Comedy

Last August, an unknown Irish comedian took his first show to the Edinburgh Fringe. He had no illusions about how tough the festival can be: ‘Most performers at the Fringe dream of breaking even. So my initial projection was to go there, lose about two grand, and go home to Dublin to start work on a Masters degree.’ ‘Jesus: the Guantanamo Years’ became a sell-out success. He postponed the MA so that he could continue to perform the show in Ireland. Now, less than a year after his professional debut, Abie Philbin Bowman brings it to the Arts Theatre for a five-night run.
Feature continues

Here’s the gist of the absorbing, intricately woven, challenging and (in Edinburgh, for sure) highly entertaining story Bowman has to tell. Jesus Christ, the world’s first stand-up comedian, returns to earth to spread the word that laughter is the ultimate celebration of his Dad’s creation. He hits problems trying to get through US immigration. After all, he’s a bearded, Middle Eastern guy who’s prepared to die as a martyr. He’s arrested under the Patriot Act and sent to Guantanamo Bay. Now, in his first show for two millennia, Christ talks candidly about His detention there, His controversial relationship with His Father, and his ongoing legal battle with ‘Monty Python’s Life of Brian’.

Sounds fun? So it is. But Bowman’s aiming for something way beyond superficial religious satire. ‘I’m trying to provoke rather than offend. I think audiences are rightly sceptical about performers who discuss controversial subjects merely to get attention. My primary aim is to persuade American Christians that Guantanamo Bay is totally unChristian.’As Jesus said: “What you do to the least of these, you do also to me.” The show has a message for Muslims too. In the wake of the cartoon riots last year, when many Muslims felt that the right to religious satire was code for the right to insult Islam, I hope the show illustrates that, used responsibly, religious satire can be a weapon against injustice.’

Bowman says he’s an atheist. ‘I cannot understand how anyone would abdicate their moral authority to an institution. I believe that we’re all in this together and we’re not going to make it out alive. So we might as well look after each other and make the most of it.’ His parents are agnostic. His elder brother introduced him to ‘Monty Python’, ‘Spitting Image’ and Chris Morris. The brother died six years ago, at the age of 31. ‘Jesus: the Guantanamo Years’ is dedicated to him.

‘I wanted to be a novelist,’ Bowman says. ‘But, tragically, I had a happy childhood.’ He took a degree in history and English at Trinity College, Dublin. He’s written a monthly column for the Dubliner since 2001. He’s also a regular contributor to Irish television and radio on subjects such as immigration, terrorism, atheism, sex and cross-dressing. ‘I got into stand-up after a couple of years trying to make it as a songwriter. It was a useful apprenticeship, but I’m really glad it didn’t work out. Comedy is a much more fluid medium. There’s a lot less self-indulgence and the audiences are far more attentive.’

He’s made some minor revisions to the show since Edinburgh. ‘I’ve ditched the more preachy moments. Jokes are harder to write than polemic, but they’re far more effective. A good joke is like a well-laid firework. When it’s detonated properly, the audience can see something illuminated in a completely new way.’ It was this impulse that led Bowman, in his original conception of the show, to characterise Guantanamo as a maximum security prison designed and run by a fast food outlet. Garish uniforms, tiny, battery-sized wire-mesh cages, senior managers who want to take over the world, a front-line staff of ignorant teenagers with lousy career prospects. He tried to imagine being trapped in his local KFC for a week. Then a month. Then a year. ‘That’s about as much horror as I can comprehend. Then I remind myself that Guantanamo Bay is far worse.’

So far, he’s attracted few negative reactions. ‘For my previews in Dublin I got a couple of friends to dress up as priests and walk round with banners: “Careful Now!” and “Down With This Sort Of Thing”.’ There was one drunk in Edinburgh who called Bowman a cunt and a blasphemer and tried to head-butt him. But he’s taking the show to Boston in July and he’s not sure what reception he’ll get there. ‘Probably a variety of reactions. It would be fairly ironic if they crucified me.’ Then he has a tour of Ireland planned for September and October. The Masters still has to wait. Its provisional title is ‘Peace Studies: International relations focusing on conflict resolution’.

‘Jesus: the Guantanamo Years’ is at the Arts Theatre for five nights from Tuesday.