The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Another Shark Week is here? Fin-tastic!
Rising Scottish stand-up Daniel Sloss doesn’t like you, but it’s only because you’re a person
The 31st edition of Shark Week features 18 new specials and even a movie that salute the toothy predator.
During a visit to Cleveland years ago, stand-up comedian Daniel Sloss discovered something about himself.
“Your hall-of-fame rock museum is (expletive),” said Sloss, calling from a tour stop in Chicago. “Everyone kept saying I should go, so I went, and then I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I don’t like rock music. I don’t care.’
“Don’t get me wrong — the whole time I was there, I was like, ‘There are so many things in here my dad would appreciate.’ It was just over my head. I was looking at those things thinking, ‘It must be so cool if you know who any of these people are.”
Over the last few years, more people have been discovering Sloss thanks to Netflix last year adding two of his specials — 2015’s “DARK” and 2016’s “Jigsaw.”
After hitting the road in the fall for a European tour that saw him visit 30 countries, Sloss earlier this year brought his latest show, “X,” stateside. Appearing first off-Broadway, where he sold more than 5,000 tickets and performed 30 shows in 19 days, the comedian then crossed the country before a twomonth tour of Australia and New Zealand sold a combined 30,000 tickets.
Sloss is back in America with another touring leg that includes a show July 28 at Playhouse Square’s Mimi Ohio Theatre. Considering his recent itinerary, it’s no wonder the funnyman sounds tired during the phone interview.
“Oh, yeah, man, I’m exhausted,” said Sloss, who is a regular on “Conan.” “It’s good fun, obviously, but I will never, ever in my life work this hard again. (Expletive) this.”
Even though Sloss is only 28, he’s been working as a comedian for more than a decade — and thinking about comedy twice as long. He remembers as a child hearing his parents downstairs laughing at a comedian on the television.
“They let me watch with them,” Sloss said. “I wasn’t laughing at the jokes, I was just laughing at the swearing. I couldn’t believe they were allowed to swear. I thought it was amazing.” He started buying VHS and DVD stand-up specials on eBay. That is where his lack of musical knowledge makes sense. While his peers were into pop music, he was getting an education in how to be funny.
“I’ve never been really able to relate to a lot of musical artists because they’re like (he started to sing) ‘Have you ever had your heart broken by a woman?’ No, I haven’t. Whereas in comedy it’s like, ‘Hey, do you hate people?’ I was like, ‘Oh my God, I do (expletive) hate people.’” — Daniel Sloss
“Music never really spoke to me, whereas comedy did,” Sloss said. “I’ve never been really able to relate to a lot of musical artists because they’re like (he started to sing) ‘Have you ever had your heart broken by a woman?’ No, I haven’t. Whereas in comedy it’s like, ‘Hey, do you hate people?’ I was like, ‘Oh my God, I do (expletive) hate people.’”
It’s that overarching mindset — sans any boundaries — while also commenting on modern masculinity, kids, sex education and the #MeToo movement that theatergoers can expect Sloss to discuss during his Cleveland show.
As for his next move, Sloss said he hasn’t thought that far ahead, aside from the fact he won’t be returning to the road anytime soon. And while he’s interested in film and television, it has to be the right situation. What’s the right situation, you ask?
“What I say to everyone in Hollywood is, ‘If you want me to act, write a part for me,” Sloss said. “I’m so bored of, ‘Do you have any ideas?’ I’m like, ‘No.’ Any ideas I have, I turn them into stand-up material and put them on the stage. That’s my job. If you want me to act, you write a part for me. I’ll do that, but I’m not learning your dumb accents, and I’m not (expletive) coming over to do a thousand auditions.
“It’s like, stand-up comedy is my dream. I get to travel the world and go to places I’ve never been to and speak to my fans. If you want me to not do that, pay me an extortionist-amount of money.”