Over the last few years, Mo Gilligan has established himself as one of the premier comedians that the UK has to offer. The Londoner is a panelist on ‘The Masked Singer’, has sold out some of the biggest arenas in the county and has even been co-signed by the likes of Drake and Kevin Hart.
Gilligan now sets his sights on making it big in America and shall embark on his first world tour, which includes three dates at Punch Line Philly on March 28, 29 and 30.
“When I grew up watching stand-up, I was watching people like Dave Chapelle, Chris Rock and Eddie Murphy so there was always a part of me that wanted to perform Stateside. It’s the biggest market in the entertainment world so you want to be a success there,” said Gilligan.
The UK has a rich abundance of talented comedians who are hugely popular in their native country, however, very few are able to make the leap to have success in the US, too.
There are many cultural factors that could explain why it is difficult to translate success from across the pond, but perhaps the biggest is the lack of comedy club culture in the UK.
“[America] is a different terrain. It’s a bigger place where you can have comedy shows from Monday to Sunday and you can have a busy room every night. Unfortunately, in the UK comedy is usually a weekend culture, there aren’t as many comedy clubs midweek,” said the comic. “If there was, we’d be able to network and perform with each other, but we just don’t have the infrastructure of having many comedy clubs in the UK.”
Gilligan was already an established name in the UK, but following the release of his 2022 Netflix special ‘There’s Mo to Life’, the comedian has started to gain a following in the US as well.
Following the success of his special, Gilligan also gained a famous fan in Philly’s very own Kevin Hart. The British comedian told Hart about his aspirations of success in the US and he had these words of wisdom for him:
“He gave me advice to just go for it, you’ve got nothing to lose now. Once you’ve got your Netflix special and you’re touring, especially in the US, you’ve already made it, so just go for it.”
“You can put bums on seats in another country, that is something that some people will never have the opportunity to do. It was the kind of advice where someone isn’t telling you what to do, you’re already doing it.”
This is the first time that Gilligan is taking his show on a world tour, but it isn’t the first time he’s performed in the US, having previously played at comedy clubs and a sold-out date at the ‘Netflix is a Joke Festival’ in LA last year.
“It’s much more competitive out there in the States, if you go to the Comedy Store in LA then there’s like nine comics on the main bill and even more before that; whereas, in the UK there’s about three,” he said. “I think my accent helps the most. Once I get on stage and they say, ‘This guy has come all the way from London, he’s got a Netflix special, welcome to the stage Mo Gilligan.’ Ears prick up and they want to listen to this guy who’s coming from London.”
“That’s what I like about the States, if they see you’ve come all the way from somewhere to the Comedy Store then they sit up a bit more and be like, ‘I want to check out this guy, he’s not from here so he must be funny.’”
Alongside his stand-up aspirations in the US, Gilligan also has his eyes set on the bright lights of Hollywood.
Earlier this year, the comedian touched down at the Sundance Film Festival to premiere the animated feature ‘10 Lives’ — which he stars alongside ‘Bridgerton’ star Simone Ashley.
The movie follows a pampered cat, Beckett (Gilligan), who takes for granted the lucky hand he has been dealt after he is rescued and loved by Rose (Ashley), a kind-hearted and passionate student. When he loses his ninth life, fate steps in to set him on a transformative journey.
“It’s a brand new world for me to be in this spotlight for our film. I never thought my first role would be playing a cat but here we are man!” Gilligan said. “It’s a lot of fun and I really enjoyed the process and I’ve still got to be me in a comedy role, it’s not like I’ve stepped into a role where people are like, ‘Wow, that’s really dark.’”
He added: “Getting a little taste of it was really fun and I want to do a lot more of this in the future. I understand the landscape of film, I never want to assume that because I do stand-up or TV in the UK that I’m going to get roles thrown at me. I’m going to have to start again, which will be quite fun.”
Mo Gilligan will perform at Punch Line Philly on March 28, 29, 30. For information and tickets, visit punchlinephilly.com
