Interview with Scott Capurro

Recorded in Stockholm

More Scott Capurro videos

Scott Capurro: Who Are The Jocks?
Live Review

There are a few strands to Scott Capurro’s typically washpish 2011 Fringe offering. The death of his mother is the main theme, while a subplot revolves around a violent reaction his stubbornly tasteless material received at the Glee Club in Cardiff one night soon afterwards.

‘Who goes to a comedy club and gets offended?’ he muses incredulously, saying that anyone seeking stand-up should expect to hear the unpalatable. But for a shock comic like Capurro, who cracks wise about Madelaine McCann, desecrates Jesus and taps into racist and anti-Muslim sentiment for his jokes, the only thing worse than an audience getting offended is an audience not getting offended.

And that’s what happened on the admittedly under-attended opening night of Who Are The Jocks?, named not after the Scottish, but the words shouted by the Columbine killers before their spree, seeking the athletic types rather than the geeks.

Capurro’s acidic, brutally bad-taste one-liners got a few giggles as they shot out at relentless speed, such is the nature of his craftsmanship. To borrow the sort of analogy he might like to make, his jokes are like gas chambers; impressively efficient… but you might want to question exactly what they efficient at doing.

Yet the audience seemed wise to his shock-for-shock’s sake shtick, and rather passively indulged him as you might a show-off child; feigning enough of a reaction to show you see what he’s up do, but not enough to endorse, or condone, it. And that rather takes the sting out of his stated aim, to ‘chip away at your self-esteem’ for the terrible things you find yourself laughing at.

That’s an insightful way of looking at his objectives, typical of Capurro’s piercing analysis that he can apply to himself or the world at large, should he choose to do so. The complex relationship that he had with his mother, for example, is summed up in an almost offhand comment that compares it to dating; she’s had a bad time with some of her former partners so fills a gap with her gay son.

Oh, and if you didn’t know Capurro was gay – as if! – you sure will, as every male object of his disdain, he says he wants to fuck; and all the better if it’s a religious icon: Jesus, the Chinese, ‘retards’… they all have an allure from him in his boundary-trampling comments.

But they don’t sit quite so easily with the more thoughtful – if less obviously gaggy – moments prompted by his mother’s death; while the barrage of brutally needs to unremitting for maximum impact, but is diluted by the navel-gazing. On this preview (which was open to reviewers), this split between the two sides of his artistic personality is the one relationship he hasn’t yet sorted out.

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He loves to make the middle class squirm, whether he really holds the views he espouses is debatable - I think some of the reviewers here can only handle straight Mcintyre style comedy - obvious and lazy. That said, Scott has been lazy himself of late - reeling out many well rehearsed but increasingly tired gags, which surely even he must tire of.

Gfitz, January 2012

I cannot understand the negative comments on here, Scott is a brilliantly funny comedian. I saw him last friday night at a local comedy gig, he completely stormed the gig, he was absolutely amazing! His material is top-notch, I suppose some people may find him offensive, not me though, I just think he's one of the most naturally funny individuals I've seen. Highly recommended!

Vince Croft, October 2011

He's a bit boring.

Skepticat, August 2009

I am all for pushing boundaries but this is just racist bilge.

Neil, February 2009

There is no middle ground with him, you either love him or hate him. I fall into the former category, as his live show is one of the sickest, most twisted trains of thought on the circuit. Jokes about Madelaine McCann one second, and his cruising for cock on the internet the second...the sort of things other comics wish they had the balls to talk about. Yes, he will pick on an 'alpha-male' in the audience and basically try to fuck him, but it's the mark's reaction that gets the laugh every time. Utterly fantastic.

Chris, December 2008

Please do not give this racist bigot the time of day. His attempts to shock went too far at the Ed Festival. I can handle extreme jokes but I found nothing funny about the barrage of hate he downloaded on a Chinese member of the audience.

Steve, August 2008

Seen this guy twice now and I really can't find anything positive to say. Sorry. Makes Bernard Manning look like Jo Brand. Zzzzzz

Michael Monkhouse, December 2007

Boos as he left the stage in Sheffield last night and deservedly so. Horrible, pointless racism from a one trick pony.

Petra, October 2007

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