Stand-up Daniel Sloss doesn’t think he’s a sociopath

If you were one of the scores of couples who broke up after seeing Daniel dissect modern relationships in previous show So?, you may struggle with his assertion he’s not a sociopath.

“I was very proud of what I was doing because none of it was real, I didn’t break up any true love,” says the speak as you find stand-up.

He believes in love, but not for one second that it’s out there for everyone or that everyone deserves it. We live in a society where we’ve raised children to want relationships. There are TV shows and movies about them and when you first become an adult and you’re not in a relationship you feel broken.

“We make single people feel like they’re gross. That causes a lot of them to force themselves into relationships to emulate the life they’ve seen being led. I’m very happily single and people will be like ‘oh, you have a family?’ No I don’t. You’re in a relationship and I’m happier than you are, so if you’re going to try to make me feel bad about my life, it makes me feel bad about yours then I will win.”

New show NOW, which he performed for a month at Edinburgh, is his ninth solo show and sixth tour. It looks at the science behind antisocial attitudes, although there was very little research involved he laughs; adding you shouldn’t put too many facts into jokes. Daniel thinks he’s often labelled a sociopath because he values logic over emotions; preferring to keep his in healthy check. They don’t do much except for feel nice.

“We live in a time where emotions have currency, suddenly emotions are more valuable to people than logic which I think is insanity,” he says, adding people today are very comfortable with how often they get angry and how much they overreact.

“People see comedy shows and come out afterwards telling people they were upset, as if it’s anyone’s problem apart from their own... You know what you signed up for.

“If somebody’s upset by something they get to go on Facebook going ‘oh my God this upset me so much’. Then you’ll have four of your stupid friends beneath you going ‘I’m so sorry for you’. People will then get onto that on their Facebook and... complaining gets a reaction and will subconsciously make you do it more.”

His frustrations developed as he got older and he started hanging around with more and more emotional people.

“They were annoying me and I could see, maybe, getting into arguments and you being logical to the whole thing. There’s always a point when someone starts crying and that’s the argument over. How is that fair, that emotions beat logic?”

There’s no accusing Daniel - whose mum bought him a fake ID so he could perform in pubs and clubs when he was 16 - of being dispassionate, especially about stand-up. He watches as much as he can.

“I’ll never understand comedians who don’t watch comedy. I’ve met some and they just say ‘no, I’m not a fan’. Do you reckon footballers don’t watch the World Cup final? I can understand people who are worried about being influenced and accidently picking up on certain things, but to not love what you do, what’s the point of doing it? Some people just don’t love the job and that comes across in their stand-up sometimes.”

Now 26, his style is much darker, much more honest and a bit more personal. No subject is untouchable, although just because you can talk about anything doesn’t mean you should.

“There are certain things that aren’t in my expertise. Does anyone care about my opinion on obesity? I’ve never been overweight so am I adding something positive to the conversation or would I just be being s****y about people who are overweight,” says Daniel, who’s appeared a record seven times on the Conan talkshow in the States.

His advice to audiences is make sure you watch some of his more recent gigs online.

“If the last time you saw me I was on British television and I was young and had floppy hair be aware my material has changed drastically since then and this might not be for you.”

• See Daniel Sloss at Norwich Playhouse, 7.30pm, October 7.