Adam Flood is a comedian from Stoke-on-Trent. He began doing stand-up in 2018 and was nominated for the BBC New Comedy award a year late. In 2022 his work-in-progress show Clayhead received an Amused Moose nomination for debut show. He is brining his full-length debut ‘Remoulded’ to the Fringe this year. We spoke to Adam about the show, his many and varied endeavours prior to stand-up, and performing gigs in a barbershop window during lockdown.
Can you tell us about ‘Remoulded’?
It’s a stand-up odyssey about escaping a shithole in Stoke-on-Trent after a false start as a teen. At its heart it’s a stand-up show packed with lots of observational stuff set amongst my own story of reinvention from ‘illicit entrepreneur’, indie band rockstar, start-up kingpin, and now stand-up comedian.
Expect to see some bits about Dyson vacuums, guilt, social mobility, and bay leaves. There’s twists and turns along the way and a few tricks up my sleeve (an autotune pedal I blew my budget on). The show’s dead good actually, you should come.
You’ve been a bit of a Renaissance man from a young age. Are there any other strings to your bow that aren’t mentioned in the show?
A Renaissance man is at least an expert in many of the strings to their bow. I would say I have a wide range of near skills, so maybe I’m a ‘the period-before-Renaissance man’, ‘the Middle-Ages man’. I’ve learned to play lots of instruments and have forgotten how to play most including fife (why, just why?), saxophone, drums, clarinet, guitar. I was in an indie band at the peak of indie landfill – one of the last flaming tyres to be thrown on the heap. Thankfully the band featured no fife.
During lockdown you performed gigs from a barbershop window. How did that come about and how was it as an experience?
When I moved to London I started getting my haircut at the impeccably named Barber Streisand. Jarek, my barber and unofficial therapist, said they’d done a burlesque night out of the window into the pedestrianised street. The council stopped them from doing more of those as a performer had got their willy out, which seems a fair reason to stop them. So with that one proviso of what not to do, I organised a stand-up show. I did one and then lockdown hit, but when the rules were relaxed and we could socialise outside it was one of the only gigs running in London, so we got amazing comics on – Josie Long, Babatunde Aléshé, Sam Campbell, Eshaan Akbar. Nobody got their bits out and everyone had a lovely time.
This is your debut full-length Fringe show. What are your hopes and expectations for August?
I’m hoping Hollywood is up and I get cast in John Wick 5 – I imagine they will be up. Besides that I’m hoping to not go broke. Not because of the normal Fringe costs but because I’m staying with a bunch of comics who want to do a poker tournament and I do not know how to play and do not own a pair of wrap-around sunglasses as seems necessary to win. Living with Paddy Young, Horatio Gould, Dan Tiernan, and Mike Rice for the month will be the making or breaking of my Fringe spoils.
Beside ‘Remoulded’, can we expect to see you performing elsewhere during August?
If I can find a barber that’ll have me, maybe I’ll do a turn there. I’m also going to be playing a bunch of fun compilation shows: Late’n’Live, RODEO!, The Lovely Boys and Friends, Chortle’s Fast Fringe, Monkey Barrel Big Show, Pleasance Launch Show and no doubt some mad compilation show which is frog-themed or something.
What are the best and worst things about the Fringe?
Getting to do a solo show every day is just the best. It’s intense but it’s a privilege, especially this year getting to do my debut with Monkey Barrel. I cannot wait. Getting to hang out with all my comic friends is top and as the month gets on and people relax it gets looser. There are fun pop-up nights too. Alexandra Haddow is running her Indie Amnesty that pops up. Ivo Graham is running a night where he’s having comics DJ, he’s asked me to do a set (reload drum and bass shall never die). Getting to see some brilliant shows. Worst bits are having to trek around and flyer, the existential dread that comes with the intensity, struggling to find time to exercise, and eating like a hog for a month.
Are there any other acts at the Fringe that you would recommend audiences see?
Paddy Young, Horatio Gould, Mike Rice, Dan Tiernan, Alexandra Haddow, Nabil Abdulrashid, Huge Davies, Tamsyn Kelly, Vittorio Angelone, Sarah Keyworth, Amy Matthews, Liam Withnail, Stephen Buchanan, Marc Jennings, John Kearns, Chloe Petts, Crizards.
‘Remoulded’ runs from Wed 2 to Sun 27 Aug 2023 (except Mon 14) at Monkey Barrel Comedy – The Hive 2 at 15:20