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RONNIE BLACK 

 

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For those who might not know you, can you please tell us about yourself?

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I am Ronnie Black, I am 58 and I am married to Noreen. We have been together for 36 years, and have three grown-up kids  Jordan 27, Esther 25, and Rebekah 21. I come from a really big Glasgow family where my dad had 10 brothers and 7 sisters.

 

My wife Noreen”s parents came over to Scotland from Jamaica in the 1960s and she was one of the very few black families in Glasgow and the Gorbals. I started going to church in my early 20s, before that I was, as they say in Glasgow “a bit of a nutter”. I am glad I did as that is where I met my wife. When we met 36 years ago there were very few biracial couples in Glasgow but I need to say we have suffered no racism in all our years together from the people of Glasgow.

Noreen supports my comedy but until last year she had never seen me perform. Thankfully she was at this years show Different Class with my oldest daughter. I think she was there to check the ticket money was correct.

I am a senior manager supporting adults with a learning disability but have recently went  part-time to concentrate on developing my comedy and Padel.

       

 

I know your comedy journey but for those who don’t how you began, can you please give us your highlights?

 

I initially done amateur comedy acting in my 20s to 40s and was told by Ian Pattison (creator of Rab C Nesbitt) that I was funny and a way into professional comedy acting was through stand up. Ten years later Graham Stewart got me a 5-minute spot in the Iron Horse run by John Caruthers. I loved it from day one.

I done my first solo show in my first year of stand up in the Yes Bar. Graham Stewart opened for me and it was an incredible buzz doing 40 minutes to a packed room. Always remember Stephen Buchanan was on straight after me and he stormed it, as you would expect.

 

I was about to give up comedy after a long lay-off during covid and the thought of starting again filled me with dread. My first gig back was opening for Gary Faulds in the Motherwell Civic Theatre. My thinking was that if I die on stage then that’s my comedy journey over. Surprisingly I went down pretty well and proceeded to do tour support for Gary in many big venues. It was an absolute privilege to be given these opportunities to perform at 2 sold out Glees and of course the Glasgow Armadillo.

Some of my grounding in comedy was running a monthly gig in the Cartvale in Busby. I remember telling the audience that they were privileged to see some of the best up-and-coming acts in Scotland and would definitely see many on the TV and Live At The Apollo. I think myself and Graham gave Liam Farrelly his first paid gig of £10. It might not have been much but every act was paid as many were of a great standard.

 

Doing Edinburgh for the first time four years ago was brilliant doing four extremely busy solo shows. Although two years ago doing my first run of Men in Quilts with Kenny Sinclair and of course Graham Stewart was just outstanding. We really did take Edinburgh by storm that year and many sad people still have calanders of our half-naked bodies.

Most recently I took a leap of faith and booked the iconic Arches. A venue more than double any previous solo show.

Having the room rammed was a dream come true and gave me confidence that I can pull a crowd. I must say the best part of the show was seeing my wee 90-year-old mother sitting in the audience beaming with pride for her wee boy. Her words were “ Are they really all here to see you?”.

Thanks goes out to Graham and Billy Kirkwood for keeping me calm and Mark Robertson for floating the idea of the Arches.

 

        Who makes you laugh the most?

 

I am so privileged that I got to see Sean Locke live on the opening weekend of the Glasgow Glee. No one has made me laugh so hard that I could hardly breathe. Also saw Big Gary Little perform a 20 minute spot on the same bill about a “frying pan”. Gary is an outstanding big man.

 

 

        Has comedy made you happier or unhappier in your career?

 

Without a doubt happier. I wanted to be a role model to my kids as it took me 10 years to build up the courage to try stand up. This happened after my first encounter with Ian Pattison. I wanted my kids to know that you should never let fear hold you back from doing something you want to do and not to look back on your life with regrets regarding what you didn’t do.

Also doing my solo shows has been a regular meeting point for many old school friends to reconnect.

        

       Do you have any unfulfilled ambitions? In comedy? In life?

 

My first passion was acting and I was pretty good at it having had no training, so I would definitely love to do comedy acting. During lockdown I had a great time doing short videos every day whilst walking my dog but also had such a laugh with Gary Faulds, Chrissy Ross and Dazza making a number of viral videos. Probably our best was myself and Gary were the only 2 old firm supporters allowed into the first post-Covid match. We had more than a million hits but most importantly such a laugh doing it.

Also would like to continue to develop our Pop Up Comedy brand and produce more accessible quality nights of comedy within communities.

Lastly the panto legend that is Gary Morrison has been giving me advice about getting into panto. I am open to offers.

 

 

        From the random generated images below, what image are you most drawn to and why?

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Definitely the elephant as we have this week just booked to go on a safari! We are going next year for my wife’s 60th birthday and our 30th wedding anniversary. My wife has always wanted to go.

I am actually also drawn to the bats as I play Padel most days of the week and although I say so myself I am pretty good for a guy with a lot of relaxed muscle.

 

 

       Do you have anything to plug?

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Yes! Myself and my mate Stevie Clarke run afternoon comedy brunch and after party. Our next gig is in Revolution (the old Tunnel) on Saturday 7th June. 1pm – 6pm. Drink on arrival, brunch, comedy with myself the brilliant Amanda Hursy and our outstanding headliner Des Clark. This is followed by Stevie on the decks and everyone on the dance floor until 6pm. Our first one in November was just great and showed us that there is a market for this. Feel free to come along and share with friends.