Вы услышите интервью. В следующих заданиях выберите правильный ответ.
1. Jeff Green
1) is the youngest in the family.
2) comes from a happy family.
3) is always anxious.
2. When Jeff Green started his career,
1) 50 % of jokes were about women.
2) no one told jokes about women.
3) he didn’t tell jokes about women.
3. The job of a comedian implies
1) working with other comedians.
2) spending much time alone.
3) spending little time travelling.
4. Jeff Green is away from home
1) every five weeks.
2) five days a week.
3) 35 days a year.
5. Jeff Green has not performed in
1) Europe.
2) America.
3) China.
6. When Jeff Green performs in other countries, he usually
1) changes references such as Tesco to some local brand.
2) spends much time explaining English jokes to the audience.
3) doesn’t change the material of the show.
7. Before going on stage, Jeff Green
1) remembers his first few moments on stage.
2) mentally rehearses all his show.
3) imagines how he’ll catch up with the audience.
1 – 1
2 – 2
3 – 2
4 – 3
5 – 2
6 – 3
7 – 3
Interviewer: Mr. Green, it’s a great pleasure to talk to you today. Have you always been a comedian?
Jeff Green: Well, do you know that most comedians are the youngest in the family, and most are from dysfunctional families? And I tick both of those boxes. My parents were married three times each. The thing is that most comedians are a little bit anxious. Because if you try to find something funny, it’s usually an itch you’re trying to scratch. Relaxed people generally don’t need to be the life and soul of the party. It’s nervous people who always try to prove themselves, and God bless them, because they are very funny and make good stand-up comedy. So, you know, I just came into
Interviewer: How did that happen? Did you just start doing acts, using a lot of relationships as jokes?
Jeff Green: Well, I started in the UK around 1988. No one really talked about relationships at that time. About 50% of the audience were women, but they weren’t being talked to or talked about. And I just made one joke about my girlfriend, and it took off from there. That was when I was in my twenties, when I still found women fascinating and mysterious. I’m over it now.
Interviewer: Do you enjoy meeting other comedians?
Jeff Green: Do I enjoy it? Yeah, I do. It can sometimes be a little bit bizarre, but you know, I love being around them. In this job, you’ve got to like your own company, because you’re on your own a lot. You’ve got to like being on your own and you’ve got to like being on the road. If sitting in a hotel room for three days isn’t your thing, then it’s not for you. That’s my whole life. I’ve sat in hotels and gone to different towns and you know, been away from home.
Interviewer: How much of a year do you spend travelling?
Jeff Green: Well, I used to travel in the UK, but England’s so small that I could always get home at night. Australia is huge. So I probably do less gigs but I’m away from home more, because I’d have to be in Brisbane for five days and then I’d have to be in Sydney for five days. I reckon I’m probably away five weeks of the year, condensed out. But that’s probably away once five or six days out of every three weeks. It doesn’t seem much, but when you got two small children, you count every one of those days, and my wife does. But I love it.
Interviewer: Do you do gigs all over the world?
Jeff Green: I’m quite a regional comedian, inasmuch as being English. I tend to work best in England. I’ve performed to Americans here in Singapore and in London but I’ve never been to the USA. But I’ve performed in New Zealand, Hong Kong, Australia obviously, and lots of gigs in Europe, where you’re performing to Europeans, not in their first language. You have to speak a little bit more slowly and you can’t speak in dialect. You should be respectful to the people who’ve paid good money to come to see you.
Interviewer: Is the material the same?
Jeff Green: The material’s okay. Well, those about relationships are generally universal. I used to change some things, references such as Tesco to Coles, or Marks & Spencer to some local brand. But the actual audience don’t want you to change the words. They’d rather you took the time to explain what the joke was in England, rather than try to fool them into thinking that you’re talking about their environment. If you explain them succinctly and there’s a funny payoff, it’s worth doing it.
Interviewer: What do you do before going onstage? Do you have a ritual of any sort?
Jeff Green: I do a lot of visualisation before shows. All I do is I put myself on stage before I go on, so I’m actually mentally onstage. The first few moments are of me catching up with the atmosphere and the audience, so that when you actually go onstage, you’re actually firing off something. I think most people are naturally slow-starters, because you can’t just walk into a room full of strangers and be friends with everybody. But in stand-up comedy, you’re expected to be. That’s your job.
