"I like Lancashire bizarrely": comedian Mark Thomas on performing in Lancashire three times in October

Mark Thomas has been in comedy for over 35 years, starting off as a standup, he became well known for the political stunts he performed in his Channel 4 show Mark Thomas Comedy Product which ran for six series.

Since that show ended in 2003, Mark’s career has been a mix of both comedy and political activism, he even held the Guinness World Record for most protests in 24 hours for four years.

Now, the 61-year-old father of two is making a return to stand up after a long haitus and he is bringing his new show ‘Gaffa Tapes’ to Chorley Theatre on October 2, Dawren Library Theatre on October 3 and Lowther Pavillion on October 5.

Celebrity reporter Aimee Seddon was able to chat to Mark ahead of his Lancashire shows so take a look at what he had to say below.

What is Gaffa Tapes about?

Mark: “It's a show which is me going back to stand up roots and basically screaming about anything that's inside my head at the moment, and especially what's going on politically and socially and [in] my love life as well.

So what can audiences expect from it?

Mark:” Oversharing! They can expect rants and poetry- but by poetry, I mean limericks- jokes, there's loads of jokes and a proper full on attack upon anyone in power.”

Why have you returned to stand-up after a hiatus?

Mark: “Couple of reasons. First one being that I did a theatre show last year called ‘England and Son’, which I'm very proud of and we won six awards, we toured it all over the country, we took it to jails. In fact, now if you want to see the show, that's the only place you'll get to see it, if you're in jail. We took it over to Australia, performed in the Adelaide Festival, all of that and I've got nothing. I've got no money. I've got absolutely no money. There's no money in the theatre whatsoever so I'm skint, I'm totally, totally skint and so I thought, I'll go back to stand up just to make some cash! That's one of the reasons. The other is, actually, this was my first love.

“I’ve always said I wanted to die a stand up, this is what I love doing. I’ve adored it from day one, and I've been doing it now for, I think it's 39 years - yeah next year will be 40 years and it’s quite an interesting thing to to look back and go ‘oh, I've managed to avoid a proper job for nearly 40 years. It actually involves a bit more work than you think it does. Yeah, it's hard work doing nothing. So I love stand up. I always have loved stand up. I love seeing good stand up. I love seeing stand up that excites me and takes me somewhere different and I love seeing it when you get new comics on who are…amazing.

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“So going back to the circuit was like going back to the old days, in many ways. I went back and basically said ‘okay, I've got four months, I'm gonna do 100 gigs to get myself match fit for Edinburgh.’ And so I went to do all the new material nights, all the free gigs, all the bucket gigs. I did one gig where basically the gig was taking place in the pub kitchen so there's just a screen drawn between the people working in the kitchen and the rest of the audience -that was interesting.

“It's really interesting to spot the ways it's changed. When I started, people used to go to cabaret gigs because you wanted to see stuff you couldn't see on telly and now people go because you've seen it on telly or Tiktok or YouTube or whatever and you know what you expect. So there's a degree of expectation that has changed, but generally speaking, the level of competence in new comedians is really high.”

How are you feeling about bringing the show to Lancashire?

Mark: “Well, I like Lancashire bizarrely. I mean, even if I didn't, I wouldn't say I don't, one, because it's slightly rude, and two, because I want people to come. But for me, touring around the country means I get to go to a lot of interesting places, because I've done this for so long, I've got mates who I see at every gig. My Chorley gig is soon, and I've already had a contact from someone who comes to my shows saying ‘I've got your jar of pickled eggs ready for your gig.’ Isn't that lovely? Someone's going to bring me a jar of pickled eggs, I think that's brilliant.”

So I take it you’ve performed in Chorley before, what about Darwen or Lytham?

“In Darwin, yeah, I like the library. I think what's really interesting about that gig is it's a proper community gig, it's right in the heart of the community there. I think both Darwin and Chorley are places that have been battered a bit over the past 20-30 years and what's interesting about those places is there's people fighting desperately to make it better from a community level.

“I think that the Chorley Theater is run by the nicest people, I’ll absolutely promise you they're the nicest people you'll ever meet. They're caring, they're thoughtful, they're considerate. They really want the acts to have a good time, and they want Chorley to be the epicentre of the artistic world and actually, that's the aspiration they should have. Why shouldn't it be?

“Then yeah I’ve been up to the Lowther Pavilion, it's a poor man's Blackpool, really, I like to call it lower Blackpool and I love the fact you've got Bobby Ball outside, the statue, which is really exciting. I like the venue- again, it's run by people who are committed to improving the place, to get the place up on its feet. That stretch of coastline was, in its heyday, the home of the working class holiday. It's taken a battering but people are trying to revive it, and that's brilliant.”

Whilst you’re up in Lancashire, have you got any other plans?

Mark: “I'm not quite sure. I mean, I'll be having a nice wander around Chorley actually. If I remember rightly, Chorley’s got quite a nice little market, and so I'll have a nice wander around there. I might bring my walking boots and head out to some hills. That's basically what I'll be doing.

One of the nicest things is exploring the area. I forget where it was but I was up in the northwest one, quite small venue, and I got there about four hours before the gig, and worked out there was a stone circle a 20 minute taxi ride away. I just went ‘mate, do you know where this circle is?’ He goes ‘no’ so I said ‘right, we’ll work it out together’. So me and a taxi driver went and found a stone circle and went pottering around it, and he was asking me ‘what's this all about?’ I go ‘I don't know. It's just nice. It's roots and culture.’ That's what I do on my days off.”

Can you remember what Lancashire audiences are like?

Mark: “Generally they’re nice. They get very upset if you say Cumbria - that's one thing that I've noticed about Lancastrians!”

If people in Lancashire know you best from your TV shows, how do your live shows differ?

Mark: “Well, you won't see me arrive at the venue with a camel and a tank. I mean, that's going to be the big thing that you notice. I started out as a stand up so that's where I've always kind of been, if people want to come because they've seen me do something on Channel 4 20 odd years ago, be my guest! Please come along, I hope you enjoy it. It's going to be a lot more freewheeling and of the moment than the telly shows could ever be.”

You’ve led us nicely to the next question, why should people buy tickets if they haven’t already?

Mark: “Why? Because I've been doing it for long enough not to f*** up.”

Are you promising them a perfect show you mean?

Mark: “Every show is a perfect show. Every show should be unique, every show should be exciting and should connect in a real, proper way with the audience. You don't come along and just go right I’ll knock it out, and then fuck off. The whole point is to do a show that's really exciting, Is of the moment. Stand up- the great thing about it is it's like jazz., it is never the same twice. It should actually be about improvising new material and actually creating new things and that's the brilliant thing about it. If you if you just want to go and see a recitation, go to the theatre.”

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Is this return to stand-up a one off or the start of more tours- can we expect to see you in Lancashire again?

Mark: “Yeah, you will see me again in Lancashire. I’m actually working on the next show, which is a theatre show all about prison, with my mate Ed, who's written it, and we're touring it around prisons again and but we'll be taking it around the country.

“I'm also directing a show with a performance artist called Victoria Melody, which is really great and bizarrely, I'm doing a documentary film, which is going to be all about the Beveridge Report so that’'s going to be great fun. Then at the end of all of that, I'll be doing some stand up again.

“So there's lots of things going on and actually, the whole point of this is if you want to be involved in stand up or any kind of performance, then the emphasis is on being a creative artist. So it's about being creative and going with what you've got at the time and trying to develop it. I still hope to be mucking around when I'm 75 mainly because I haven't got a pension, but also because it's fun!”