Panel beater

Along with the likes of Dylan Moran, Tommy Tiernan and Ed Byrne, Andrew Maxwell was a part of that great wave of Irish comedic talent who made serious inroads in Britain in the mid-to-late ’90s.

Latterly, Maxwell has become more familiar to Irish audiences due to his consistently funny contributions to The Panel, where he has developed an excellent chemistry with presenter Dara O Briain and other regular guests like the aforementioned Byrne, Neil Delamere and Colin Murphy.
Based in London, Maxwell is held in high esteem by both his peers and the media, as evidenced by one of his current projects,
“I’ve been working on an Irish travelogue for The Guardian,” he explains, over the line from his London home. “We’ve already filmed a few bits and pieces and they’re going to be used on their website. They’re short 10-minute spots about various places around the country. We’re hoping to make it over to the west coast for the next batch of material, which I’m looking forward to. It was a nice commission to get, the paper got in contact and asked me to do it and I was more than happy to accept.”
Much of Maxwell’s time is taken up with Fullmooners, the night he runs at the famous Comedy Store venue in London. He has been playing the club for many years, and got the opportunity to promote his own show following a victorious appearance in Channel 4’s Kings Of Comedy competition. Far from being a run-of-the-mill stand-up showcase, Fullmooners is a considerably more surreal experience than the average comedy night.
“I host the evening in the guise of a hip-hop Dracula,” says Andrew. Incredibly, this proves to be the least surreal aspect of the club’s activities. “Instead of encouraging people to applaud a particularly good routine, we ask them to howl,” he continues. “You can tell how a performer has fared by the level of howling at the end of the set. There’s actually a moon at the side of the stage, and if the howling is especially loud, the moon is eclipsed and the performer has officially been elevated to the pantheon.
“Also, we’ve revived the idea of the limelight, which dates back to the jazz era. The better your set is going, the more you get of the limelight, and when you’ve really won over the crowd, that’s your sole illumination. We’ve burned an actual wickerman in the club too.”
Astonishingly, even weirder scenes have unfolded at Fullmooners.
“Ed Byrne did a stand-up performance as Prince,” remembers Andrew. “We did in it the style of Stars In Their Eyes, except we called it Moon In Their Eyes. Ed then came out in immaculate Purple Rain get-up, and pulled some extraordinary moves to ‘1999’. He then did some of his regular stand-up material, as Prince, and interspersed it with snippets of various songs. It was amazing, the video is up on YouTube.”
Your correspondent has since viewed the footage in question, and can confirm that every minute is indeed to be savoured. Byrne is just one of a plethora of stars who have performed at Fullmooners, among them Jimmy Carr, Russell Brand, Matt Lucas and Simon Pegg.
“You see, the thing is – and this might be different to other areas of the entertainment industry – but comedians do actually like hanging out with each other,” observes Andrew. “We like getting together and making each other laugh. Someone like Simon, I’ve known for years. We actually toured Australia together many years ago, when he was unknown. And I’m still unknown!
“But when I started working on Fullmooners, I called in a favour and asked Simon to come along, and he was delighted to do it. Fullmooners really is an experience. We’re going to do another season in April, then we’ll hopefully bring it to Vicar Street in the summer.”
Speaking of top notch comedic talent, Andrew also performed at the HBO US Comedy & Arts Festival in Las Vegas last year, alongside the likes of Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock.
“That was a really interesting experience,” he reflects. “I actually went to this event where Jerry Seinfeld and Garry Shandling were discussing comedy with a few other performers. It was fascinating, hearing their insights into the whole process. Did you see the Ricky Gervais Meets Garry Shandling programme over Christmas?”
I certainly did. Shandling seemed very ill-at-ease with the whole experience.
“I think he’s just ill-at-ease, full stop,” says Andrew. “But one thing I will say is that for the first hour or so, he just wasn’t very funny. But by the end, he’d completely overtaken the rest of them, it was extraordinary to watch.”
I think The Larry Sanders Show might actually be the best written comedy show ever.
“It’s brilliant, although I do wonder about the extent to which it’s just a big media in-joke,” muses Andrew. “I think people in the media might overestimate how much people outside their industry actually give a shit. For most audiences, it’s like, ‘Insight is great, but first and foremost, give me some gags.’ But yeah, it was a fantastic series man, no question.”
Another notable event Maxwell made it to last year was the legendary Amnest International benefit evening, the Secret Policeman’s Ball.
“That came about through a photographer friend of mine,” says Andrew. “He organised a small-scale Amnesty benefit, which turned out to be full of media types drinking booze and ignoring the performers. So I went up onstage and ripped the piss out of them. Afterwards, one of the Amnesty people came up to me and said, ‘I’ve never seen your act before tonight, but I want you for the Secret Policeman’s Ball.’
“It was wonderful just to be involved in any way, to be honest. It was nice as well because after the show Richard E. Grant came up to me and said, ‘Andrew, I really enjoyed your performance.’ That was great, you know? Especially because in my head I’m saying, ‘You actually know who the fuck I am?’ Incredible!”
Andrew Maxwell tours Ireland in June, including shows at Vicar Street in June 15 and The Galway Comedy Festival April 5th to the 9th. See www.galwaycomedyfestival.com for full details.