With two shows at Surrey’s Bell Performing Arts Centre booked at the very end of his current tour, Danny Bhoy says he’ll be ready for a rest following those Dec. 8 dates.
“I’ve had quite a busy year on the road and doing things, so after this I’ll take a break,” the Scottish comedian said in a phone interview from Toronto.
He’d taken his “Age of Fools” show to Australia and New Zealand prior to the Canadian leg of a tour that includes close to 20 dates.
“They keep letting me in the country, so might as well stay for a bit,” Bhoy quipped.
A couple months ago, the Just For Laughs company added a second show at Surrey’s Bell, due to “incredible demand” for tickets, with performances set for 5 and 8 p.m. that Sunday.
Bhoy has twice performed at the Sullivan-area theatre, first in 2014 and again in 2016.
This time, he’s bringing a topical show to town.
“It’s about this time we’re living through now, hence the ‘Age of Fools’ title,” Bhoy explained. “I originally set myself a goal of writing a topical show, because I’d never done a topical show and it’s something I wanted to get my teeth into. And it keeps me on my toes a bit because I’m constantly having to change it. Sometimes it’s quite easy to get bored of a show, you know, if you’re touring it for six months. This one’s different that way.”
Since the turn of the millennium, the blessed Bhoy has built a career in comedy with sharp, observational storytelling, which remains intact in a show that delves into politics, the environment and other topics.
“It’s kind of insane what’s happening around the world, really, and it’s been quite therapeutic to have to go through it, and it’s quite good for an audience as well,” Bhoy said. “The thing I like about this show is, I sort of start introducing it as a show about this period of time, and typically people like escapism in comedy, so they like to forget about the world going on outside, so I enjoy that moment of tension at the beginning – when you can hear them audibly exhale with disappointment and exhaustion when I say, ‘This is what the show’s about.’
“And then slowly through the evening – actually, quite quickly – they realize I’m doing quite an original take on it, which I won’t give away, but it draws them in as they get involved in the show, and it’s really good. It ends up with people leaving, you know, thinking a bit differently about things, and hopefully with a belly full of laughs as well, so it kind of works.”
Born Danni Chaudhry in 1975, to parents of Scottish and Indian descent, Bhoy tried standup for the first time in 1998 after seeing a comedy show at the famed Edinburgh Festival Fringe, held in the city he calls home.
“I always make sure I’m home for that, because it’s my favourite month of the year, which is August,” Bhoy said. “I haven’t done the festival for a few years now, and I lived in London for about seven years and I always went back. Now it’s the one time of the year I can sit back and enjoy comedy without any pressure or stress, because I can go out and see things like a punter, a member of the audience, and with the joy of going back to my own house at the end of the night. It’s been really good that way for the last few years.”
After his current “Age of Fools” tour is done, Bhoy said he’ll sit back and decide what’s next for him, career-wise.
“The first two months of the year are my thinking time – you know, ‘What am I going to do for the rest of the year?’” he said. “So I don’t know – I might write a book, I might write another show. Who knows? Ask me again in a couple of months.”
Tickets are $45.50 to see Bhoy perform in Surrey on Sunday, Dec. 8. For details, visit hahaha.com/dannybhoy or call 1-855-985-5000.
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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