Comedy and conspiracies: we chatted to Dom Joly about his upcoming show at Nottingham Playhouse

Ian: So, Dom, what can we expect on the night?

Dom: You can expect the unexpected. Basically, I've written a book called The Conspiracy Tourists, and spent the last year traveling the world, hanging out with conspiracy nutcases or critical thinkers, depending on your take on this. And I’ll be telling you about some of the strangest and weirdest conspiracies out there, along with video and photographs. But because it’s such a contentious subject, I've invited one of Britain's leading conspiracy theorists, Dr Julian Northcote, along to debate with me. And it would be fair to say we don’t get on at all. It gets very fiery and very unexpected. And yeah, expect the unexpected.

Ian: What can you tell me about Dr Northcote?

Dom: Oh, he wrote a book called Cows: Britain’s Secret Killers, in which he claims up to 15,000 ramblers a year are killed by cows, and it's all being hushed up by Big Farma. Now, he's writing a book about how Ringo Starr was working for the secret service.

Ian: Well, that makes sense, if you think about it.

Dom: It does, yeah. So, he's totally out there but he's not my favourite person.

Ian: What is it about conspiracy theories that captures your interest?

Dom: Well, it's odd this, because unfortunately, once you start writing about conspiracy theories, suddenly you start getting attacked by conspiracy theorists as though this is your life's work. And to be honest, it's not a massive obsession of mine. It was just something in the zeitgeist. You see, conspiracy theories in the old days used to be fun. They used to be eccentric. Around 2016 (and it's no coincidence that's when Donald Trump came to power) they become a lot more serious. They jumped into the body politic. They're a frightening, dangerous thing that's going on at the moment, all fuelled by algorithms and social media.

Ian: You've travelled the world, can you prove Finland exists?

Dom: That’s the very first chapter in my book. I thought, this is simple. There's this conspiracy theory that Finland doesn't exist, and that Japan and Russia conspired to invent a country called Finland in 1917 so they could have fishing rights. So, I thought this is easy. I'll fly to Finland. Land. Then I'm in Finland. Boom! Conspiracy debunked. But actually, it became a more interesting way of showing how impossible it is to argue with conspiracy theorists. Because if you went to Finland with a conspiracy hat on, you land supposedly in Finland. But who tells you that it’s Finland? Conspiracists tell you that you're really landing in Sweden or Russia. The people that claim to be Finnish authorities are crisis actors. If you look on the map on your phone, it says Finland. But then who designed the phone? Who wrote the map? Normally, Bill Gates is blamed for almost all of this. He seems to be blamed for a lot of the world's troubles. Personally I think Finland exists, and I think I've been there, but I couldn't actually prove that to you.

Ian: Why did you become a comedian?

Dom: It was not something I ever planned. When I started, I was quite serious. I was a producer for ITN in Parliament. I was doing serious stuff until I was kicked off ITN for mucking about in interviews. And then I fell into being a researcher on a comedy show. And I remember thinking, I can't believe they're paying people to do this. I would do this for free, although I didn't tell them that.

You might say, I'm not a comedian because I made Trigger Happy, a television show which involved a lot of improvisation, and it was all about the editing, which I did, and putting music to it. But if you're a comedy purist, hidden camera is the lowest rung. It's normally done by idiots. I'm not an idiot. But I haven't done stand-up. Even this new show, it's not stand-up. I jokingly describe it as extreme PowerPoint. That’s because I've gone onto write 10 books, and that's what I mainly love doing, books. I'm really trying to get my audience that likes my comedy and my audience that read my books, which are different audiences, and show them that actually the thought process and the humour is very similar. And yet, you actually end up learning stuff as well which shouldn't frighten anyone.

Ian: You've talked about depression. Does that darkness feed your comedy?

Dom: I often wonder about that, because depression and anxiety takes you to one extreme side of your brain. And I sometimes wonder if my comedy comes from using the other side of my brain. Maybe that extra part of your brain is like a secret cupboard. And, I don't know if this is medically true, is the price for gaining access to the good side that you have the bad side? I've always thought there's a choice between being steady, but not that interesting. Or the extremes on both sides. And on balance, I prefer what I have. I've never been steady, so I’ve no idea what that's like.

Ian: You grew up in Beirut, did that affect your view of British culture?

Dom: I grew up in a family almost more British than people living in Britain. My dad fought in the War, went to Oxford, and was very old school. But when I grew up in Lebanon, I was always this English kid, and when I came to boarding school in England, I was always this weird kid that lived in a warzone in Lebanon. So, I've always been an outsider, and I think that's given me an ability to look at things with slight detachment. I have this very, very dry English sense of humour. But all the stuff that I read as a kid in Lebanon was French or Belgian, cartoon stuff like Lucky Luke, Asterix, Tintin. Belgium and French humour is quite surreal. My comedy comes from a weird blend of dry English and continental surrealism.

Ian: You started off as a diplomat. Did that prepare you for a life in comedy?

Dom: I was, without doubt, the most unsuitable person in the history of diplomacy. I was working at MTV as a runner. And I got a phone call from someone saying, congratulations, you've got the job in Prague. And I was like, what? And then I remembered that because I speak four languages, I applied for an internship with the European Commission. So, I’d sent this form off then forgot about it. Normally those internships were in Brussels. But actually, because the Wall had just come down and Eastern Europe was opening up, the European Commission opened a whole lot of delegations in these new Eastern Bloc countries, and for some reason, I was given a job for nine months in their delegation in Prague, literally, as the Wall came down. It was an amazing time to go. But literally, people would just come into my office and ask me stuff, and I'd nod and smile, and then I'd say, ‘I will’, then refer back to Brussels and so really, I never did anything. That's probably why I'm responsible for Brexit, it's all my fault!

Ian: Any tips for young people wanting to get into comedy?

Dom: Looking back, I haven't regretted a moment of my last 25 years. But it's very tough. I think the secret to everything is follow your passion, which is easy to say, as long as your passion is paying. Because if your passion suddenly stops paying, you've got to do jobs that aren't your passion to allow you to do your passion. So, it gets very complicated. But if I gave someone any advice, it's go for it. You've got nothing to lose. But the one thing you have to be is very adaptable. When I started, I did jobs that didn't exist five years beforehand. I used to do DVD sales. I used to do TV shows. Now, TV is dying. DVDs don't exist. Live stuff is now where it is. Everything is changing. AI is going to change a lot of stuff. So, the secret is, just be adaptable. You need to be able to change jobs every two months.

Ian: Is there anywhere that caught your heart in some way?

Dom: Well, Lebanon is obviously my favourite country of all time. I wrote a book called The Downhill Club where I walked across Lebanon, which is absolutely gorgeous. Syria, weirdly, is one of my favourite countries in the world. I'm obsessed with Algeria, which I haven't been to yet. I think Algeria is one of the most fascinating places on Earth, from the fact that's where the first suicide bomb happened. It used to be a part of France. It's where some of my favourite writers, like Camus, wrote books. It's got this amazing port Algiers, but then a 30-mile belt of green pine forests, and then you're into the Sahara Desert. With beautifully preserved whole Roman cities in that dry desert heat. That's where I want to go next.

Dom Joly: The Conspiracy Tour plays at the Playhouse on Saturday 19 October 2024.