Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/248536
29 maltatoday, HAZARDOUS HACKERS pg 34 CAULIFLOWER CRUNCH pgs 36-37 SUNDAY, 26 JANUARY 2014 CHEERFUL CYPRUS pg 38 The sins of the father are good comedy fodder Self-Googling, trawling through tawdry pornography and watching fat people falling over are just some of the things UK stand-up comedian Steve Hall deems to be important tools of his trade. He speaks to TEODOR RELJIC ahead of his performance at the Eden StandUp Comedy Night on February 7 Let's start with an easy one: What's funny? Fat people falling over. nasts and dancers. Some were more confident in the water than others. Since none of my subjects were experienced with underwater shooting it had to be a bit of a gamble, but to my surprise I would say that most of the shoots that we did for REGNVM were successful. "I personally did a scuba diving course. It was a fantastic experience and opened so many new opportunities. However in the end I decided not to use scuba for my shoots and free dive instead. Among other reasons, I preferred it as it was not required to go deep when shooting for REGNVM. Of course it was tiring for both the models and myself as it required quite a lot of time of being in the water, holding our breath and swimming for a number of hours sometimes, but in the end the results were very satisfying and worth the sore muscles the day after shooting! The art of crowdfunding "When I first heard of crowdfunding I was very excited to see so many interesting and inspiring projects being funded by the public. At first I wasn't sure whether it would work for me, however I decided to give it a try as it was probably my best option to fund my project together with the help of the Malta Arts Fund. "What I like about crowd funding is that the public is getting something in return for their contribution. "Locally, the idea of crowdfunding is still very new. Indiegogo gave me 60 days to reach my target amount, and during this period I have pushed my campaign online mainly through Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr and also by word of mouth. Often people would give me a blank look I mention the word 'crowdfunding' and I explain to them what it is and how it works and how whoever contributes will also benefit from it. I personally believe that crowd funding with the power of the internet is one of the most innovative ideas to help artists when funds are needed to realise their projects. "I'm very pleased that, despite still having over a week to go, my target has been surpassed and still appears to be going strong. The money will be used mainly for the actual printing of the book, fine art prints and framing amongst other minor expenses such as models fees, venue fee, invite prints and so on. "I believe that my crowdfunding campaign was successful because there is a lot of work put into it. It took several weeks to prepare, and also because the people who contributed in some way or another find my work interesting. Marketing it online on a regular basis played an important role as well as pushing it verbally to friends and clients – the funders of this project." To check out Micallef's Indiegogo campaign, log on to http:// w w w.indiegogo.com/projects/ regnvm Like other comedians before you (Eddie Murphy in particular springs to mind) you use your family as a springboard for your comedy, and your father in particular. At what point did you realise that he would make great stand-up fodder? He was always the funniest person I'd ever met. I remember being little and him delighting my mates by pushing his false teeth out of his mouth at a jaunty angle. But the crowning moment was seeing him witheringly take down a neighbour of ours who was attempting to bully us into not riding our bikes in the street. Using just words, my dad absolutely dismantled him. We were very proud! Seeing him arrive drunk to a parents' evening at school was another highlight. In this age of YouTube and Facebook, do you think the value of 'live' stand-up comedy is being eroded? If so, do you think viewing stand-up comedy online is fundamentally different to the live experience? Online 'content' is probably eroding the value of real life experiences across the board, not just in comedy. It threatens to create a culture of entitlement where people expect things without having to make an effort. So they want stuff for free, and watchable without having to get out of bed. Which is a shame – so many of life's greatest experiences come from being in the moment – whether that's a stand-up gig, or a concert, or just seeing the world. It's quite rare that a recording captures the energy of a live stand-up gig. I've opened for Russell Howard over several tours, and being part of that magic was so great – walking onstage at Wembley Arena for example – it's an electric atmosphere. What is a 'full-time' stand-up comedian's day-to-day life like? Do you gather idea for your act just as the day goes along, or do you have a more structured way of doing things? It's mostly self-Googling. Coupled with eating, self-doubting, and stalking old crushes online. It's important to make time to sit down and write – no internet, phone off, telly off. But it's also important to feed the machine – making time to watch the world go by, keep up with the news, resent the success of your peers. I write Steve Hall on a number of different topical TV shows, so having a deadline and a need to be able to buy food and shoes is a good kick-starter. There's also a mountain of tawdry porn, but that's usually a treat for the end of the day. Are you looking forward to performing in Malta? Anything in particular you look forward to while on the island? My best mate from school did a doctoral placement in Malta and couldn't speak highly enough of the place, so I'm excited to be visiting. It's a gig that comedians say only lovely things about. I'm hoping if I'm very lucky to see a fat person falling over. The Eden Stand-Up Comedy Night will take place on February 7 at 20:30. Steve Hall will be joined by Kim Hope, Geoff Boyz and Geoff Whiting. Tickets are at €20. Bookings: 23 710400, comedy@edenleisure.com