Comedy Fest Chat: Luis from Lessons with Luis

Melbourne’s counting down to the 26 March when the Melbourne International Comedy Festival takes over the city for 25 days of flyering on Swanston Street, late nights on work days and choosing from 100s of shows.

In the lead up to the festival, Aussie Theatre’s Anne-Marie Peard chats with comedians and asks what other shows they are going to see. First is Luis from Lessons with Luis’s By Myself. Luis loves cats and his family’s show was a sold-out hit at the last festival, but this year he’s going solo – just like Jerry Seinfeld!

What MICF shows are you most looking forward to seeing?
I like shows about cats. So if there are any good shows about cats I will go and see those. Justin Hamilton and Aunty Donna like cats so I will go and see their shows as well. They are also very funny people, which helps too.

What makes MICF different from all the other festivals?
The comedy festival takes over the city and everyone becomes happy and friendly. Because comedy is about making people happy, everyone is ready to go out, watch a show and have a good time. Sometimes when you do other festivals that aren’t comedy festivals, people look sad because they watched a show about a trapeze artist who gets stuck in a well.

What’s an absolute must do for you in Melbourne?
The Screen Worlds exhibition at ACMI in Federation Square is a must-visit! It’s a free exhibition that has interactive displays that’ll teach you about film and television and it’s history in Australia. Me and my family went last year and it was very fun. We don’t get to go to many exciting places because my dad gets sick a lot because of the dirty spores in the air.

What comedians/performers have influenced you the most?
Jerry Seinfeld. He is a very funny and very famous funny-joke-maker, so I try to copy him. I like his joke about airplane food but I have never tried it because I haven’t been overseas before.

What advice do you wish you’d been given before your first gigs?
Don’t cry on stage if nobody laughs.

Do you do still your own flyering? Can you tell us something great or horrific that’s happened to you when flyering?
Flyering is fun but it can be very tiring. Sometimes people just point and stare at me because I have a very colourful jumper. Luelin, my younger brother, helps me with flyering and he is pretty good at it. All the girls and older women go to him for the flyers.

What’s the best (or worst) thing a review has said about you or your show?
The best thing a reviewer has said about me is:
“…There might be some kind of burgeoning warped genius at work here.”

And the worst thing a reviewer has said about me is:
“…There might be some kind of burgeoning warped genius at work here.”

I don’t understand what a burgeoning warped genius is and I don’t know if it is a good thing or not. It’s just very confusing.

If you could invite anyone to see your show (and you know they would come), who would it be?
Michael Jackson. He is one of my idols and I think they would like my funny jokes and my songs. My neighbour John has listened to my songs and said I’m almost nowhere near as good as Michael Jackson.

What comedian (alive or dead) do you wish you’d seen live?
Bert Newton. My dad taped almost every episode of Good Morning Australia and it’s one of my favourite television shows. One time we almost got to be part of the live studio audience but we couldn’t go because of the dirty spores.

When did you realise that being funny is the career for you?
When somebody gave me a hand written note on the train that said they liked my comedy and that it made them happy. It made me very happy inside. Working at the op shop is good, but sometimes people who come into the shop smell like old books and I don’t really like the smell of old books. Comedy is better.

What’s the best heckle you’ve received?
I don’t think heckles are good things. They interrupt the show. It is very rude when somebody speaks over you. One time somebody shouted “My friend wants to shag you Luis!” and it distracted me from the funny joke I was saying. I still said the funny joke and people laughed a lot, but then I told the girl that she won’t find any carpets at Falls Festival in Lorn. You have to go to Carpet Court or IKEA. They have one in Springvale I think.

Is there anything you’re not prepared to joke about?
I don’t think mean jokes are funny. People won’t like you if you make fun of them. Comedy is about making people happy, so if comedians are mean, it makes comedy confusing.