Lewisham comedian Travis Jay makes West End debut with solo show
A West End show has been on the bucket list of Lewisham born and bred comedian Travis Jay for a long time – and next week he gets to check it off.
As the son of South London comedy legend Angie Le Mar, he has big shoes to fill.
He said: “She’s done so many wonderful things. One of them is a special in the West End, so I’ve always wanted to follow in her footsteps and do the same.”
Growing up he was no stranger to the comedy scene, spending his evenings in dressing rooms and outside venues in the car waiting while his mum performed.
But the Ladywell native’s original plan was not to become a stand up.
He said: “My whole life was trying to get into the NBA. I loved basketball. I was dedicated.
“I’d wake up at 6am, go to the park to shoot some jump shots, I’d have training in the evening, and matches in the week.
“Then I got to 21 and it started to hit me that if I was going to get into the NBA it probably would have happened by now.
“So I was like let me try and do something else because I don’t want to be that dude still chasing the NBA dream at 29.”
With his new found spare time, he started going to comedy shows and realised that it was the career for him.
He said: “It’s a beautiful journey and also quite a tricky one as well because there’s a bit of pressure, and my mum is not a sugar coater when she speaks.
“I remember telling my mum I want to be a stand up comic and she said “Don’t embarrass me.””
After 12 years in the comedy industry, supporting Dave Chapelle on tour, writing credits in Late Night Mash, Black, British and Funny and Spitting Image and a popular boxing podcast, it’s safe to say Mr Jay hasn’t let her down.
The show at the Bloomsbury Theatre is one of the comedian’s most powerful to date and touches on subjects like therapy and the Black Lives Matter movement.
After trying therapy for the first time recently, the comic said he gained a new insight into himself.
He said: “I look at therapy as one of those things that I was more curious about, in the way that you might me about a magician.
“You’re like “okay go on then try me, do me”. So you go in there and you come away with this whole new perspective on yourself.
“What this has made me do is look at my voice as a stand up comic and be like right I want to be a very transparent comic.
“I don’t want to be someone that holds back and I don’t want to be someone that pulls punches.”
Travis Jay brings his show, Travis Jay: LIVE, to the Bloomsbury Theatre, London for one night only on Friday, November 12 at 7.30pm. Further info and tickets available at ucl.ac.uk/culture/whats-on/travis-jay
Pictured top: Travis Jay, credit Andy Hollingsworth
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