Maltese comedian James Ryder is heading over to Tokyo to be a part of the Tokyo Comedy Store, where he hopes to take his stand-up comedy act to the next level.

James, who recently took part in Rock of Ages, was interviewed by the Malta Independent, and spoke of his experience thus far with stand-up comedy, acting, and his glittering blue spandex bodysuit.

The 24-year-old discovered his love for the stage at Masquerade, spending ten years there. He and another actor came up with the idea to perform stand-up comedy and together they founded a comedy club called the Wembley store boys.

"It wasn't easy", he said. "Recruiting was hard as up until the point where we launched this stand-up comedy club there were no Maltese stand-up comedians. There was Steve Hili who was on the cusp of something but he wasn't doing regular shows. So we had to get people experienced in comedic theatre but hadn't done stand-up comedy."

"The hardest thing was finding a venue to accept this new form of entertainment. I mean there was laugh out loud who brought in international comedians, but none really for local comics. After around 40 establishments declining, one venue gave us a trial contract. We hoped for an audience of 50, but on opening night there were 250 people. At that time I was still the MC and was not a stand-up comedian myself."

"After a year-or-so we had around 20 contracts with hotels and restaurants around Malta and Gozo. Eventually the company disbanded. We then started up the Hard Rock Comedy club, and others."

You were in Rock of Ages recently...

Yes. A friend of mine, Justin, was the assistant director for Rock of Ages. He called me up and told me there was character that I was right for. I asked him about the part and he told me it was for an effeminate flamboyant German character, and his number starts with him ripping off his clothes revealing a glittery blue spandex body suit. That was the best production I had the pleasure of being in.

The only issue was that the cast petitioned me to wear a jockstrap, as the motion was too, let's say 3D, for the audience. I hadn't known about it until Oz and Jay came to the show and spoke about it the next day over the radio. Things were a bit too prominent.

In the midst of this, I got in contact with the Tokyo Comedy Store, as I decided to master the craft of stand-up comedy. I've been studying the language for three years now, and this will allow me to study it through immersion. My father thinks it's a good idea, my mother doesn't - as you know a Maltese person leaving the nest is always a touchy subject.

While I'm there, there will be a competition in March called battle of the laughs. There will be three winners who will be given a contract to go on tour. That's what really sparked off the move.

The difference between starting off in Japan and in Malta is that there is a crowd already warmed up to stand-up comedy as opposed to here where we had to build it up from scratch. Although I'm no longer an agent here, there is still a circuit of stand-up comedians performing which I am very glad to see, and Chris Dingli kind of runs the local scene now.

I'm assuming the Tokyo comedy club will have English speaking audiences correct? Would you consider performing in Japanese?

Yes and yes. It would be difficult as the Japanese language is 80% efficiency. I would love to try it, but it would need to be a bastardised form of comedy. They have multiple forms of comedic theatre, one of which is more visual. One of my favourite comedians, Jinnai Tomonari cannot perform without a visual prop. It's 90% visual aids and it's his live energetic reactions from it in which comedy is born. So stand-up comedy in Japanese for me is possible, but it would have to be another form other than pure verbal comedy for me to succeed.

How would you describe your style ?

I started off with self-degradation and I still use this in around 20% of my shows. One of my favourite stories is about how I go out with a very attractive male friend. He converses with two ladies eventually focussing on one, and the second lady feels so disappointed that she decides to go for less. This sparks my entrance, coming out from the corner. The story ends with me saying that I am the human version of someone saying 'is Pepsi ok?'".

Stand-up comedians would, on occasion, face hecklers. How do you prepare for that?

The only thing that can prepare you for that is experience. There are some people who go to shows specifically to disrupt them. For some people it's not a show, but an opportunity to heckle. Eventually you get to grasp of the different forms of hecklers. There are people who enjoy the show but want to get in a bit of a shout, and to be honest we love this. These are constructive hecklers, who open a window to some form of dialogue, throwing a ball for you to hit it back at him. Then there are some people who just want to disrupt the show but once you are used to it you know how to hit back and silence them.

If you just go out and scream at them you'll throw off the momentum. That's the hardest part when it comes to dealing with hecklers, you have to control them while keeping the show's momentum.

Have you experienced negative hecklers here in Malta?

Yes, especially when starting out. Some people weren't aware of stand-up comedy in general and they were the first hecklers. These were the toughest ones as well as they left no room for dialogue and just wanted to disrupt the show.

I remember my first stand-up show, I was a 16-year-old magician at the time and I wanted to try something different. I had the wrong audience at the wrong place at the wrong time. It was at a Scottish pub, at midnight, after their team lost the match. I cried for half an hour, ten minutes of them were off the stage. I literally threw myself into the deep-end with a trebuchet.

What was your most embarrassing moment on stage?

I was doing a set and there was a person who was just not paying attention, eating food, writing text messages. The comedian in me didn't mind, but the actor in me did. So I called this guy out, saying hey man, there's a show going on maybe you should listen. The guy next to him, pointed at him, tugged at his ear and waved no, which made me realise that this person was deaf. I had just called out a deaf person during a comedy show...

I had managed to recover from that, until I glanced over and saw his friend signing to him that I had called him out. I used the money from the show to constantly buy him drinks after that. I felt horrible. He got a laugh out of it, but I sunk.

So you're moving to Japan in January, it's a completely different culture. Have you ever performed in front of a Japanese audience?

Actually no, but thanks to the Tokyo Comedy Store having been established for many years, there's already an audience there for stand-up comedy . The Tokyo Comedy Store in itself is not a venue, it's more of an agency and there are a number of venues. For example there's one called the Hobgoblin, an Irish Pub, and the crowd on comedy nights is packed, and is comprised of both expats and Japanese persons.

There are also a large number of Maltese people living in Tokyo so I hope they can come out and see my shows.

The comedians there have adapted their humour to the Japanese culture, so before taking part in a show, I will attend a few and study the various comedians.

Obviously I have to drop my Maltese based material as they just wouldn't understand, and come up with a completely new set. For my first set however, I plan to focus on a satirical summary of where I come from, but then I'd need to adapt myself to Japanese humour, and my reacting to being a newcomer to the Japanese culture.

For example in Tokyo, if the Metro is slightly late you are obliged to receive a certificate to give to your boss explaining why you are not on time, so contrasting that with the Maltese transportation system will bring about quite a few laughs.

Who are your biggest influences?

Louis CK. The majority of his set is based on him complaining about things, but he builds so much momentum that he could get as dark as he wants, but because of his momentum the audience goes for it.

George Carlin as well, although he is very political and I try not to go down that route.

One of the hardest things for a comedian is that when they are on stage, they have to perform, even if they are just not in an uplifting mood that day. How do you deal with that?

I was one of the comic relief characters in Rock of Ages, so obviously I had to have a certain energy, and during one of these shows, just a few hours before the curtain went up, I had to put my 16-year-old dog down. It's never an easy thing to do, but the show must go on, and whatever happens you just have to perform. I strongly believe in not disappointing your audience.

So I hear you'll be utilising social media quite heavily while you're over there in Tokyo...

I've just launched my Facebook page, James Ryder, and at the moment it's still quite empty, but I'll fill that up with videos of my reactions towards the Japanese culture. One example, would be of me fighting a professional Sumo wrestler.