Brett Goldstein on stand-up comedy: 'A pitying silence is the worst'

Brett Goldstein has reflected on the difficulties of stand-up comedy.

Goldstein, best known for his Emmy-winning role as Roy Kent in the sports comedy series Ted Lasso, was a stand-up comedian for 20 years before venturing into acting.

In a conversation with his co-star Phil Dunster for Interview Magazine, the comedian opened up about the most challenging parts of stand-up.

"A pitying silence is the worst," he said. "It feels like dying on stage because you come to connect with people and when it doesn't work it's like, 'Oh my god. Am I even here? Do I exist? What is happening?' And what's so weird about stand-up is that it's so objective."

"If someone were to go, 'You are not funny, and no one's laughing,' it's like, 'Yeah, I can't argue. I can't say last night they laughed loads because right now, yeah, I'm a ghost that isn't funny.'"

The Shrinking actor then went on to reveal that his favourite way to get laughs from an audience is through a real sense of connection.

"You can get laughs in lots of ways," he said. "But for me it's about, and I hate to say this, a genuine feeling of connection."

The comedy star, who is still doing stand-up alongside his acting career, also revealed that he remembers all his shows that didn't go well.

"There's a lot and I have talked about them before," he told Dunster. "I do remember them."

"Do you remember the one bad comment you saw on a review somewhere after reading 500 good reviews?" he asked. "Of course, you remember everything about it. So yeah, I remember all my bad gigs."