All this month we are speaking to comedian Alex Kealy. After a successful run at Edinburgh Fringe last year, Alex has been very busy, going on tour as support for Jack Dee, going on his own tour this year and even co-hosting the podcast Gig Pigs with Ivo Graham. All this month we are going behind the scenes of life on the road!

This week we are mixing things up and getting Alex to answer questions from our feature Podcast Focus! Alex runs a podcast called Gig Pigs with Ivo Graham and I thought it would be the perfect excuse to find out all about it!

For those who do not know how did you and Ivo meet? 

We met at school, aged 13, and were in the same maths class. I believe I once insisted to the rest of the class that I knew “the ultimate joke” but whatever that joke was – much like the song in Tenacious D’s “Tribute” – has been lost to the sands of time.

Who started stand up first out of the two of you? 

Ivo! But given that he’s still the youngest ever winner of the UK’s most prestigious – and most passive-aggressively titled – new act stand-up competition “So You Think You’re Funny”, my relative lateness is not too damning, I hope.

One of the best decisions I made at last year’s fringe was going to see your show and then straight after seeing Ivo’s. It was like I had a back story about your life from your show then a sequel about your more intimate parts of your life like your wedding from Ivo. Does that happen a lot, do you always appear in each others stand up somehow? 

Thank you! I think we’ve cropped up as brief allusions in previous years in each other’s shows (there’s a very funny story of Ivo’s in a previous show about a beach holiday we went on) but this year was more substantial FOR SURE.

How did the idea of your podcast Gig Pigs  come around?

Ivo had the idea for the premise and the name at the same time in autumn 2022, I then fired up a spreadsheet of bands we could see and the rest is incredibly administratively complicated history.

Who have been some of your favourite guests you have interviewed?

Genuinely every guest has been great – if I’m being forced to select someone, Nish Kumar’s appearance (and his second appearance forthcoming) is great as he’s just incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about the music he loves, and can flit between analysis and gags so rapidly.

What has been the best gig you have been to? 

This is so hard – I think Caroline Polachek’s gig on 14th February 2023 at the Hammersmith Apollo is still hard to top, she released her album Desire, I Want To Turn Into You that day and there was just such a crackle of energy (felt like she’d had a real glow up during the pandemic and so a lot of pent up desire from fans to watch her for the first time) from the audience and her. I used the album opener, Welcome To My Island, in my pre-show playlist this Edinburgh.

Do you use any specialised equipment to record your show?

A trusty zoom recorder at home for some, in studios (thank you variously to Spotify, Plosive and Vauxhall) for others.

What are the challenges of running a podcast?

Keeping it simultaneously fresh and familiar? Speaking to regular listeners and people potentially tuning in for the first time? I mean, our one is a fair bit more complicated to organise than most others due to the IRL elements of it.

What are the highlights?

Getting to see incredible bands and artists that I might otherwise not have watched. Except Limp Bizkit which I couldn’t quite get into (apologies to our rap-metal sherpa, Joel Dommett).

What other shows are you a fan of and why?

Budpod with Phil Wang and Pierre Novellie is fantastic, as is bad-movie podcast The Flop House.

Three words why people should check out your show!

Gags, Smarts, Anxiety

If you have a podcast and want to promote it then drop us an email at phoenixremixcomedy@gmail.com

Alex Kealy is on tour! You can purchase tickets by clicking here

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