When you see Ross Noble live you never quite know what you’re going to get.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The UK comedian and actor may be touring a show titled El Hablador, but it’s not completely rehearsed and the audience is often a key source for producing laughs.
“It changes every night. I don’t sit down and write a show then do it, the show is kind of what mood I’m in,” Noble told the Illawarra Mercury.
“So El Hablador, depending on which translator you use online, it means ‘talkative’ or ‘storyteller’.
“Coming up with a title of the show is always tricky because there’s no real theme to what I do, so I just thought, ‘let’s come up with a way of saying I’m going to be talking bollocks’ basically.”
The show, which stops by the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre late March, does have a loose Spanish theme including a full stage setup and accompanying music. Noble said the “vibe” is to add a theatrical aspect to liven up what would otherwise be spoken word.
“The trouble is it’s too easy – there’s a lot of stand ups who just turn up and stand there in front of a black curtain, whereas I like to make a bit of an effort,” he said.
The effort is possibly behind the performer’s success as an actor on the stage and screen, having recently won Best Supporting Actor in a Musical at the What’s On Stage Awards for his role in Young Frankenstein on London’s West End.
Noble credits comedy for giving him the foundations to character act by standing tall and being silly in front of a crowd.
Ironically, being silly was something frowned upon in school with the funnyman recalling being told off numerous times for his eccentric ways and distracting others.
“For me school’s more about just mucking about and having a laugh,” he said.
“It’s quite funny really that my eccentricity has bought me a house.”
Ross Noble’s “El Hablador”, Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, March 22-23. www.merrigong.com.au