As we look back with a smile at a season of laughter and mirth with the 2022 series of Lust 4 Laughs stand-up comedy events at Pikes Ibiza Hotel, we believe they may have saved the best to last. For gracing the hallowed pink and green tennis court this October will be the singular lyrical magician that is the mighty MC Hammersmith!
For those who have never come across this remarkable freestyle rap talent before, he hails from the mean streets of West London and he's been dropping more bombs in 2022 than Vladimir Putin.
Despite his mild-mannered demeanour, he is not afraid to enter into genuine battles with hardened rappers, spitting comedy rhymes that cut like a knife.
We thought we would catch up with the man himself and find out what's in store for us when he brings the curtain down on the Lust 4 Laughs summer season.
How would you describe your unique performances?
The entire thing is freestyle hip-hop comedy, and there are spoken jokes too. But, when I'm not doing the MC Hammersmith stuff, I'm part of an improvised Harry Potter adult comedy show called Spontaneous Potter that tours around the UK. I cannot escape the orphan wizard; I've been doing that for around 5 years now. But there'll be no wizardry when I'm in Ibiza, apart from lyrical…
One of the routines I do, is people holding up objects for me to freestyle rap about, completely improvised, which is a popular hip hop routine. I've seen people hold up basically everything under the sun, from dildos to broccoli, to their pets, to drugs from weed, cocaine and crack. In comedy clubs that shall not be named [laughs]. I've seen it all, so the more challenging the better really.
What got you into rapping and hip hop in the first place?
I've always loved hip hop since I was young. I was listening to Akala when I was 14. Then flashback to ten years ago, I was doing an improvised musical with a troop in Edinburgh. I've always wanted to rap the bridges in between the final two choruses, and I was shit at it. No one wanted to practice with me, so I did it by myself, and yeah, I guess it's just a combination of my love for hip hop and improv.
And now you're slightly less shit…
Obviously, there are other formidable posh rappers out there like Louis Theroux for example. How do you fancy going toe to toe with Louie?
I will say that I've been putting a lot of content on TikTok - anything I post or breathe on TikTok people comment ‘my money don't jiggle jiggle, it folds'. I'll never be able to escape that I don't think.
Who are your real hip hop influences then?
I would probably say my favourite rapper was Big L. He was a big rapper in the 90s. He was very fast and lyrical, very punchline heavy. He only released one album of work before he died but like he's described as your ‘favourite rappers, favourite rapper.'
In terms of freestylers, you've got people like MC Supernatural, MC Juice, Harry Mac, who have all pushed the form to new heights and are doing things today that still nobody else can do.
One of my favourite rappers is a guy called R.A the Rugged Man and I had the pleasure of being invited on stage by him, at his gig in London. I managed to freestyle, which I'm delighted to say went well and got a good reception from the crowds.
Who are your comedy influences?
I never know how to answer this as they're all improvisers, I'm not a standup comedian. Improvisors who I really admire and like are Tina Faye, Amy Polar, Key and Peele. And they really mastered turning improv into sketch and making it funny. There is a much bigger culture for improv in America where I trained and seeing it done well there every weekend is something you wouldn't see here. It's seen as a much more serious art form.
I hope you're going to enjoy the Pikes crowd and the whole unique Pikes experience. We really can't wait to see you there…
If you'd like to join us, buy your tickets here
