(Author's warning: You know that label that gets slapped on certain CDs boasting raunchy language? The one that reads "Parental Advisory: Explicit Content"? Please imagine that label getting slapped on this interview, too.)
If you read the praise bestowed on him by critics and contemporaries in Great Britain, you might imagine that Doug Stanhope is less a stand-up comedian than a stand-up deity.
The UK's daily newspaper the Guardian, for example, had this to say: "Stanhope shocks you with the virulence of his lucidity; he shocks you into realizing how transparent the confidence trick of Western propaganda can be made to seem. What he has in abundance is the charm, don't-give-a-damn swagger, and aggressive intelligence that make for important, exciting comedy."
Iconic British comedian Ricky Gervais, meanwhile, offered this tweet to the world: "Doug Stanhope might be the most important stand-up working today."
So how does the American Stanhope, who makes frequent tour stops in England and Scotland, feel about spending time abroad?
"I hate it," says the 45-year-old comedian during a recent phone interview. "It's not good at all. I mean, I have a great fan base over there, but I just hate the day-to-day of being there. It's so ... depressing. Like, I get seriously depressed, and I don't want to do comedy ever again, anywhere.
Music
THE WORDS
THE POSSESSION
As of this writing, area venues have announced the titles to a collective 70 plays and musicals opening between August 31 and November 30. You wanna know my favorite title? Theatre Cedar Rapids' The Time When Presley and Mrs. Luther Took a Stand in the Alley, Kinda Sorta. It's the Kinda Sorta that makes it priceless.
Exhibit
PREMIUM RUSH
The fleet, funny noir opening to the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's Bootlegger revue The World Goes 'Round is actually quite misleading, as it bears almost no resemblance to the show that follows. Yet rarely have I been so happy to be misled, because the show that follows is a real beauty - thoughtful and nuanced and serious, and oftentimes boasting a gravity and sadness that, coming from the Circa '21 stage, feels legitimately shocking.
THE EXPENDABLES 2
Theatre
