Award-winning comedian Sean Hughes, 46, is back after a break and touring his latest show, Life Becomes Noises. Here he talks to Metro how his audience has changed, writing novels and growing old gracefully.
Sean Hughes talks about growing old gracefully (Picture: File)
Your new show is based around your father's death – was that a tough sell?
Absolutely, but it's about the affirmation of life. However, to talk about the affirmation of life you need to talk about death. Comedy should be a bit more emotional than just telling gags. But I think you need two or three people to tell you the show's good, because I'd be the same if I heard it was about death. I'd be like: 'Yeah, I think I'll watch Waterloo Road, if that's all right.'
What did you learn about yourself in writing it?
That as you grow older, it is probably best to lower your expectations of life. It becomes a lot more bearable that way.
You've said you don't like touring. How have you found it this time?
I don't like touring in general but I love this show, so I'm willing to take all the bad things that come with it. A bad aspect is traffic on the motorway. And sometimes you're in places such as Bolton for longer than you'd like to be.
Has your mum come to see it?
No, she wouldn't understand. She'd just get embarrassed that I'll be talking about things that shouldn't really be said on stage. It's a different world to hers. She really is so far removed from what I do.
You've been doing comedy since the early 1990s – has your audience changed since then?
I haven't tried to be hip for such a long time, so it's great to look out into an audience and see 60-year-olds p***ing themselves laughing. My kind of humour now isn't like an all-round entertainer, where it's fun for the whole family. But anyone can go to see it if you're into truthful comedy.
Have you grown old disgracefully?
No, it's the opposite. I don't drink or smoke or do anything any more. I don't fear getting older in the slightest. I never really enjoyed my youth. There was too much emphasis on having fun. I was never really into going dancing or anything like that.
You took a break from comedy for a while – what made you return?
I stopped for about seven years because I didn't feel I had anything much to say. But then, when you get older, you get a different perspective on things. First and foremost I've always been a comedian, so it was always a sabbatical really.
You wrote some novels in that time – do you plan to write any more?
Not at the moment. They have to come out of my heart. I'm able to do that at the moment with my stand-up. I don't read as much as I'd like either – I tend to like television too much. The last thing I watched was You've Been Trumped on BBC2 – about Donald Trump and the Scottish golf course. But, generally, I'm not really into current affairs: things such as Question Time kind of bore me, because we live in a political system that doesn't work so I find it very off-putting when people get very intense about the minutiae, when the bigger picture doesn't work in the slightest.
You did an episode of Miss Marple a couple of years back – how did that come about?
They offered me the part. Some people would say shows like that are a bit cheesy but I love doing oddball things. Miss Marple and Coronation Street, which I've also been in, are real British institutions, so it's always nice to do those sort of things.
You did six years on Never Mind The Buzzcocks – do you fancy more panel shows?
No. I might turn up occasionally but I've done my time on panel shows. There's a place for them but there seems to be way too many now. I don't watch Buzzcocks. I'm sure it's fine but when I was on it, I wasn't really aware of who half the guests were. They'd be totally lost on me now.
Your real first name is John – why did you change it?
I had to for Equity. Sean is Irish for John. I remember years ago talking to Bono and he hates being called by his real name – he said to me: 'Paul is dead.' And it's a bit like that for me – that John guy doesn't really exist any more. My mum calls me Sean, so it's not a biggie.
Who is your comedy hero?
Without a doubt it's Richard Pryor. I saw him on telly when I was 14 and that's why I do comedy. We'd all heard people do jokes but this was the first guy who came out and spoke about what was happening in life from his own point of view. And that blew my mind – it still does.
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