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Netherlands, is especially looking forward to playing arenas. “I used to be daunted by the prospect of performing in an arena. Before a show, I would look out at the huge audience and think, ‘Great, what’s on tonight? Oh my God, it’s me!’ But having played so many arenas now, I can see that there is something rather magical about them.
“I recently played a big room with an audience of 3,000 people and no screens. That made me realise that screens can be really helpful. They can make the performance very intimate and help you see the subtlety of the stand-up’s facial expressions. In a large theatre, you can’t always see the nuances of the performance.”
The comedian, who has delivered a record-breaking 28 performances at London’s 16,000 capacity O2 Arena where, after matching the achievements of Prince, Take That and One Direction, he was given the keys to the venue in 2015, adds that, “some people say, ‘You might as well watch an arena performance on TV.’
“But it’s not the same. An arena show is live, it’s not an edited TV programme. Things will be happening in the room that night which will never happen again. When you’re there, the atmosphere is amazing and you’re surrounded by people really laughing. Nothing beats that. Rather than being frightened by that, I really feed off it and enjoy the fact that each night is a one-off. It’s everyone’s special night out and I have the privilege of sharing that with them and I work hard to make it the best night it can be.”
Michael, who has previously sold out arenas in New Zealand, Australia and Dubai and holds the record for the biggest-selling comedy shows in South Africa and Norway, proceeds to outline some of the topics he will be covering in his new show.
As he has done so often in the past, Michael will also be focusing on his family.
“I always talk about my two boys. That’s an ever-evolving subject. They’re amazing. They’re doing very well, and I’m very proud of them. But that changes every day – talk to me tomorrow and I may give you a different story.
“But I will definitely be doing jokes about my oldest getting a little bit teenager-y. The way he says ‘sorr-ee’ is hilarious. He has an amazing ability to say the word ‘sorry’ in every way other than the one which means ‘sorry’!”
The comic says his wife may not feature in tour as much as she has in previous shows.
“She seems in the clear at the moment. She’s had it quite bad in the past. That was never clearer than when we went to the Royal Box at Wimbledon. At one point, Prince William walked past. He stopped and said, ‘Hello, Michael.’ Then he turned to my wife and said, ‘So you’re the one in all the jokes.’ Prince William has been watching jokes about my wife farting at night! But things are looking pretty good for her in this show.”
Michael will be talking about his new puppy, too and will also, be discussing his country house.
“It’s our dream home that we haven’t been to for several months! We have a security system where I can watch the house on my phone. So I can look at my dream house and move the cameras, but what I can’t do is live in it!
“We have made our own personal paradise there. We’re very lucky, it’s got everything we want, but unfortunately we can’t have that in London, so we have got to enjoy it in the middle of nowhere!”
The stand-up, who has hosted the Royal Variety Performance twice, confesses that his lovely country house comes with a few in-built problems. “There is constant anxiety. There is continual tension about the plumbing and electrics.
“Every time I turn on the hot tap, I’m fearful: will the water warm up or not? You start to kid yourself that it is heating up, but of course it’s not.
“And whenever I turn the light on, I expect the whole house to go up. It’s quite old, so when you flush the loo, it makes noises for the next 24 hours in the weirdest places I stand there thinking – ‘We’ve got a pipe in there!’”
Finally, Michael reflects on what he would like audiences to take away from his tour. “I would like them to take away the programme, the merchandise and the motivation not to write a bad review which I will read in the car!
“In all seriousness, what I do is so silly. It helps when you remind yourself that it’s all very silly. I try not to get over-awed by people staring at me – tomorrow they’ll be staring at something else. They just want to have a laugh. So I try to make them laugh as hard as possible for as long as possible and give them the opportunity to say to each other on the way home, ‘That was hilarious. My face hurts.’”
Michael McIntyre’s Big World Tour is at Motorpoint Arena Cardiff from Wednesday, April 11 to Monday, April 16. Box office: 029 2022 4488.