Comedy - Sean Hughes

Comedian Sean Hughes is something of a reluctant celebrity. “A few weeks ago I was asked if I’d like to go on Strictly Come Dancing!” he said in a recent interview. “It was confirmation that nobody has any idea what I stand for”. He has only got his own achievements to blame, though. His early success (he was the youngest ever winner of the Perrier Award, in 1990), and subsequent career trajectory turned him into an instantly marketable TV face. Channel 4 launched Hughes onto the small screen when they turned his award-winning Edinburgh show into two series-worth of comedy sitcom and the Beeb’s Never Mind The Buzzcock’s secured his place firmly in the public consciousness. Now, however, Hughes is keen to cut that cord. “It was a great show, and not to belittle it, “ says Hughes, “but it really only required one brain cell.”

Hughes spent years shying away from stand-up in order to avoid audiences drawn by his TV persona rather than his material. “Autograph sessions lasted longer than the show. I hated it.” Now, though, he has decided to return to his stand-up roots with a new touring show that comes to the Gardner Arts Centre tonight, in which new material is interspersed with ad-libbed extras. ‘My favourite part of the show is the first ten minutes,’ he says. ‘I never know what my opening line is going to be. I just go on stage and see what happens.” ER