All About Manchester

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Bolton-born Dave Spikey is a much-loved figure on the Manchester comedy scene. This month, as he prepares to bring his famous brand of laid-back stand-up to the Manchester Comedy Festival, he explains to All About Manchester why taking the mickey out of yourself is funny while having a go at celebrities isn't.

How long have you been doing stand-up?

I started stand-up in 1990 after being involved in amateur dramatics. But I did it in parallel with my day job as a biomedical scientist in haematology at the Royal Bolton Hospital for the first ten years. So for a very long time comedy was a hobby. It was a good hobby because it allowed me to give up my emergency on-call shifts at night. But I never contemplated being a stand-up comedian and doing this professionally until I got the break with writing Phoenix Nights.

Are you as relaxed as you look on stage or do you still get nervous?

You have to have nerves when you go on; if you're too relaxed, you're complacent and you lose a bit of the edge. So I've always got nerves because every venue is different, every audience is different. But once I'm on and I know it's working, I do get really quite relaxed on stage. My main worry is my memory, as I often can't remember what to do next. But my style is very conversational so if I'm stuck, I can always ask the audience a few questions until it comes back to me.

Do you ever get nightmares about forgetting your lines on stage?

Yes, I think a lot of comics get those. It usually happens when you're about to go on. Someone says 'will you welcome on stage...' and you think 'what, who, why...what do I do?' You go blank. And sometimes you can get to the microphone and start talking to the audience and you still can't remember.

How does the Manchester audience compare to other audiences?

I think I'm bound to go down better in Manchester and the North West because that's where I'm from. So people can associate more closely with what I'm talking about because I'm one of them - I speak their language and use local references. So performing in the North West is like playing a big home game. But I don't buy into this North-South divide, and I've not noticed a great deal of difference in audience response across the country.

Why do you think Manchester produces so many good comedians?

We do seem to have a disproportionate number of successful comedians and I think it's due to a combination of things. It's the way we speak - we have a sing-songy manner of speech that lends itself to comedy. It's the attitude in the North West - in general we have an optimistic outlook on life, where every cloud has a silver lining. And it's the fact that we don't mind laughing at ourselves. If you've had a bad day, if you've had relationship or money problems, you get with your mates, go to a pub and have a laugh, and everything looks a bit brighter. People always seem to find something to laugh about around here.

Would you be better off, career-wise, living in London?

I have often been advised by my agents and various people to move to London to get more work and more exposure, but at first I had my hospital job so I couldn't consider moving. By the time I gave up my day job I didn't need to move to London because I got the exposure anyway. I did the London circuit for years, but I would never relocate there. I'm a bit parochial, I like my own bed. Even when I'm on tour, whenever possible I'll drive home to spend the night here.

Would you advise fledgling regional talent to move to London?

I think people should live wherever suits them best. I don't see the need to move to London and I think if you are going to be uncomfortable and unsettled there then obviously that's not where you should be. But then again living in London suits some people. You have to be where you're happy and then you'll perform at your best.

Who's your favourite comedian of all time?

Billy Connolly. I think no-one else comes anywhere near him in stand-up terms. He blew me away with all his early stuff. He would walk on stage and say 'hello' and you'd start laughing already - that's the mark of a great comedian, you just laugh with whatever they say because they are naturally funny people as opposed to people saying funny stories.

What makes you laugh?

I'm always laughing. Everyday life makes me laugh. But what I find especially funny is people falling off stuff - jet skis or bikes for example - when they're showing off.

How do you turn everyday life into a stand-up show?

I think good comedians see things that we all see - the ridiculousness, the drama, the comedy of life - put their twist on them and then exaggerate them. Something may happen to me during the day that I find very funny for some reason. I go into the pub that night and tell someone the story and they laugh. Someone else walks into the pub and I tell the story again but this time I make it bigger. And then by the tenth time I've told it, it doesn't resemble very much what actually happened, but it's very funny. I think it's a gift that comedians have to take an everyday event and make it bigger than it was and add twists and inject comedy into it and put their stamp on it.

What's not funny?

Anything that is offensive for any reason. I've always shied away from personal attacks on people. I really don't like people having a go at celebrities - they are easy targets, they can't answer back and I think making cruel comments just for a laugh is cheap.

What's your personal highlight from this year's Manchester Comedy Festival, other than your show of course?

I would definitely go and see Jimmy Carr.

An Audience with Dave Spikey comes to The Comedy Store on Oct 28. Tickets cost £16.50/£14.50 and you can book by calling 0844 847 1536. Other highlights of this year's Manchester Comedy Festival include Ross Noble (The Opera House, Oct 3 - 6), Jimmy Carr (The Apollo, Oct 27) and Johnny Vegas (The Sheridan Suite, Oct 25).

Visit www.manchestercomedyfestival.co.uk for more information.

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