He was one-third of the Canadian comedy rock band Corky and the Juice Pigs. He has starred in serious stage productions such as 12 Angry Men and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. And in 2006 he won the top Edinburgh Comedy Award gong. Part actor, part musician, part stand-up, but all manic energy, Phil Nichol talks ahead of his Laughter Factory performances in Dubai on Wednesday, December 10, and Thursday, December 11.
The cliché goes that all comedians want to be rock stars, all rock stars want to be comedians, and both rock stars and comedians really want to be footballers. Which are you?
I’m a total rock star – and I wouldn’t be a footballer because I’m Canadian, so I’d be an ice hockey player, which is a much more manly sport. Footballers just stand around looking pained, worrying about their hair.
OK, you’re a rock star first – so you started in music?
No, I started as an actor. I studied acting in Windsor, Ontario. I met a couple of guys and we started a radio show called The Little Bits of Gravel. From that we put together a group which was Corky and the Juice Pigs in 1987, and became professionals almost immediately.
And you’re still doing music – you have a new album, Late Night Electric Watermelon.
I put that out last year. It’s basically all the songs I’ve written since I left Corky and the Juice Pigs in 1997. You can get it on Bandcamp, which is a website all the young ones use. You can stream it for free because I’m giving it away, all the 22 tracks of ridiculous fun and filth.
Speaking of filth, you once claimed to be “too contentious, loud and rude” for television. How are you going to go down in Dubai?
The promoters are always slightly amused and moderately nervous when I’m on, but I’ve played so many times, I know where the boundaries and lines are. I’ve been performing in Dubai for 20 years.
You're known for your wacky concept shows, such as Hiro Worship, where you play a Japanese Rolling Stones obsessed fan, and in Welcome to Crazy Town, you play a jazz beatnik poet. How do you find doing these straight stand-up shows?
Because it’s a short set you just pack it in, it’s simpler, you can just go joke, joke, joke, joke. With concept shows you really have to set up the concept, bring it to a conclusion, have a beginning, middle and end, which is satisfying for a theatre crowd, but people out for a good time get a really good show with The Laughter Factory.
Speaking of theatre, tell us about working with Christian Slater in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
That was great, he’s a wonderful guy, and a real laugh. He lives the dream – life is made for him. He is a Hollywood A-lister, he can’t go anywhere in the world without people recognising him.
And you were in Boy George’s musical, Taboo.
I absolutely adore Boy George, I think he’s one of the true British rock legends. It was amazing to be in the show, it was one of the best six months of my life. He’s such a gentleman, such a nice and generous man. He’s been there and done that and he’s still vital.
So you’re a Canadian in London. Which has the better weather?
It depends on what you want – Canadians love the weather there because they all do snow-based activities. If you like tobogganing, Canada’s got better weather. And if you want to go tobogganing in Dubai, you can – how fantastic.
But you were born Scottish. We have a big Scottish comedian in town the day after your shows – Kevin Bridges.
Fantastic, I’m a big fan. He’s great, he’s earned all the success he’s had, he’s one of the funniest men in the world.
So, if money’s tight, should I go and see him or you?
I would go and see me, because you can always see him on DVD. Or you could buy my album and go and see him, but I think this interview has been set up by the people who would want you to go and see the gig I’m doing. Go to both – that’s what I would do. Just do it. I’m going to learn all his gags and do them at my show, and then people will sit there at his going “we heard this last night from a Canadian guy”. What do you think of me now?
• Phil Nichol performs for The Laughter Factory at Dubai’s Mövenpick Hotel Jumeirah Beach on Wednesday December 10 and the Grand Millennium, Tecom, on December 11. Both shows start at 9pm. Tickets cost Dh140 and are available at www.timeouttickets.com
rgarratt@thenational.ae
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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
Directed by: RS Prasanna
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar
Company Profile
Founder: Omar Onsi
Launched: 2018
Employees: 35
Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)
Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dual%20electric%20motors%20with%20102kW%20battery%20pack%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E570hp%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20890Nm%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERange%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Up%20to%20428km%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh1%2C700%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The biog
Most memorable achievement: Leading my first city-wide charity campaign in Toronto holds a special place in my heart. It was for Amnesty International’s Stop Violence Against Women program and showed me the power of how communities can come together in the smallest ways to have such wide impact.
Favourite film: Childhood favourite would be Disney’s Jungle Book and classic favourite Gone With The Wind.
Favourite book: To Kill A Mockingbird for a timeless story on justice and courage and Harry Potters for my love of all things magical.
Favourite quote: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” — Winston Churchill
Favourite food: Dim sum
Favourite place to travel to: Anywhere with natural beauty, wildlife and awe-inspiring sunsets.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
HOW TO WATCH
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
The biog
Place of birth: Kalba
Family: Mother of eight children and has 10 grandchildren
Favourite traditional dish: Al Harees, a slow cooked porridge-like dish made from boiled cracked or coarsely ground wheat mixed with meat or chicken
Favourite book: My early life by Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, the Ruler of Sharjah
Favourite quote: By Sheikh Zayed, the UAE's Founding Father, “Those who have no past will have no present or future.”
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
Results
Stage seven
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 3:20:24
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 5s
General Classification
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 25:38:16
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 22s
3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 48s
