The last time Adam Rowe spoke to the ECHO he said he had no regrets about quitting his Maths degree to pursue a career in comedy.
This was in 2016 after the comedian had just announced his first full solo run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Fast forward to 2023 and it's hard to imagine Adam would have changed his stance as he has surged right to the top of the UK comedy scene.
The 31-year-old has never looked back after he followed his comedy dream. He has since landed the Funniest Joke of the Fringe award, appeared on Live at the Apollo and is the co-host of smash hit podcast, Have A Word. 2023 looks set to be another exciting year as he has already released two stand-up specials despite it only being the end of February.
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Juicy landed on YouTube yesterday and marks a change of direction for Adam as he showcases a new side to his stand-up performance. The intimate gig was filmed at the Rotunda in Glasgow and the comic told the ECHO he has been overwhelmed by the initial response.
He said: "Everyone who’s seen this one so far seems to think it blows the last special out the water, so hopefully that continues to be the case. It’s always exciting putting out new work and you just have to hope people love watching it as much as you loved making it."
In the special, Adam tells the audience how he is not regarded as a "confessional comedian". However, he shows he is more than capable of adapting to the form as he captivates the crowd with the tale of how his heart was broken by a girl he names as Roxy.
The comedian stresses this particular story is a work of fiction but told the ECHO he regularly uses real life events to inspire his material. He added: "I do tend to use the darkest parts of my life to influence my work. I’ve always joked about the worst things that have happened to me, from break-ups to the death of my mother."
Adam grew up in Dovecot and West Derby and said he inherited his love of dark comedy from his mum. He said: "She had a similar sense of humour to me and I take a lot of pride in knowing she’d love Juicy."
Adam has built up a loyal following of fans with his brutally honest brand of stand up and he cites US greats such as Patrice O'Neal and Bill Burr as his heroes. Adam is inspired by the New York comedy scene and he told the ECHO how he successfully exported methods to take an untraditional route to the top by using online platforms to build a fanbase on his own terms.
He said: "More recently comics like Andrew Schulz have given the rest of us a blueprint to follow, in order to carve your own career and bypass the gatekeepers." This is perhaps most evident with the Have A Word podcast, which Adam co-hosts with fellow comic, Dan Nightingale.
Adam explained how one of the keys to the podcast's success was how they were the first in the UK to build a purpose built studio. He added: "Also, we’ve invested so much time, money and effort into the content and I think it comes across. Everything we do gets careful attention to make it as good as it can possibly be."
The podcast continues to dominate the charts as it has more than 20,000 subscribers on Patreon and sold out the M&S Bank Arena with a live show in December. The legion of listeners are affectionately referred to as Lids and Adam said he is blown away by their support. He said: "In the grand scheme of things our following is relatively small but they’re so avid that it makes it feel like we’ve got an army behind us."
Adam is not getting carried away by his success as his busy start to the year looks set to continue. The comedian refuses to rest on his laurels as he is currently working on a new hour of material as he plans to take his dominance of the UK comedy scene further afield.
He said: "My 2023/24 world tour will go on sale in March. I’m writing it at the moment and I’m really excited."
You can watch Juicy on the Have a Word Pod YouTube channel here
Tickets for the world tour will be available in March here
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