Locked and Loaded: Tom Davis Unleashes His Spudgun
By Darren Croft
Images Matt Crockett
“I used to read Loaded on the building site. I loved reading all the interviews with celebrities I admired. That life seemed a million miles away, and now I’m in it!”
Tom Davis is back on the road and firing on all cylinders. Bigger, bolder and packing a comedy gun aimed squarely at modern life, his brand-new stand-up show Spudgun (don’t ask-we did!) sees him unleashing freshly cooked observations on everything that deserves a good skewering. It follows his debut tour, Underdog, which bulldozed its way around the UK, shifted over 70,000 tickets and landed him a critically acclaimed Sky special. Not bad for a bloke who made a career out of being the underdog.
Away from the mic, Davis is one of British comedy’s safest bets. Actor, writer and all-round scene-stealer, he’s the mind behind King Gary, the chaos merchant of The Curse, and the star of BAFTA and RTS-winning Murder in Successville. You’ve seen him everywhere from Wonka and Paddington 2 to Live at the Apollo and The Jonathan Ross Show, and you’ve probably heard him co-hosting the massively popular Wolf and Owl podcast with Romesh Ranganathan. Underdog is still streaming on Sky and NOW, but right now, Spudgun is coming to a town near you.
We catch up with Tom in The Cotswolds, where he’s currently filming The Reluctant Vampire for the BBC.
Have you been to visit Clarkson’s Farm while you’re here?
Oh, no. All these ideas you have about what you’re going to do when you get to a certain place, but then filming and script read-throughs take over, and there’s no time to do anything else. There’s a nice vibe here, though, and I’m sure I’ll visit again with the family.
Murder in Successville must have been an unusual idea to pitch, but it worked so well. Were you surprised by its popularity?
Yeah, I think when you’re making anything, you always hope that it’s going to resonate with people. You hope that people are going to enjoy it, but you never know what’s going to land and what’s not. It was the first series I ever led, and there was a lot riding on it.
At the time, my wife and I were living in the spare room at my parents’ house. It felt like the Last Chance Saloon. I thought this was either the thing that was going to propel me forward or reveal that I wasn’t in the least bit good at comedy.
It was such a different format. Nothing like that had been made before. I remember getting a call from the editor saying everyone was howling with laughter at it. All the runners were showing people clips of it. Then, when the screening came out,t there was a really good reception.
The weird thing is that it doesn’t seem to be on anywhere at the moment. You can’t watch it. It’s almost become folklore. I’m kind of blown away by its legacy.
Were you surprised at how competitive some of the guest stars were? You know who I mean?
Oh, Deborah Meaden. She was one of the greats. What was great about that first series was that the guests took a punt without really knowing what it was all about. Those who came in for series two and three knew what it was about. Yeah, I don’t think I’ll ever make anything like it again.
You played Mr Bleacher in the new Wonka movie. It looked like a perfect fit for you.
Haha. Yeah, well, I was very lucky to be in Paddington 2, so when Mr Bleacher came in, it was great. What I always find interesting is when you’re reading off a page, how do you find vulnerability and sadness in the character? You’ve got to be on your A game every day because of the people you’re acting alongside.
Olivia Coleman, I mean, it doesn’t get any better than that. I was very proud when that film came out.
My kids thought you were really scary.
Sadly, it comes naturally; it’s just my face. I was born with it, and there’s not much I can do about it. Haha. There’s an element of scary in the character, but he’s also a bit goofy. I’m not sure where my daughter would sit in that debate. She usually just rolls her eyes at me.
Acting Vs Stand-up. Which is the hardest?
I think stand-up is the hardest and rawest of them. It eats you. I think if you can do stand-up, you can do both things. I’ve done some acting work in the past year that I’m incredibly proud of, but there’s something about stand-up that’s unique. Standing in front of a group of people and making them laugh is a joy to do.
The thing about stand-up is that the feedback is instant. I did three or four films last year, and you have to wait for them to come out before you find out if people like them. There’s also a certain amount of anxiety, too.
With stand-up, you know right away whether the audience is enjoying it. And you can’t really go back once you’ve filmed something. Once it’s in the bag, it’s in the bag. I’m sure there are many actors who walk away thinking, “I’ve nailed that!” I don’t think I’ve ever thought that. I tend to walk away thinking of what I could have done better.
With stand-up, you can do it differently next time if you think it’ll go better. At the end of the tour, you come away with something that’s significantly better. It also gives you a bit more confidence when you go to the next acting audition.
You’ve suffered from anxiety and self-doubt in the past. What do you think your younger self would make of how you’re smashing it nowadays?
I’ve been wallowing in anxiety this morning, but I think there’s a part of it that can be used to push you along. I never thought any of this would be possible. Not when you’re working as a labourer on a building site. I used to read Loaded on the building site. I loved reading all the interviews with celebrities I admired. That life seemed a million miles away, and now I’m in it!
I got to a point in my stand-up where my anxiety was getting the better of me, and almost rendered me incapable of doing it. I wouldn’t eat for a day, and I wasn’t sleeping properly. These were just normal gigs. I got it in my head that I couldn’t perform and that I wasn’t any good at it.
I don’t take myself particularly seriously, so when I started doing stand-up and being self-deprecating, some people couldn’t get their heads around it and thought I really didn’t like myself. I do tend to see the funny side of things, including myself. It’s healthy in a sense, and cheaper than therapy.
It’s also relatable. You say something and people laugh, ’cause it’s happened to them, too. I’m by no meas the finished article, and that was my first thought when I wrote Underdog. At the end of it, I wanted to feel like I’d made a step forward, not stayed the same. Whether it’s acting or stand-up, I want to evolve and get better at it.
Anxiety aside, I had no qualifications in acting, so it’s even more surprising. If someone had said back then, “This is you in ten years,” I’d have replied, “Oh, yeah? And how’s that going to work then?”
This is a job, and every time I step on stage or onto a set, I remember I’m just this guy from a building site, and how lucky I am. I could never think, “Oh, I’ve made it now, I can just put my feet up and chill.” I want to evolve.
What’s the best heckle you’ve ever had?
Heckling’s such a weird thing. There was a guy in Glasgow who just kept making a weird sound. Some heckles are aggressive, some are funny, but I think when you get those who need specific details of the story, it can get a bit annoying.
Like, if you say, “I was at the park,” and they shout, “Which park? What were you wearing?” Seriously, you don’t need all the details; it’s not an important part of the story.
Audience participation is a weird thing. I’ve always admired people like Lee Evans, Eddie Murphy, and Jerry Seinfeld who wrote these amazing shows, and that’s what I always thought stand-up was. They’d get heckled now and again, but the majority was just them talking and being funny.
Now, out of nowhere, there’s this whole ‘chatting to the crowd’ thing. If it’s constructive heckling, I don’t mind it, but just don’t derail the show.
You’re rumoured to be one of the nicest guys in comedy. What gets you raging?
Little things, really. Those little herbs they put in a fry-up. They drive me insane. As a tall guy, there are always things. Why are showers so low in hotels? I’ve probably knocked about ten years off my life banging my head off shower doors as I come out.
Inanimate objects really. As humans, we’re prone to making mistakes, but when I think that object could’ve been made a few inches taller, that gets me.
Davis v Ranganathan in a boxing ring. Who’s my money going on?
If it’s the London Marathon, it’s Romesh all the way, but boxing, it’s me, obviously. I love boxing, and I do train three times a week when I’m not filming. I love watching it on TV or seeing it live; it’s such a great spectacle. I’ve got a secret hankering to do a celebrity boxing match, though when I spar, I often get my arse handed to me.
I was up against this guy who was six foot two, and I’m six foot seven, so I thought I’d go easy on him. It was embarrassing. I was cowering ina corner. These amateur boxers were saying, “Are you okay, mate?”
What’s the first thing you do when you arrive at your next destination on tour? Gym, food or hot tub?
Food. Maybe from the hotel, but I usually check beforehand to see where the nearest and best places are to eat. Food all the way. If there’s no time beforehand, I’ll need to wait.
What does your backstage rider look like these days?
Alcohol is out of the window these days. I take my own brand of electrolytes, a banana, and…that’s pretty much it. And water, lots of water. Quite a lot of venues tend to leave me a newspaper out. I don’t know why. I do like to look at the pictures sometimes.
I love the backstage banter beforehand, too, before getting out there.
You’ve named your tour Spudgun? Please explain…
Ahaaa…It was a nickname given to me on the building site. Loaded is probably the first place I can actually give the proper answer to this question. I didn’t know why they called me Spudgun until I went on The One Show. Afterwards, someone DM’d me on Instagram and told me a Spudgun was someone who wasn’t firing properly down below. Like a watered-down version.
What’s your New Year’s Resolution?
It’s the usual thing. I’ve fallen a bit behind in my training, so there’s an element of that in there. Trying not hold animosity against people who don’t deserve it. Everyone else is like you, just trying to get through life as best they can.
I think as you get older, you realise that life’s about being present in the moment and just trying to be as decent a human being as you can. Don’t be a dickhead.
Get your Spudgun tickets at bigtomdavis.com.
Josh Jones” Garden centres are the new nightclubs! Read the full interview here.