Meet...­­

JAKE MILLS

life

For more information and to follow Jake’s progress become

a fan of ‘Jake Mills’ on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @

Jakemills1.

f i x

17

Tell us a bit about what you

do:I’m a student studying media at

Liverpool Hope University, as well

as a stand up comedian.

Has university changed

you and the way you

perform on stage?Definitely, if it wasn’t for uni I’d

never be doing stand up

comedy. The tutors gave me the

confidence and contacts I needed

to get a headstart and really helped

me. Going to uni was one of the

best choices I’ve ever made.

How do you juggle doing

gigs and your studies?I have no idea! Uni is my priority at

the moment, I’ve worked too hard to

let it become second best. Gigging

at night and working during the day

is working so far, but my social life

is feeling the strain!

What inspired you to get

into comedy?I’ve always got a buzz from

making people laugh, it’s one of the

best feelings. I never saw myself as

a stand up though, - it was only

when I went to uni that I took part in

a comedy course ran by the

Liverpool Comedy Trust and I’ve

never looked back since!

Who would you say is your

favourite funnyman?Richard Pryor and Bill Hicks are two

of my favourites - I like comedians

who are clever and don’t have to

swear or be crude to be funny.

Where was the first gig you

ever performed?It was during part of the Funny

Business course I took part in for

the Liverpool Comedy Trust which

was mainly for family and friends

but the first time I ever told anything

I had written to the public.

What’s the best reaction

you’ve got from a gig?Any laughs feel like the best

reaction ever! I once got a standing

ovation from a group of chavs at a

gig - they must have seen me as

one of their own!

What are your goals

for the future?I’d like to become a well known

comedian and to go into TV... not

sure what to do, presenting maybe...

might as well give it a go!

What’s the most

star-studded thing to

happen to you?I once went to Groucho’s Bar in

London which was full of celebs. I

had to act cool,- I’m not great in

situations like that, I take it too far. I

think I asked James Cordon what

his name was and then asked ‘So,

what do you do James?’ We were

outside another club too with

paparazzi there, that was cool,

though they put their cameras

down when they saw me...

What’s the most exciting

thing you’ve read about

yourself?The most exciting thing was when I

saw my first interview in the paper - I

stood in Tesco with the page

‘accidentally’ open waiting for

someone to recognise me. They

didn’t.

What’s the funniest thing

you’ve ever seen?I once saw a woman get run over by

an old lady on a motorized scooter,

she didn’t only knock her over but

ran over her legs too! It was

amazing, the old woman didn’t

even flinch! I should probably state

at this point that the other woman

was ok. Also ‘Ninja Cat’ on YouTube

had me laughing for days.

What advice would you give

to other students interested

in comedy?Don’t. I could do without the

competition. Seriously though, if

you want to do anything like this

you have to give it a go. It’s a

business where you don’t know if

you’ll make it or not without trying.

Also, don’t give up too quickly;

having a bad gig doesn’t mean you

can’t do it. You learn a lot more from

a bad gig than you do from a good

one.

“I get a buzz frommaking people laugh”

“Going to uni was the bestchoice I’ve ever made”

­­­­We­catch­upwith­JAKEMILLS,­Liverpool’shottest­new­funnyman­ashe­talks­uni,crazedgrannies­andninja­cats!

Catch Jake in action in the

Liverpool Comedy Festival, “Quak-

ing in their Ugg Boots” on May 10th.18