Marcus Brigstocke interview: From macho to mango
Marcus Brigstocke’s latest stand-up comedy tour, Vitruvian Mango, explores the minefield that is modern masculinity. The Wandsworth local talked to Pippa Duncan about the challenges of bringing humour to serious topics as he asks the question ‘What are men for?’
Leonardo da Vinci’s drawing of Vitruvian Man is perfect in its proportions, exemplifying the Renaissance ideal form and the idea that the human body is a microcosm of the universe. Marcus Brigstocke’s Vitruvian Mango is softer, fruitier, but definitely confused about what’s expected of him. Brigstocke’s show combines comedy with topics such as fatherhood, raising a son nearly two decades after his first two children, technology and suicide rates among men. With Donald Trump and Andrew Tate having plenty of media coverage, he wants to challenge what masculinity means and how men are dealing with these expectations of them.
You don’t go to see Marcus Brigstocke for a night of banal chat and throwaway jokes. His humour can be delivered softly but provocatively, he is socially conscious, his work tackling topics as diverse as politics, religion, activism, climate change and the rise of tech.
‘These ideas about masculinity are just really unhelpful, so my point is to get the serious stuff in there and then examine it using comedy. That way you don’t undermine what matters, but you can engage an audience by making them laugh. And if you’re successful at that, then they remember what you’re telling them, which is nice, but most importantly they have a good night out. I don’t invite people to come and see me on tour to go “oh that was important”, I want them to leave going that was really, really funny. And hopefully, afterwards, go yeah, that was an interesting idea.’
‘I’m not seeking to change anybody when I talk about masculinity, I’m just going, look I’m a man and these are massive issues – the way that men’s behaviour has been affected by unhelpful thinking around patriarchy, by the influence of tech giants, the Tate brothers and stuff like that. The average age for exposure to porn is 13 years old. And on the other hand, they live in a highly accountable and quite censorious world where they are judged by their peers. They live in a very stressful world. And suicide – it’s the number one cause of death in men under 50. So in the show I talk quite a lot about my experience as a man. I’ve also got a dad in his 80s, I’ve got an adult son and a baby son. And not one of us has a got a fucking clue what we’re here for.’
Marcus Brigstocke is deft at bringing humour to any subject. Smart as well as funny, he digs into his own highs and many lows while shining a light on society. He’s had many addictions over the years – alcohol, drugs, porn, food (the only one he still struggles with) – and he is relaxed when I ask about them, showing no annoyance, though he must be tired of having to explain them to journalists over and over again.
‘What I’ve learnt over a long time of being in recovery from various addictions is that the two most dangerous ways my brain can spend any part of my day are in self-pity or shame. And those two things are very closely linked. Guilt is feeling bad about what you’ve done, shame is feeling bad about what you are. Shame is a very quiet, very internalised thing and it just eats you from within. And self-pity is a very short route to making bad decisions.
‘Someone who goes out and tries to burn down an asylum hotel with actual human beings in it, they’ve got there through self-pity. They’re thinking what about me, I haven’t got this, they’re in a hotel, why are they getting that? It’s self-pity and it’s so dangerous. Some politicians lean into that, they encourage it.’
His tour covers the UK and I ask if audiences in different parts of the country respond differently to his political jokes?
‘Yeah, they don’t like my anti-Reform material in Lincoln. They didn’t much like it in Cardiff either, to be honest. Two thirds of the audience did, and one third folded their arms and stared back at me.’
But he says he’s comfortable with making people feel uncomfortable. ‘I don’t try and offend audiences who come to see me. But that said, I think very carefully about what I say and if you do end up feeling uncomfortable, I’m OK with that.’
His CV is incredibly long – stand-up comedy, TV shows, radio, podcasts, film, theatre. Is there a creative itch that he still hasn’t scratched? ‘Yes! There are endless things. I would love to do proper acting – a classical piece, Shakespeare, or a Renaissance drama.
‘But look, I was on Celebrity MasterChef, so the clock’s ticking in terms of cancellation. They’re coming for me. I’m still heartbroken that I blew it with a piece of undercooked pork…’
Marcus Brigstocke will be at The Exchange Twickenham on Saturday 25 October, as part of the MENTalk Festival, a two-day mini Festival about masculinity and the impact of social media and AI on boys and young men, which includes speakers such as Billy Bragg, Jimmy Mulville, Nihal Athanayake and Nick Isles.
Tickets for all events at exchangetwickenham.co.uk
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