AMONG the many performers returning to Reading this year is Emmanuel Sonubi, whose hotly-anticipated debut headline tour, Emancipated, came to South Street Arts Centre back in April last year.
Now Emmanuel is back with his sophomore headline tour, Curriculum Vitae, following an award-nominated run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and recent appearances on comedy monolith Live at the Apollo.
“It was very much like a difficult second album for me,” Emmanuel explains of his new show, and admits that the success of his first show came as something surprise to him.
“For this one, there was so much less time to write it, but I got myself into a certain mindset and then it ended up happening a lot quicker after that.”
But it was directly from his debut tour that the seeds of the next began to germinate.
“It grew out of a conversation with a couple just before a show, where I was talking about an old job of mine, and they asked if it was in the routine.
“It wasn’t, but it made me think about how many funny things happen in the workplace and what unusual things go on that people will relate to.”
Jobs feature significantly in the new tour, as the title might suggest, which is perhaps appropriate since Emmanuel is settling into a new phase of his career.
“You have so much to draw from for your debut show, that when you start on your second it feels like nothing has happened in that time, especially if you’re particularly observational.
“It’s a bit easier because it’s not your first time, you’ve gone through all of the lessons you learned from touring it, too– my first felt like a different show at the end of the tour than it was at the start.”
So while his methodology as a writer and performer has developed, he says: “Not a lot has changed for my outlook on things.
“I also just don’t have as much free time to sit and observe life, so the writing itself is harder.
“But I’m more confident, because I know that I can do it and the audiences get bigger.”
And he admits that observation is a big part of how he puts a show together.
“I don’t make anything up– that’s always been a thing of mine, and probably because I’m not great at it.
“But I do need that resonance, and I find it much easier to connect with it, and for other people to connect with it.”
And like many comedians, finding connection with the crowd is one of the things Emmanuel is seeking to develop further.
“The first time around I liked to ask the audience questions, but they were often loaded and had quite a finite amount of answers I could be given.
“Now I’m relinquishing that control, and allowing myself to not know what’s going to be said.
“And it’s down to the right combination of people; some of my favourite bits so far have come from unexpected audience answers, and that leads to more comedy.”
It can be more of an art than a science, however– even alchemy.
“Sometimes its the right combination of people and elements– if it’s a club, or if you’re in a bad mood, or if someone’s acting a fool, you might still be able to get something out of it.
“You just have to sift it out of the rubble.”
He also adds that there needs to be an element of the performer’s own personality woven through.
“I want to write something only I could say– when you do, you can find a space on any bill or line-up.
“So I take my time with the material, and try to avoid any anecdotes where 15 other people have the exact same story.
“Normally I write my thoughts down, and then try and work out what I’m actually trying to say, then you rewrite until it’s coherent, and then you add the punchlines.
“Everyone’s got a point to put across, but it’s about putting it in a way which means it begs to be heard.”
The show’s genesis saw a thirty-show run at Edinburgh Fringe last year, for which Emmanuel was nominated for the Best Show award.
“Edinburgh’s a great way to get a show tight; you do it thirty times in a row and it actually feels weird when you stop performing it.
“It goes from being a 100mph to you missing it when it’s not showing and feeling like you need the audience, like it needs a voice to let it out, even.
“It was so much fun to perform then, so it’s been extended and now it’s ready to be taken out on the road.”
Emmanuel Sonubi’s Curriculum Vitae comes to South Street Arts Centre on Saturday, April 20.
Tickets are available via: whatsonreading.com
Full details of the tour are available via: emmanuelstandup.com
