Jake Mace
Jamie D’Souza’s upcoming brand new EdFringe comedy hour Brownie explores his relationship with his live-in landlord, evil jobs, and our moral duties to work less hard. We caught up with Jamie for a pixelated pint to find out more about what inspired the show and how he found the funny in it.
You can catch Jamie D’Souza: Brownie from 29th July to August 24th at CabVol 2 at Monkey Barrel Comedy (Cabaret Voltaire) from 22:00 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Jake: Hi Jamie! Your upcoming show Brownie is about your outrageously promiscuous live-in landlord. Tell us about him and what inspired the show.
Jamie: I can’t say too much at risk of my rent being increased, but he’s the best landlord I’ve ever had. Affordable rent, and a very relaxed policy re visitors, I can’t complain.
My show is all about work, and how if you have an evil job, you have a moral duty to work less hard. This is partly inspired by my live in landlord’s approach to damp. I previously had a job that was evil (data analyst for a big financial company) and I struggled with working for it morally, until I realised that by half arsing it every day, I was doing the right thing for society.
Jake: You say the show is also about many other themes – honesty, bulimia, weddings, and accidentally giving a dog MDMA, to name a few – tell us how you cover so much in 50 minutes and your process of writing comedy.
Jamie: I speak incredibly quickly on stage and ask audiences to get through a fair amount of pre reading in the 3-6 months before coming to the show, that way I can skip any setups and just deliver 50 minutes of punchlines.
It often leaves audiences who haven’t done their homework incredibly confused and unsatisfied, but as they say “failing to prepare is preparing to fail” (Book 4, Chapter 13 in the pre read pack!) .
Jake: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?
Jamie: If anyone in the audience has a similar job to the one I have, I want them to leave with a refreshed attitude to work, and how not sending all those emails will make the world more harmonious.
Ultimately though, I just want them to have a laugh. It’s a late night show (10pm) I’m expecting the audience to be a bit drunk and rowdy, so if they leave and they’ve had a great time, then I’ll be delighted.
Jake: Tell us what you’re most excited about for EdFringe 2025.
Jamie: Mosque Kitchen. Mosque Kitchen. Mosque Kitchen. Mosque Kitchen. I go there almost every day during the Fringe, it’s an unhealthy addiction that is destroying every other aspect of my life (social, financial, health). I wouldn’t swap it for the world.
Jake: If your show was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?
Jamie: It would be a Mango Lassi, because I’m part Indian, quite sweet and incredibly bad for your blood pressure.
A reminder, you can catch Jamie D’Souza: Brownie from 29th July to August 24th at CabVol 2 at Monkey Barrel Comedy (Cabaret Voltaire) from 22:00 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Image Credit: Ian Bowkett
Jasmine Silk
Phoebe Bakker
