Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Funnymen looking forward to festival
Gary Delaney and Milton Jones are primed to bring their hugely popular routines to the Comedy Weekender – and have spoken exclusively with the Advertiser on their preparations for the festival.
Surrey-born king of the one-liners Milton delivers his deadpan humour to great effect on Mock the Week and various shows on BBC Radio 4.
He won the Perrier comedy award for best newcomer in 1996 and is a regular performer at The Comedy Store in London and Manchester.
But this Saturday’s slot at Motherwell Concert Hall will mark Milton’s first ever gig in Lanarkshire, with the 52-yearold saying:“I only know Motherwell from the football results; but it sounds like a place that is both comforting and healthy.
“I think Lanarkshire is famous for coal mining. And I know that ‘what happens down a collapsed coal mine stays down a collapsed coal mine’– so I’d better be careful!
“I’m hoping for a good crowd this weekend – more hospitality than hospital.
“Certainly when I’ve been around Glasgow before the crowd are very clear about what they think of a show. Both good and bad.
“I enjoy performing in Scotland but I wish it was nearer London... let me rephrase that more diplomatically; I wish London was nearer Scotland.
“I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Patrick Rolink [Airdrie comedian and Comedy Weekender organiser] but know others who have‘Ro-linked’up with him before and I’m here on their recommendations.”
Described as“the man Jimmy Carr tries to be”, Gary Delaney takes to the stage at Motherwell Theatre on Friday and“loves” performing for Scottish audiences.
The Warwickshire stand-up comedian and writer – married to fellow comic Sarah Millican – is a regular at the Edinburgh Fringe, toured the UK supporting Jerry Sadowitz in 2003 and appears on TV shows Mock the Week and One Night Stand.
Gary, 43, told us what audiences can expect from his gig this weekend:“A load of jokes. I don’t do stories, I don’t want to bore people with my opinions, I just want to make them laugh as many times in a minute as I can; I’ve just realised how that sounds. I’m not only on stage for one minute!
“When people say to me after a show that their face hurts from laughing that means I did my job properly.
“I love performing in Scotland. Scottish crowds are really up for it.
“There’s usually two types of crowds; artier crowds who like the subtle stuff and aren’t so keen on the rude jokes and more clubby crowds who prefer the ruder stuff and don’t like the subtle bits so much.
“The very best crowds – like the Scottish ones in my experience – like it all. This gives you a much bigger pile of jokes to choose from and makes for a better show for all.
“I’m looking forward to being on at the same event as Milton Jones. I’m a one-liner man myself, so I’m a huge fan of his work.
“I also like the fact that when I work in Scotland, I’m often working with comics I haven’t seen before. It’s great to see someone’s act for the first time.
“Comics on the road often do a lot of jokes about an audience’s rival towns being awful. Sometimes in a show I’d ask the audience where nearby was a bit rubbish; whenever I ask that in Scotland the answer is invariably ‘England!’so I have to take that on the chin.
“Also I’m originally from Birmingham so it’s a bit rich of me to have a go at other places for being rubbish!”