Funnyman Alan Davies is on his way to town
It's a long way from Whitstable Labour Club to winning a BAFTA and becoming a mainstay on the nation's TV screens. But funnyman Alan Davies has made that journey, having started his stand-up career in those less-than-salubrious surrounds.
The star, who will play Lichfield's Garrick Theatre tonight (July 5) began his stand-up career in 1988 and within three years had been named Time Out's Best Young Comic.
He rapidly became one of the nation's favourite performers before switching to TV, playing the title role in Jonathan Creek and starring alongside Stephen Fry in QI.
Davies has been revisiting former glories this year after revising his Jonathan Creek character for the first time in three years during an Easter special. He is also returning to stand-up for the first time in a decade.
"There's a lot of love for Creek – and from new fans too. People who like QI maybe, or box-sets are a huge thing. It's on Netflix now, so suddenly people can tap into a load of episodes at once.
"Quite often you get people saying, 'I've been recovering from an operation and watched every single one' – so they associate you with the period when they began to feel well … so you're performing a service somehow."
Jonathan Creek will be back for three more episodes next year too.
"Yeah, three one-hour episodes. It was another case of, 'Are you free in the autumn?' – so I thought something might be afoot.
"I'm doing lots of stand-up, so I am doing festivals in the summer nowadays. I used to do Glastonbury and Edinburgh and that was it. Now every town has a festival, so I am doing lots. More Creek in the autumn, and then my DVD will be out in time for Christmas, so yes, that's my year."
Davies is happy to have returned to stand-up.
"Yeah having had ten years away from doing it, it's great. I went to the Pleasance Theatre Studio near where I live in North London, and did lots of work in progress which was quite harrowing for all concerned, especially the audience.
"You get drawn back to it really; you just can't help but come back to it. It's the one thing you can do where you are in complete control and you can't be cancelled after one series, no one has to commission you, you can manage if you have kids, because you can manage how many days you work and where you work and when.
"Whereas filming is a very big commitment, a lot of hours, so there are lots of pluses. Also I think when you get older you are sort of more qualified to be a stand-up comedian really. You have more to say."
