Comic is ‘ buzzing’ to perform at Pavilion

ACOMEDIAN has revealed how much it means to be able to perform at Glasgow’s “iconic” Pavilion Theatre ahead of his fourth tour.

Gary Faulds will be entertaining dozens of audiences when he visits 36 venues across the UK as well as one in Amsterdam throughout 2023.

The 35- year- old, who grew up in North Glasgow, will be performing at the city’s Pavilion Theatre on September 30 as part of his Frontier tour.

“It’s my first time ever and I’m absolutely buzzing,” Gary said.

“It’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to perform.

“I went to see Jim Davidson there with my dad a few months before he passed away. That was one of the last places I had been with my dad in the sense of a night out.

“And when you grow up as a kid, you go to the Pavilion for pantomimes – it’s an iconic theatre in Glasgow.

“I was in recently and just to sit in a room like that and think ‘ I’m gonna be on that stage’, it’s absolutely mind- blowing.

“And that feeling never goes. It’s not as if you do big gigs, you go

‘ I’m used to this now’. Every gig just feels like an adventure and it’s amazing that I’m still getting to perform.”

Gary, who is a dad of four and also works full- time as a gas engineer, first learned his trade after Energy Technical Academy reached out to him during Covid- 19.

He had been working as a fulltime comedian and started touring when the country went into lockdown, resulting in his shows being cancelled.

“The college knew I was struggling and just sitting about the house demented,” Gary said.

“I had never had any qualifications or anything like that. I initially took up their offer just to get out of the house, but I absolutely fell in love with it.

“I get good job satisfaction fixing boilers, you go into a house and the family are all sitting freezing with blankets around them, and you fire up the boiler and the house is warm and they’re all so happy.

“I also get free food, it’s amazing. People are just pure feeders.

“If Covid never happened, I would have continued just doing comedy. Comedy is good, but I only tour like four months of the year, so the rest of the time I was just in the house an anxious mess.

“My daughter is doing her course at the same college now too, and she is my apprentice. She was working as a beautician before, so she’s completely changed her career and now she’s going to be a gas engineer. I’m dead proud of her.”

Gary explained that getting out and about and mingling with customers has also helped improve his comedy material.

He added: “I’m getting to speak to people all the time, so I feel like my material is getting a lot better.

“I just feel I’m a bit more relatable than before. My customers are quite funny as well.

“I went to a house recently and the customer had a photo of me and her in a collage on the wall. I was like ‘ that’s mental that I’m on the wall’.

“Sometimes I’ll go to a house, and they’ll be like, ‘ oh, I’ve been to see you’, so it’s funny because they see me on stage and then I’m in their house fixing their boiler.”

Last year, Gary performed two shows at the SEC Armadillo in one day and revealed he had to drink lots of coffee and Red Bull to cope.

He said: “I done the Armadillo before Covid, but I couldn’t remember much of it because of my adrenaline. You’re gigging to 3000 people, so it’s absolutely nuts.

“When we did the two shows, I got to take it in a lot more and I was crapping myself.

“After the first time you come off of the stage, you’re just buzzing and then you’re like, ‘ oh I need to go through that again’.

“I just drank as much coffee and Red Bull as I could to go back out, because your adrenaline just dumps and you’re exhausted. But they were really great shows, I loved it there.

“I’ve improved a lot with my anxiety. I still get anxious, but in the past, I wouldn’t leave the house and I’d just be a mess constantly. I’m a lot better now.

“I think anybody would be anxious before they go on stage, but when you’ve got anxiety it’s a bit more heightened.

“When you come off the stage, you just feel invisible. And then when you are on the stage, your anxiety totally goes when you get to the mic.

“Something I’ve always said is that I’d love to be the Gary on stage off stage because on stage I’m confident and off stage, I’m not as confident. But comedy is definitely something that’s kept me going.

“I’ll never have the fear that I’ve got before I go on stage anywhere else. No matter what’s happening in my life, there will be no level of anxiety than what I feel before I walk out in front of thousands of people.

“But I’m looking forward to getting back to it and I’m very grateful that I get to do comedy.” To purchase tickets for Gary’s tour, visit https:// www. garyfaulds. co. uk/ see- me- live