“Y’all also love the ridiculous and that’s my jam” Comedian Josh Glanc brings his ‘best bits’ to Fringe World
Fresh from sold-out runs at the Soho Theatre, the Edinburgh Fringe, Just For Laughs London, and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, award-winning comedian Josh Glanc is returning to Fringe World this summer with two brand new shows. Glanc kicks off with Collections 2024, featuring Glanc’s most exhilarating characters, stand-up, and music from his previous award-winning shows, all fused together, at The Gold Digger at The Pleasure Garden from Friday, January 19, to Sunday, January 28. This will be followed by a second dose of Glanc’s ‘high-octane idiocy’ with Hubba hubba (based on a true story) at The Parlour at The Pleasure Garden from Saturday, February 3, to Sunday, February 11. BRAYDEN EDWARDS spoke to Josh Glanc to find out why 2024 is set to be his biggest year yet, and why he’s excited to be kicking it off in Perth.
It’s great to have you back at Fringe World this summer! How would you sum up your 2023 in a few words?
Brayden, it’s great to be back. OK. My year. Shit. Where do I begin? It’s been a massive year. I did Just For Laughs in London at the O2 Arena, which was huge! I also did JFL in Austin, Texas, for the Moontower Comedy Festival. Shout out to Benny at Rollin Smoke BBQ on E 12th Street. I toured all around the UK, did a few seasons at the Soho Theatre, and was involved in a theatre show at Transform Festival in Leeds. I’ve done so much performing, so to sum it all up in a few words, I’d say: poo poo bum bum.
You recently took a big jump in your comedy career with a move to the UK. What do you think of your new home country, and what does it think of you?
Well Adam, when it comes to live comedy, theatre, and the arts, there aren’t many places better than London. This city lives and breathes it. I can perform comedy every night of the week in hundreds of venues for hundreds of people. I absolutely love it. On the other hand, when it comes to finding a decent meal, coffee, or a sunny day, I’m shit out of luck, but I’m not here for those things. Honestly, though, my stuff goes down really well in the UK. They love the absurd, the bold, and character comedy. They want silly and that’s what I dish out. I must say I also love performing in Perth for that reason too—y’all also love the ridiculous and that’s my jam.
The UK is probably the first place I think of when I think about absurdist, outlandish comedy. I expect you would have been inspired by some of that too?
That’s exactly right Ben, they invented that stuff. Think Mr. Bean, The Mighty Boosh, The Toast of London, Strath Lets Flats—they do absurd and bold comedy so well, so I’m incredibly inspired by it all over here. I feel like I fit in over here—they get my shtick. Whereas in Australia, some audiences—not Perth—but some audiences—let’s call them Shmelbourne audiences—are pretty conservative. In the UK, like Perth, they’re just up for it. They want fun. They want to laugh.
You’re heading back to Perth with not one, but two new shows! You kick off with Collections, which sounds like a bit of everything?
So Jonathan, Collections is sort of a ‘best of’ show. I’ve collected (see what I did there) some of the best bits from my previous award-winning shows and curated them altogether—but it feels new to present them all in this way. I just did a run of the show in Edinburgh and the Soho Theatre and am really looking forward to doing it again in Perth.
This will be followed up by Hubba hubba, which is based on a true story. Without giving too much away, can you shed some light on what this ‘true’ story might be?
That’s right, Mike. Look, without giving away too much, it’s about love, life, and lollipops. It’s a brand new show. The first time I’ll be doing it will be in Perth, so I’m really excited about it. It’s going to be more songs and more absurd stand-up with a personal bent. All that being said, it’s still absolutely stupid.
You seem to enjoy keeping your audience on their toes with things they’re not expecting. But when’s a time you had to deal with something unexpected during one of your performances?
Well Bill, something that immediately comes to mind is during a performance in Edinburgh, a fire alarm went off in the middle of the show. We all had to evacuate, and I continued the end of the show in a lane outside the venue.
Following Fringe, I hear you have some big things coming up in the new year. What can we look out for?
I do indeed, Jeremy! I’m releasing a live recording of my show from last year, Vrooom Vrooom, via 800 Pound Gorilla, a US-based streamer and comedy distributor. And something I’m really excited about is that I’m also releasing a studio album recording of the show to accompany the special, but I’m not just taking the audio from the live show; I’m recording songs and sketches especially for the album. It’s a lot of work, but I think it will be great. That will come out around March, I think. I’m also going to be releasing a comedy short I made this year called ‘barrbiecue’ and hopefully filming a comedy short for Channel 4. It’s all really great stuff, and I’m pretty excited about kicking off the year in Perth.