FANCY spending an evening with Gok Wan, Rio Ferdinand, Gary Lineker, Simon Cowell, Arsene Wenger and Frank Skinner? No, I didn’t think so.
Thankfully, they all just make brief appearances in impressionist Alistair McGowan’s latest show, One and Many, which visits Aberdeen’s Music Hall on Monday.
The tour is a welcome return to the live circuit for Alistair, who hasn’t toured for 10 years. The past decade has seen him establish himself as an actor, performing in such dramas as Bleak House, Mayo and Preston Front.
“I loved my time in the theatre, but I started to think ‘I don’t think that joke works’,” said Alistair, who won a Bafta and a Royal Television Society Award for his comedy series with Ronni Ancona, The Big Impression.
“I thought: ‘I’d prefer to do my own jokes that don’t work rather than someone else’s’. I did a panto at Christmas. In the middle of the show, I did a solo spot and it went really well. It was great fun doing the voices and people obviously really loved them, so I thought the time was right to go back.”
Why did Alistair get fed up of stand-up in the first place? The audiences certainly didn’t stop finding him funny.
“I would sit at home watching most sketch shows and thinking: ‘I don’t find this funny. If this is what makes people laugh, I don’t think I can do it any more,’” he said.
“But suddenly, along came Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse with their fantastic BBC1 sketch show, and instantly I got it. What they do is brilliant. They’re not trying to please anyone else – they’re just performing what they observe. You can’t try to be like the latest 22-year-old, you just have to do what you think is funny. Harry and Paul made me think: ‘I can do this, you know.’ So here I am, back performing live and trying to make people laugh.”
“Years ago, I’d see comedians leaving the circuit and then coming back, and I’d think: ‘Why?’ But now I completely understand that. There are a lot of new gags I want to tell and a lot of new ideas I want to give vent to. Since the end of the TV show, I’ve had four years to refuel, and now I’m relishing the prospect of coming back with all this fresh material.”
Now that he’s back on the road, Alistair has remembered just what it is about stand-up comedy that he loved and missed.
“People really do love impressions. It’s like necromancy – people don’t expect that voice to come out of that face. There you are, talking like yourself, when suddenly – bang – why is Louis Theroux speaking out of your face?” said Alistair.
“It’s the ultimate magic act. Audiences may have been aware of something about Colin Firth or Gary Lineker but, until I point it out, they have never really analysed it. So when I say: ‘Doesn’t Gok Wan sound exactly like Simon Cowell, but camper?’, audiences recognise that and immediately laugh.”
Now that he has returned to the world of stand-up Alistair is booked up into next year, and he’s happier than he has been in a long time.
“I don’t think I’ve bitten off more than I can chew, but my jaws are aching right now.”
Alistair McGowan’s One and Many Tour comes to the Music Hall, Aberdeen on Monday. For tickets or more information call 01224 641122, or visit www.boxofficeaberdeen.com