“The me onstage is definitely a persona, but it’s much closer to who I am in real life than past personas I’ve had.”
Jack Whitehall’s career has gone from strength to strength over the last few years, from shows like League of their Own and Mock the Week to anchoring his own Netflix series, Travels with My Father, for three seasons.
The comedian is also a veteran of a number of high profile tours, including his current one, Jack Whitehall: Stood Up.
Recently, Whitehall spoke on Ireland Unfiltered with Dion Fanning about the difference between the persona he uses for his live shows and how he is when he’s not under the spotlight.
Each time he goes out, he said, he’s showing an aspect of himself, a “heightened version” of what he’s really like.
“The me on stage is definitely a persona it’s much closer to who I am in real life than past personas that I’ve had,” Whitehall said.
“The same way that like my dad is a version of himself on [Travels with My Father] that I do with him, I’m a version of myself when I’m on that show as well and I’m a version myself when I’m on stage.”
Whitehall, however, rejected the suggestion that people are simply seeing a character he’s created and that he’s merely playing a role in front of an audience.
“I don’t feel like it’s dishonest because I am like that quite a lot at the time but it’s a heightened version of me and if that was me all the time then no one would want to be around me,” he laughed.
Whitehall explained that when people meet him offstage, they are a little surprised and even disappointed he’s not the larger-than-life character they’ve seen entertaining thousands of people at a time.
“It’s slightly the thing why I think meeting comedians is such a bitter disappointment for people because we’re not the person that you see up on stage and we are a lot of its a persona and keeping up that kind of persona all the time would be exhausting and impossible.
“Therefore when you meet the person you know, ‘Oh you’re not like the guy I see in this films or the guy I see in these DVDs,’ it can be a little bit of a let down,” he said.
Check out Whitehall’s chat with Dion Fanning in full below.
Ireland Unfiltered will be available everywhere you get your podcasts and on YouTube every Tuesday.
