Comedian Jamali Maddix, 33, was born in Ilford to Jamaican and British-Greek parents. He studied theatre and performance practice at the University of Salford but dropped out to pursue a career in standup. He is a resident panellist on Sky’s Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Other TV appearances include Taskmaster, regular punditry on Frankie Boyle’s New World Order and Viceland series Hate Thy Neighbour. He’s now hosting a four-part docuseries, Follow the Leader, investigating fringe subcultures. The four films find Maddix travelling the world to embed himself with paedophile hunters, Chicago gangs, gun-toting church leader King Bullethead and “passport bros” – American men who travel overseas to find traditional wives. Maddix tours the UK from next March.
Your new series is made by Louis Theroux’s production company. Are you a fan of his work?
Yes, so I just stole off him. Nah, I’m joking! He and Nick Broomfield were the guys I used to watch religiously. What I took from their docs is how they were always upping the ante. You can’t copy their techniques or mannerisms, you’ve got to have your own shit. Louis’s shtick is a bumbling British guy but that doesn’t work for me because I look like this. Nick Broomfield has got the boom mic as his prop. He jumps in, asks a question, then jumps out again. I had to figure out my own way.
How would you describe your approach?
I try to be completely honest. If I agree or don’t agree, I say so. Trying to be funny is a big part of it as well and not to get bogged down with what my subjects are saying. I’m more interested in why they’re saying it and how they became like this.
Which moments stood out for you?
In the Paedophile Hunters episode, the vigilantes confronted a guy who had arranged to meet a 13-year-old girl. He called his baby mama on camera and confessed to her. It was like this cartoonish cat-and-mouse game, then suddenly all the consequences came at once, which visibly shook him. It was also wild in the Passport Bros episode, talking to a Colombian woman who incapacitates men with scopolamine and robs them. She was speaking in Spanish and the translator suddenly said: “Yeah, I think she might have killed a guy.” I was like, “Woah, stop filming for a second. What did you just say?”
When you go to Tennessee to meet the gun-toting leader of the Rod of Iron Ministries, he takes you to a rifle range. How was that?
That was funny because they were all like, “Ah, you English, you can’t even have guns, you don’t know how to shoot.” But I’ve been to America a lot and used guns before, so I hit all the targets. They were pretty impressed. King Bullethead nicknamed me “Jamali Automatix”.
Were there any points when you feared for your safety?
Not really. Even when I’m in prison with gangsters, the reality is that these guys want to go home. It’s easy to look at them like they’re monsters but there’s no reason for them to stab me. They’re not going to get street cred for killing some British comedian, they’ll just get an extra 30 years on their sentence. The hairiest time was driving around the West Side of Chicago with the rapper C-Money. This other car circled the block a few times and they were like, “We’ve got to go. There are guys who want to kill him. If they know he’s in the car, they’ll shoot at it.” I was like, “But we’re in the car too!” He shrugged. My press pass wasn’t going to protect me there.
There are powerful, poignant moments too. Were you emotionally affected by what you saw?
We like to know what’s going on in the world but we’ve all got busy lives, so often our curiosity only goes so far as bite-size articles. But what’s happening goes a lot deeper. You might know there are young gangsters in Chicago but we rarely think about how fucking sad it is that there’s a bunch of 13-year-olds carrying guns. They’re unhappy kids who’ve been forced to grow up far beyond their mental maturity. I hope the films explore the nuances of human experience. Few things in life are black and white, good or bad. It’s more murky.
You’re a resident panellist on music quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Who have been your favourite guests?
Pete Doherty is a solid, smart, funny guy. He’s a big QPR fan and I mentioned that my uncle [Danny Maddix] used to play for them. He goes, “What’s your uncle’s name? Oh yes, he does such-and-such now.” Bruv, that is niche knowledge! I also loved Bez. He told a story about smoking crack in Barbados and having a fight with a baboon.
Is it true that your standup career began with a blood infection from a tattoo?
I got this tattoo done at uni and it got infected. The day I came out of hospital, I had a heat for a Chortle comedy competition and won it. Everyone was like, “Man, your style is so laidback.” But obviously I was high on drugs. Being off sick gave me time to prepare for the final – I ended up winning it and that’s where I met my agent. He said, “If you want, you can finish uni first,” and I was like, “Nah, I want to be a comic.” I’m grateful to that dumb tattoo. I just wish it wasn’t so shit.
You’re dyspraxic and dyslexic. How does that affect your work?
I’m a bit disorganised and can’t write well but I don’t necessarily need to. It’s partly why I was drawn to standup. The education system didn’t give me a lot of options, so being able to do this job is a blessing. I didn’t have much else to fall back on if this didn’t work out. I’m very lucky that I’ve been able to build myself a life where it doesn’t affect me daily.
How do you relax when you’re not working?
I’m a decent cook. My signature dish is ackee and saltfish. The other day I made a whole Yemeni chicken with rice and currants. Right now I’m big into glazes. My girl’s like, “Why’s there pomegranate glaze on everything? I’m sick of it.” I’m trying to switch off my phone and go for walks. I feel like I’m really hitting my 30s. The idea of going to a club is mortifying to me nowadays.
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Jamali Maddix: Follow the Leader airs on U&Dave at 10pm on Tuesdays from 17 September, with the boxset available to stream free on u.co.uk