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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Entertainment
Interview by Liam Pape

Pierre Novellie: ‘A heckler diagnosed my Asperger’s so fair play to him’

‘It turns out loads of my observational comedy routines were the ramblings of an autist’ … Pierre Novellie.
‘It turns out loads of my observational comedy routines were the ramblings of an autist’ … Pierre Novellie. Photograph: SHP/Alamy

Why did you start doing standup?
I always wondered if I was funny. Or rather if my private sense of humour, that I shared with very few people, would work on the public. That and being obsessed with comedy meant I was always going to give it a try.

Who inspired you when you were starting out?
I was inspired as a teenager by watching club comics perform on the various compilation shows of early 00s television (Live at the Store, Comedy Blue, etc) but also by people like Eddie Izzard and Dave Chappelle. When I read Frank Skinner’s descriptions of standup as the freest you can be, I was sold. I had to try it.

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