free playing to 1500 people in the black comedy circuit we played big rooms yeah which is very normal for us yes do you know i mean it's just like oh how many 3000 all right cool and it's very normal so we we don't get intimidated by the amount of people i think sometimes it might it can be the occasion though do you know what I mean yeah how was it for you Live at the Puller was wicked I will admit is it 5 ,000 people there 4 ,500 something like that the size of the audience no it never bothered me I just needed to make sure I come out and shun on stage to say you know what yeah he was given a chance and he you know he smashed it you know what I mean so yeah my material was had to be sound on point and for me as a black artist as you know the audience is majority white British people me doing it and their response to it almost it's almost like it signified to myself and to the people out there that I am able to entertain a wide audience because that is the main thing with foreign and black entertainers in England.

56:16It's like, will the Middle England understand them? And I needed to go up there and prove, you know what, they'll all understand me. And I've done that. So yeah, for me, it was, yeah. It was a triumph for me, man.

56:32Mo Gilligan: That's why I say sometimes it's the occasion because you've performed in front of masses and amounts of people before. But sometimes it's the occasion of a thing where you're like, ah, I can do this. I know I can do this, but can I do this to this audience? Are they going to get me? And I think that's always the little, sometimes a shadow that can hang, you know, like above us in a sense of like, you've got to kind of, as they say, sometimes get the monkey off your back. Do you know what I mean? Because I felt the similar, thing where you're like oh i'm doing this thing like i've performed in this room before but are these not gonna get me if i say this joke right and there's that moment it's again i don't know if you've had this it's a bit like that magic kind of glitter where you say something and you're like oh right well i didn't know you know black people knew this rastafarian joke i was gonna do but they really they really get this stuff you know what i mean yeah yeah um and then you performed and you've done your biggest show at the London Palladium.

57:35Mo Gilligan: You're the first black British comic to sell out the London Palladium, which is an iconic venue. It's in Oxford Street, right on the front line in Oxford Street. Yeah, it is. That is the station. What was that like? Because I think it's also one of those venues that, because it's like, I don't know, you know, like where like the occasion can get ahead of you in a sense of, you know, sometimes I see it when, if I see a comic at the Royal Abbott Hall, it's like the name and everything can get ahead of the comic, if you know what I mean. How was it for you when you played there? Because it was for your own show as well, your own tour show, you know what I mean?

58:16It was, it was my one man show. It's the end of my little tour and that was the last main big gig was at the Palladium. And yeah, it was monumental, man. I try not to make the occasions

58:32become too much for me. Do you know what I mean? Because some people, I'll tell you what happens if you overthink. I remember doing a show years ago in Battersea Junglers, maybe 20 years ago. And it was one of my first shows where it would be an all-white audience. And I spent the day worrying about it. I did. I think, will they understand me? Will they get this joke? Will I be a bit too black? Will I? And I spent so much time worrying about it. By the time I actually got to the gig, I was kind of a nervous wreck. And you know what? It showed on stage. I had all right. They were laughing, but I was like fearful.

59:12I was missing shit. I was, and it showed. And even though they gave us a round of applause and I'd done well, done all right. Do you know what I mean? It wasn't on stage, but it was acceptable. But for me, I was like, no, I could have done much better than that. And I thought, well, fuck it. I'll never wake up ever again and got a show and spent all day worrying about the little minor details. And I never have. And since then, I've never really gone wrong at shows.

59:40Mo Gilligan: No, you haven't. No, no, no. I've seen you at like big shows, small shows, your own shows. What's your writing process like? Because your material just seems like you're just, it's like you're like, let's talk about that. bow like how do you because your stuff is so personal sometimes like sometimes you will talk about your children and stuff like that as well um how do you write when you're so such a personal comic do you know i mean is it is it a sense of like oh let's see what the audience is like tonight a lot of couples in let's do some couple material do you know i mean that's exactly that writing I just write what I see what comes into my head the environment you're around whatever situations I've got I've got look I've been in comedy 32 years so I was explaining to you earlier you know you take a big singer that you lot know let's say Madonna everyone know Madonna she has X amount of albums because over years she's been you know she's been there working.

1:00:47So say she's got nine albums. She can say, right, I'll take a song off that album and sing tonight. I'll take two off this album, one off the album. And the way I do that is, as you say, we watch the crowd, what they're laughing at, what they seem to be into. And then I can say, right, I'll pick that song, that song, that song, but jokes instead. I'll pick that one, that one, that one, and I'll go out and do that. And yeah, it works for me, man. Yeah, yeah. It's going to the archive. Yeah, go into the archives, man, and dig up. You know, you always got the new hits you put out there. But yeah, you dig up the best archives for them.

1:01:22Mo Gilligan: Yeah, man. So you've got something with Radio 4 as well, right? Yes. Are you allowed to tell us what that is? I'm not sure. I've got an ARC. Gerdy, am I allowed to talk about that? Yeah, go on. There you go. I've got ARC management, man. You know what I'm saying? It's a Radio 4 series. a little mini series basically will be on um my life my actual life so we'll start with different segments so i'm doing a from i was born to 10 years old then 10 to 20 20 to 30 30 to 40 40 to 50 um and my life in between all those um time frames uh so shit in my life from zero to ten. Like, a lot of people don't know that.

1:02:14When I was three, I left the house to say I was following my dad to work, and I went on, like, a baby's day out. Three years old? Three years old. I went on a baby's day out. I went, if anyone knows the area, I went from Broccoli to Elephant and Castle. Oh, shit. Three years old? Three years old, bro. That's far, you know. It's far. It's about five, six miles. It's about six miles. yeah so uh yeah yeah and like obviously the lady saw me on there took me off found the police so there's a lot of little stuff that you don't know about me that i will be explaining during

1:02:52Mo Gilligan: this little series yeah yeah yeah how how is this in terms of your career now because like bbc radio 4 is like a different kind of medium to connect to people do you know i mean it's different from like some of the television stuff or stage it's it's it's radio four do you know i mean they i don't i don't there's i don't think there's any music on radio four you know no i don't think there is it's just coming man yeah but it's like i've i've been to i've been in a building i think i've done radio five live and it's very you know they'll have news about um like the sea weather and stuff like this do you know i mean for like people that are on boats and stuff like this yeah it's crazy yeah it's like a different level of medium but like the people that listen to radio four that's like a very die-hard i feel like audience almost you know i didn't know until i went to bbc radio 2 and you realize someone was like oh yeah like my auntie and my nan was listening to you on radio 2 i was like bro i've been on one extra like nine times bro no one ever radio 2 man yeah yeah yeah informative that's what it is i like i like you know what the industry evolves isn't it i mean i've been in it 30 years so it's not going to stay the same over 30 years so it's like anything else you've got kind of got to learn to evolve with the times and what's happening do you know i mean so for me it's again a new experience doing this but it will be taped live a bit like what you're seeing now so the radio show won't just be me hidden away yeah we'll have an audience etc um there'll be jokes fun blah blah blah so it's a new experience for me part of the evolving and yeah it's a challenge i'm looking forward to man yeah yeah yeah when it comes to evolving in comedy do you feel like because you've done it for 32 years you've seen a lot come you've seen a lot go like what's been like sometimes that the key to like evolving is it because it's like i feel like as a comic like we go back to comedy you're like quite an old school comic do you know i mean like you like your brandy before before your show and stuff do you know i mean like even in terms of like with a black comedy circuit the way we get paid is like it's cash in hand do you know i mean so the minute you start doing mainstream stuff and you're like uh what a 60-day invoice yeah yeah yeah so bro give me my money man don't let me get wild out here what are you talking about yeah how the manager how do you evolve to those situations though because it's like you know when once you start doing let's say like tv stuff and again they might pay you in in two months for a thing where you're like i hear that but i'm used to being on a circuit where i do the thing and i get paid it's like i guess it's like the hard graft of doing a job that's like uh people facing you know your bus driver you've worked all those long hours then you know at the end of the month you're getting paid do you know what I mean yeah yeah but we're on the black circuit they usually pay there and then because I do both circuits I can balance it out so I do the mainstream circuit and I do the black circuit so there's always some kind of cash flow coming in you know what I mean so I don't worry about it that much yeah you speak about your kids sometimes in your comedy and just in life general and stuff what's the balancing act like being in a job that makes you work nights late nights around the world you know in different places and stuff and supporting your likes of you know Eddie Griffins and Kevin Hart's where you have to drop something at the at the at the drop of a hat to go and support someone but also balancing you know being a father as well grandfather as well you're a grandfather right I am yeah yeah I've got three grandkids yeah yeah yeah I've got three grandkids 13 year old, three year old, one year old.

1:06:47Yeah, yeah.

1:06:48Mo Gilligan: How is it, how hard is it balancing that part of life and work? Right. You're going to have to excuse me. I've got to run out of here for one second and come back, yeah? Stay there. I've got something. That's why. Sorry, folks.

1:07:11Sorted

1:07:15Sorted Where did you want a water? No I don't want a water

1:07:18Mo Gilligan: I would have asked you for water man Do you know what I mean? Because someone said it Someone said I think you want it You said that didn't you? Is that what you said? Have you got water here? Yeah we got some water down here We got some water down there Where? Down there

1:07:38you put this I can't lean forward

1:07:44I put you left me out here for my lips to start turning white on me brother

1:07:54Mo Gilligan: oh thank you fair enough you was right you was right you protest your innocence just a minute ago no wait I didn't say it like that I was oh um yes where was we that's where we was um how do you balance being a a father that works you know at night how do they react to like what your what your job is because you know it's like we were saying like you know it's a job that is late at night and stuff and it's a little bit I guess it's different than what it's probably what it's probably like for the grandkids in some ways do you know what i mean where like your your immediate kids when you've i've seen shows you've gone to them at shows and stuff like that how do they how do they find it in terms of having a dad who you know like when you walk down brixton people want to stop you and stuff how how did they have to adjust to life in some ways did you have to adjust them to the life did you have to take them to stuff and and and kind of give them a snapshot of what your life is like yes yeah because obviously at some point they get to an age you think yeah they're 14 13 14 they can you know come and see what i do how they react to right so it's out of the six kids the first two they i wasn't a comedian so they've they literally you know i didn't start coming to do it was like three and four and all that so yeah I suppose they've grown with it but I wasn't a comedian when I first had my first dude the other kids they've all grown up with me being a comedian and at different stages of my career whatever child was at that stage that was born they've grown up knowing me basically like when you're walking on the road and people saying you alright Slim you alright Slim you alright and I'm like you alright and like the first thing they'll say is do you know them dad yeah and then I'll say no and they'll say then they'll ask you what outcome you're talking to them and then I'll explain what I do for a living and as I get older they see like maybe posters that have been put up around the neighborhood or whatever um with my face on it with other comics um but no they're proud of what I do yeah they're definitely proud of what I do you know my dad my friend's mom knows you all my friends blah blah so it's always a from an angle of them being proud rather than maybe embarrassed or ashamed.

1:10:25You know, they seem to be proud of my career, yeah.

1:10:28Mo Gilligan: And you, so you've done comedy for 32 years. You're, you say you're 53? 53. You're 53. So I feel like, for me, I always feel like when it comes to comedians, you need a life experience that is like, And your life experience is like What you go back to of saying When you jump on stage It is like you're Madonna's greatest hits Of like I've got this one, I've got that one, I've got this one And I feel like that really happens At the stage you're at in your life now Where you're at a place Where you're like I can go to Working men's club, I can go to the Falklands I can do a show here at the Creek I could do Live at Apollo And I can pick from what albums I'm gonna perform in some ways 100 % You know, at this stage in your life, when you start looking towards, you know, like the part of your career that I wouldn't say is the end, but is the part of your career where you're like, I don't know if I still have the same hunger of waking up in the morning or wanting to cancel, you know, like my shift short, essentially, where there's a different hunger when you're younger.

1:11:44Mo Gilligan: but I guess when life comes into play when you've got your grandkids and they just say, oh, I just want to spend time with your own children. How do you look at that kind of side of your career where you're selling out the Palladium, you're on BBC Radio 4 and you're on television, BBC, ITV, Sky and you're in that peak stage. Do you know what I mean? Like Gareth Bale, Real Madrid running down the line and Busquets is chasing him. I feel like you're at that real prime Where you can pick what you want to do But also, you're like I have this experience But also I have an experience of Being a granddad, being a dad How do you start to look at that part of your career?

1:12:27Do you know what? I've not even considered Like, I'll retire at this age And beautiful thing about comedy Entertainment There's not really a retirement age It's more Staying relevant it makes sense it's more for you to stay relevant than your actual age if you're funny at I think Whoopi Goldberg came here last year in her 70s she sold out Brickson Academy just like that in her 70s so it's just staying relevant I think and as long as I'm relevant I'm not looking to retire do you know what I mean not now anyway I've still got at least another 10 65 I look on it again at 65 man man pushing retirement on me so soon that's sad no I'm not looking to retire for now though no

1:13:22Mo Gilligan: so like you're 53 and you look you don't look 53 like I remember when he was at your house and he was doing pull ups and I was on TV struggling to do one I was so fucking embarrassed you know that they put that on the TV I can do I can do 12 now see yeah yeah yeah it's consistent man yeah I can do 12 and I can like hold it for a little bit, bring it down, go back up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're showing off on the bar now. Yeah, I'm on there still. Listen, don't get it twisted. I see Slim at the premium gyms, you know. What do you do when you're not doing comedy? Like, because I'm always so intrigued to like what comics do because that's what I mean.

1:13:58Mo Gilligan: Like when I seen you at the gym, because I know you work out and stuff, but I was like, and you're properly into your gym stuff. Do you know what I mean? What do you do away from standup when you're not on stage? And, you know. if it ain't family a lot of the times now at the age I am I'm kind of catching up on stuff that I should have caught up on especially with you know like we own good money so it's like what to do you usually just take the money and spend it or put up some and this and that now like investing and other things that I should have learnt that school should have taught us yeah instead of teaching about no algebra do you know what I mean so basically I do that.

1:14:41I read a lot and mostly read and family, really. I'm more homebody now, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, back in the day, I used to live on the, well, I don't like to say live on the street. It never sounds nice, but I was always out the house. Do you know what I mean? Always. I lived in West London. I had to come down south, see family, bring them kids. I was always up and down bringing the kids to see. But now, yeah, I've got, because remember, I've got my time back. All my kids are grown. No one's 18 or under. Yeah. What's that like? Oh, that's beautiful, man. Yeah. I ain't gonna lie. That's beautiful.

1:15:18No more parents evening. Do you know what I mean? And stuff like that. No more school uniform to buy. Yeah, man. They have to feed themselves. Yeah, yeah. Oh, there's a lot of pluses to like. Yeah, there's a lot of pluses. They come back like boomerangs every so often. And beg you a little sudden. But they're gone again. Oh, wow. But yeah, the thing of the responsibility Where you feel Every aspect of their life You're responsible for You're not normal And yeah, that's beautiful Yeah So

1:15:56Mo Gilligan: How do you look at like The legacy that you want to create Or whether you want to create it Whether you care about it I feel like this is such an open-ended question because whenever I ask this to people on the podcast, some people really care about it. Some people don't care about it at all. I feel like you've kind of built your legacy around who you are just as a person. I would say more offstage than probably onstage because I think I've known you more offstage in a sense of, you know, I'd see you at the gym or, you know, I'd watch backstage. I don't watch as an audience member. Do you know what I mean?

1:16:36Mo Gilligan: so I see it from I guess the side of the stage in a way you know meeting your son at a show and you know you're a comics comic you know you know what I mean you're a comedian's comedian there's a reason why you know Bill Bellamy will have you support him and say hey like come and come and do that in LA and we know comedy not a lot of comics are like that no I know it's strange the very first comic that I actually asked was before John Witherspoon. Her name was Mugga. I'll say her name. Like it.

1:17:13And, you know, I came off stage. I remember I said, I said, look, you know, I'd really like to go to America. What do you think? And she just so dismissive. She said, no, no, no, y 'all won't make it. Y 'all talk too fast and y 'all this and y 'all that. And I was like, you know when someone's telling you something in your heart, just dropping out everything you're hearing. So I just like, oh, maybe, maybe I ain't good enough to go to America. And that's what I'm saying. You can't always listen to people because the next person I did actually support was John Witherspoon, who was a major star at the time over in America.

1:17:49You know, he used to write for Richard Pryor, part of the Richard Pryor gang. So this is a big guy. And for him to say, you should try to get yourself over there and then gave me the reason why, what's totally different from what she said. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

1:18:09Mo Gilligan: So how do you start to look at what you want to leave behind for the story to be told by the comics who call you the comedian's comedian? Do you know what I mean? Because I always say it's more important how people talk about you when you're not in the room as opposed to when you're in the room. That's right. you know and I've been around a ton of comics and everyone's like oh Slim yeah man Slim fucking shut it down do you know what I mean like never heard a negative thing so like how do you kind of envision that kind of legacy to kind of be held together in some ways you know what another good question

1:18:58the audience the people then they would decide how I would be remembered not me because really I can remember I'm going to try and remember myself as like you know top shit the audience down the line might not think that so I think legacy for me as a man I can leave a legacy for myself and my kids etc but where the comedy is concerned it's for for me it's for the public they're always the ones that decide that's why I've never name myself anything I've been given titles people say you're this or you're that but it's the people that actually decide at the end of the day so I think my legacy

1:19:45for me to you guys is that I hope that I would have served you the whole of my career and you lot have been proud of my career and you know what I've done for the sake of laughter community comedy. But what the people think of me, yeah, that's down to them, man. I don't know. I'm just out here just trying to make people happy. Whatever little titles they decide to give me along the way, I'm just grateful for.

1:20:14Mo Gilligan: Yeah. Yeah. And one last question. I think it might have been maybe two or three years ago. I don't know if you remember this. And we was talking. Yeah, it was on the podcast, actually. and no not on the podcast so on the documentary and you said about going over to America yeah and you said yeah I feel like now I feel like the plan is really to go over to America a lot of us in this country a lot of black British acts we see that as a place of like if I'm going to be accepted anywhere it's probably there yeah myself included as well there's times where I feel like Maybe I should go over there And do my thing there But there's always something here That feels like unfinished business Do you know what I mean It doesn't matter where you are in your career Beginning, middle and end Pardon the pun But no, I always feel like There's things here that I just feel like You feel like I need to conquer that thing here But there's also a genuine love you get here I just don't believe you'll get anywhere else Which is, you know They say home is where the heart is do you know what I mean and you probably come into contact with people that really do pour out their heart when they meet and they say yo Slim bro I was in a bad place I seen you at this show fucking hell man you really like made my day now I'm not to say that won't ever happen across the pond but I always feel like they're the things that can tug on your heart strings to make you be like do you know what let me just stay here man do you know what I mean so is that still a dream to go over there is that still Yeah, definitely.

1:21:57Look, Hollywood is, where entertainment's concerned, is like the mecca for entertainment. If you're accepted in Hollywood, universally accepted around the world, really. I mean, if you just look at people like Idris Elba, England had him before, you know. He went until he went to America, made his name on the wire. The wire, yeah. And he came back as a big star that the people in Britain started to pay attention to. But you had him here already. You see the craziness of it. So they do say another saying that I heard is a prophet is never accepted in his homeland. Doesn't that make sense? You have to go out for you to be special.

1:22:48You're not special where you are. when you go somewhere else and become special when you come back everybody's on you as well so for me to say I don't want to go to America again that would be crazy yeah and I wouldn't go if I didn't think I'm that kind of real person if I deep down had gone there a couple of times performed I'd have quietly said to myself I think this is a bit too much for you but because I've been I know I'd be up against what I'm around um yeah i'm just ready for that experience man trust me yeah man it can't put me off

1:23:27Mo Gilligan: ah slim this has been a pleasure it's been a pleasure for me because i love just being able to just chat to you like on this level because i feel like a lot of times in the work we're in we see each other passing very quickly hey what's up how you been you're right or or it or it like i I always see you in environments that we can't talk. I think the last time I seen you was in December at the park. There was like a party, Christmas party. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I was like, Hey, what's up? You're right. Yeah. Yeah. But I was trying to eat and I was like, but no man, it's been a pleasure. One, having you on the podcast.

1:24:02Mo Gilligan: I always love having these conversations in front of an audience because especially with someone like yourself, do you know what I mean? Where you're very entertaining and you're very funny, but you're also very thoughtful and like you give a lot to the community but you also give a lot to comedy. Do you know what I mean? And it's a testament to, you know, yourself that we say like you're the comedian's comedian. Do you know what I mean? You're the first comic that will put, you know, your arm around someone and be like, yeah, man, you fucking smashed it, man. You know what I mean? Without going into in-depth detail.

1:24:37Mo Gilligan: Yeah, I like the callback with that bit. And when you had the crowd and sometimes you're like, bro I don't need this you know that's too much too much information but yeah I don't know how vital you know that is to a lot of us comics and there'll be a lot of comics watching this that haven't had that arm around them do you know what I mean and it's it's passing it down to another generation of if I was you know at a show and I met another young comic I have to make sure I go back to that time when I first met you and I I do the same thing to that comic do you know I mean where I say yeah man you would have done that yourself you've been on some massive tours you get your your support acts that means the world to them do you understand I for some reason no one wanted to no one a mainstream comic wanted to bring me on tour with them it's just it's just that thing no you'll shut it down though bruv you would shut it down do you know what strange enough i think i understand a man talking about cats you would shut it down and you know you're like yeah i'm gonna fuck this up boy and i think because of that a lot of people are frightened to bring me on tour with them because what usually happens the headline act obviously wants to be seen as the best on the night um so usually they'll get an act that's not as good or just starting out.

1:26:02So obviously there's a difference in level in the the the comedy. But like yourself Kevin you are actually the only British big time comic that sprang me on tour with them. You're doing the O2. Oh

1:26:20Mo Gilligan: good luck man. That's it. That's it's normal though man. Come on man. Now listen when we had that show at the O2 I was like there's no way we can't have Slim at the O2 man. like you know i mean even though like i was headlining i was like nah like like this isn't it was never about me but it was almost like so you was one of the comics that i've seen at albany theater when i was like 17 with a friend of mine called conrad and i i didn't do comedy at that stage and i remember watching you and we was in hysterics and i was like right this guy is funny i never i didn't hear you i remember that at the time you done the lil commercial oh yeah Yeah, yeah Yeah, yeah And I remember I think it would come on The afternoons On ITV2 ITV2, yeah Like I think maybe like Ricky Lake or something That was on I'm not sure Yeah, they used to show it Between the drama shows Yeah And I think it was like You was doing like The voiceover of like a bird Or something I'm not too sure I was the little parrot Yes Yeah, yeah, yeah Respect to the boyfish Yeah Respect to the sexual Yeah Yeah But I think that was That was also for me I was like that was my point back of like oh Ra I've seen this I've seen you because it wasn't social media what it was like now you know some people now could go and be like oh I don't know who Mo is I don't know who Slim is I can go on Instagram that's who that person is I'll follow them and I'll check out who they are but I think this was at a time on Facebook and I followed you and it was also you've got to remember Facebook you was adding someone as a friend it wasn't this whole like I'm a comic follow you can see more gigs and that's where I've seen pictures of yourself of BMW W and stuff like this.

1:27:56Mo Gilligan: And I was like, this guy added me as one of his friends, boy. And then I seen the commercial, but it was my link of like, oh, I've just seen you and I've just heard you on a commercial. Like, oh, right. Oh, he's, I want to know more of who this person is. And then I started doing standup. And then I remember being on stage. So like the 360 was like, right. You can do your thing at the Albany theater. Be as unapologetically black as you want, but you can still do a little commercial. and be the voice of a parrot and be like, oh, right, shit, that's good money though. Do you know what I mean? Because I didn't put that link together that as a comic, you could do voiceover work and stuff like this.

1:28:35Mo Gilligan: Do you know what I mean? But no, it's been an absolute pleasure to have you on the podcast. I'm sure everyone else here has enjoyed, you know, having you as a guest. And this has been your beginning, middle and end. Thank you very much, Slim. Show us some love. Thank you. Thank you.

1:28:54Mo Gilligan: 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