Preview: Chris Addison in Kendal (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Preview: Chris Addison in Kendal

4:50pm Wednesday 31st March 2010 in

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CHRIS Addison is so much more than a stand-up comedian.

He starred in critically-acclaimed series The Thick Of It, hosts a live topical show on BBC Radio 5 and has written two books.

But standing alone on stage making the audience laugh is where his heart lies.

“Stand-up is my day job,” said 38-year-old, Manchester-born, Chris.

“The rest of the stuff seemed to just happen. I’ve never had a grand ambition but it’s been nice to be able to do things that have come along.

"I’m doing all these things that if you’d told me I’d be doing then when I was 14 I’d have fallen over in shock and excitement.

"But I still think of myself as a stand-up. That’s what I do.”

Life as a comic does have its ups and downs though, he admitted.

“As a stand-up you lead a solitary life,” said Chris.

“You drive around the country on your own and then you get on stage and talk to 200 people, but not in a conversational way.

"After that you’re back in your hotel room flicking through your DVD collection going: ‘What can I watch now?’ You can go days and not really speak to anybody other than answering: ‘Where do you want your mic putting?’ and ‘Do you want a glass of water on the stage?’.”

But although life can seem removed from reality at times, it still has its pressures.

“What you have to understand is that comedy is just a job. It’s the same as anything else,” said Chris.

“Comics have the same money worries and family worries as everybody else.

"In fact, I’m in a far less secure job than the people I’m making laugh.

"It’s a terrifyingly insecure business. Bringing up a family is the same no matter what your job, however successful or powerful you are.

“You could be Barrack Obama or anybody, nobody is given the gift of a guarantee of not having family troubles.

"You just know there will be times when Obama is in a meeting with the various heads of the armed forces in the United States, being taken through some delicate situation, and there’ll be part of him thinking: ‘What am I going to do with those girls?’.”

The 40-date tour, which sees Chris appearing at the Brewery Arts Centre, is his biggest to date.

And he promises it will include his trademark mix of daftness, whimsy, jokes, lies and flapping about.

Chris said: “I’m really excited to be going back out on the road.

"I’ve got a packet of Werther’s Originals in the glovebox, a voucher for 20p off any non-meat Ginsters product purchased at Welcome Break service stations before the end of February, a flask of Bovril and a whole bunch of new jokes and stories.”

So what makes Chris laugh?

My favourite stand-up of all time is Billy Connolly,” he said.

“He’s never been bettered. At his best there’s no-one that’s touched him for sheer brilliance.

"I’ve never been to see him and not been laughing so much I’ve thought I might have to go to hospital.

“But in general I like silliness and daftness. Those are the things that really make me laugh — absurdity.

"I was talking to a friend about Father Ted last night, saying it doesn’t matter how many times you see them, the absurdity of it is just brilliant.

“Being a comic makes it harder to enjoy stand-up comedy.

"There’s always a part of you thinking: ‘Oh I can see what you’ve done there, that’s clever’.

"For me the mark of a good comic is that it makes me forget momentarily that I’m one too.”

* Chris Addison, Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal on Wednesday, March 31. £15.