Interview with Jacinta Hunter

Comedy Blogedy: How long have you been gigging in stand-up?

Jacinta Hunter: I started gigging a little over a year ago but only very occasionally. I just started gigging more regularly in the past month or so.

Comedy Blogedy: How would you describe your comedy?

Jacinta Hunter: I always find this question difficult to answer! I asked my friend and he said it was whimsical, which apparently means playfully quaint or fanciful, which I like to think is pretty accurate. I think it’s quite easily accessible and light-hearted as well as I talk a lot about dating and flirting and things that most people have experience of and therefore can engage with.

Comedy Blogedy: Which comedians influence your comedy?

Jacinta Hunter: Probably Lou Sanders has influenced me the most – it was the first set I saw which was just really fun and slightly anarchic and wasn’t just standing on stage telling jokes (which I was always pretty sure I couldn’t do) and that made me think: ‘Hey, it’s OK to be different and a bit eccentric and weird. I can totally do this!’ I also saw Celia Pacquola and Angela Barnes the same night as her and I remember being very encouraged and pretty inspired by seeing so many hilarious women in the same line-up.

Comedy Blogedy: Did you always want to go into comedy?

Jacinta Hunter: Well, I’ve wanted to appear on ‘Just a Minute’ ever since I was about 10 and first started listening to it with my Dad. But I guess I first started thinking about it more seriously when I was 16 and started watching a lot of comedy and flyering at the Fringe and realising that this seemed like a pretty fun world to get involved with.

Comedy Blogedy: How do you go about writing your material?

Jacinta Hunter: I always carry a little red notebook around with me everywhere specifically for comedy ideas and then, if anything at all strikes me as potentially funny, I write it in there. Then I try to put the best bits of that together into a set.

Comedy Blogedy: Do you gig as a stand-up full time or is it more of a part-time hobby? If so, do you find that your main job influences your material?

Jacinta Hunter: Definitely part time at the moment. I currently waitress and do some occasional office work to earn money but I wouldn’t say it affects my comedy very much at all. I do definitely try to observe different types of people while waitressing though and I do take notes sometimes so it might slip into a set at some point.

Comedy Blogedy: What do you find the most enjoyable and frustrating parts of the amateur comedy circuit?

Jacinta Hunter: It can be a lot of fun and it’s nice to meet other starting out comedians who are usually very supportive of each other and open-mic nights are an excellent way to hone your material and get it really good. It is very difficult to get seen though. A lot of open mic nights are fairly badly run and are just attended by other new acts and so it’s unlikely that someone who could actually further your career and get you paid gigs is going to ever see you there.

Comedy Blogedy: What’s your favourite type of audience to perform to?

Jacinta Hunter: I guess a fairly relaxed and friendly and not too drunk audience is good as my material’s quite gentle and seems to go down well with that sort of vibe.

Comedy Blogedy: Have you been heckled a lot since you’ve started gigging? Do you enjoy being heckled? What’s the best heckle you’ve had?

Jacinta Hunter: I’ve actually only been heckled once (so far) and it was at my most recent gig. I was talking about a comedian I’d had a ‘Fringe Fling’ with one year in Edinburgh and then a few people (including the compere) started shouting: ‘Who was it? Tell us his name! etc’ and I realised I probably wouldn’t be able to carry on unless I told them. So I did, and none of them knew him, but they spent the next few minutes making jokes about how they had all had sex with him. In that situation I thought it was pretty fun as it was fairly benign heckling and they were all still laughing and enjoying themselves, but I’m not sure how I’d react to a nasty heckler.

Comedy Blogedy: What advice would you give to new acts thinking about starting out in comedy?

Jacinta Hunter: Buy a notebook and write everything down as soon of you think of it. Once you’ve got enough for what you think could be a fairly alright set then look up some open-mic nights and email them to book spots so you can’t easily get out of it. Once you’re there accept that you’re nervous and enjoy it because if you seem like you’re enjoying yourself the audience will almost definitely relax and enjoy it too. And don’t be put off if the audience don’t laugh! That’s the best advice I was ever given. Also, watch as much comedy as you can and network!