Photo by Jeff Stonic
With his new special, Wallpaper, streaming everywhere via 800 Pound Gorilla beginning on Jan. 18, comedian Adam Cayton-Holland commemorates his dad era with a hilarious set skewering the joys – and frustrations – of fatherhood. Everything from traveling as a family to analyzing Paw Patrol to teaching kids important life lessons is discussed with razor sharp insight, playfulness and a touch of surrealism.
“I talk about it on the special, but it was very important to me that I don’t become one of these ‘kids say the darnedest things’ hacks and that I don’t lose my edge or whatever. But if you have children, and you’re not talking about it on stage, maybe you’re a shitty dad, you know what I mean,” said Cayton-Holland by phone ahead of Wallpaper‘s wide release. “I’m writing what I know as they say, but I really wanted it to be in my voice and relatable to anyone even if you don’t have children.”
From start to finish, Wallpaper is absolutely relatable to anyone and everyone regardless of their parental status. Kids are certainly a common topic, but each joke – many of which are depicted in the striking cover design, created by Geoff Tice – has such a human element that it is easy to relate to the comedian’s experiences as a father.
One laugh out loud bit comes as Cayton-Holland explains that he and his wife have taught their eldest son a fictional – and completely hilarious – sound to associate with giraffes. It’s impossible not to laugh along as he describes the joy his son finds in making the sound at the zoo and elsewhere. By the end of the story, the comedian imagines that the bubble will burst someday as a well-meaning adult will explain to his son that he is mistaken about the giraffe’s call.
Cayton-Holland revealed that, sadly, that day has come as his son’s teacher seems to have spilled the beans.
“I think my kid’s already figuring out that dad’s kind of full of shit,” he said with a laugh. “It’s an important lesson. Everyone’s gotta learn it. I didn’t see it coming this early, but here we are. He’s a smart kid.”
Elsewhere on Wallpaper, Cayton-Holland marvels at an elderly gentleman’s ability to engage in creative conversations with strangers, something that the comedian has recently taken an interest in as well. When asked if he’s looking forward to his grandfather era, Cayton-Holland joked that he’s actually looking past it.
“I think I’m just looking forward to death, so yeah, take from that what you will,” he said, laughing. “Truthfully, I feel like obviously you write what you know and I’ll be a dad forever so this will bleed in, but I do feel like, as a comedian, you’re allowed one album or special where it’s like. ‘And here’s what’s going on with fatherhood.’ And that is this for me.”
He continued, “I already have my next hour and I have some jokes about my kids in there, but there’s a lot of other stuff as well. To me, that’s important, kind of reclaiming oneself. I think Wallpaper is about losing oneself to the family and becoming the wallpaper in the background but as a comic I like that my next hour is already not 100 percent kid jokes.”
Now that Wallpaper is out in the world, Cayton-Holland has been working on screenplays – writing on his own as well as with his The Grawlix cohorts Andrew Orvedahl and Ben Roy – continuing with the podcast The Grawlix Saves the World, and performing comedy. He is also returning to a pre-pandemic, Edinburgh-bound, one-man show based on his book, Tragedy Plus Time – which was published in 2018 and addresses the experience of losing his little sister to suicide. He will be performing the piece in Denver this February.
I’m starting to kick the dust off of that and take it back out and there might be a little extended run of that,” he explained. “That, I’m extremely proud of. It’s a little bit more Edinburgh fringe stuff and I’m excited to do that again.”
This April, Cayton-Holland will celebrate his 20th anniversary in stand-up comedy. With Wallpaper, he just released an album he considers to be the best thing he’s ever done and he’s looking forward to pushing the art of stand-up to new places in the next two decades.
“Comedy is great because you can be relevant and awesome all the way deep into your life. You don’t have to be a young man. Some of my favorite comedians now are like Patton Oswalt, Marc Maron, Gary Gulman, so you can kind of become an older, great elder-statesman of comedy. I hope to be there someday,” he said noting that he already feels like he’s cheating the system by getting to tell jokes and make a living.
Stand-up comedy is a versatile art form that can be cathartic or joyful, analytical or full of fun on top of finding hilarity in the world. Cayton-Holland has enjoyed seeing how his established fans have responded to Wallpaper and, now that the album is available everywhere, he is excited to see the reaction from newcomers as well.
“I think people tend to generalize stand-up comedy,” he said. “And think, ‘Stand-up, it’s all the same.’ But it’s like music. There are genres of it and you can find what you’re looking for now more than ever. You can find your comics, your people. I love that and I’m excited to have this out there for people to find.”
Wallpaper is available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, and everywhere. Click here to pick-up a copy and more information about Adam Cayton-Holland can be found at Adamcaytonholland.com.