Seann Walsh Interview

Seann Walsh, team captain of Channel 4’s Virtually Famous and featured on programmes from Live at the Apollo to Celebrity Juice, comes to Warwick Arts Centre on 8^th October with his new show, Seann, 28. Following the success of his 2013 show, The Lie-in King, The Boar caught up with Walsh to see what he has in store for us with this new comedy offering.

Walsh spent the summer performing Seann: 28 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, breaking his usual routine by adding to the material over the course of the month, an experience he found “a bit weird”. He says, “Usually I go up with a show and don’t touch it that much” and that over the course of the festival “I made it funny.” Did the show improve? “Well… it got more laughs anyway.” As a performer at the Fringe, there isn’t much opportunity to watch a large amount of shows, though Walsh recommends magician Pete Firman (“really good”) and his friend, fellow comedian Paul McCaffrey.

Seann: 28 was performed at the Cabaret Bar at Pleasance, Walsh’s favourite Edinburgh venue to perform in and one that he requested specially. When asked why it’s such a special place to perform, Seann says, “It’s the room in Edinburgh that’s most like a comedy club. If I could go back, I’d go back there again.” Since his mainstream popularity has increased, he’s naturally found an increase in ticket sales although the “same type of people” go along to watch his stand-up, particularly audience members returning, having seen the last show. “It’s a huge compliment when people come back to see the next tour”, Walsh tells me; “I met some people on the first day of Seann: 28 and it was really nice because they’d come back again.”

Every year, Walsh writes an Edinburgh show about the previous year in his life. The Lie-in King was about “becoming a more responsible adult… and failing” whereas this year’s show is quite “coupley”. Over the past year, Walsh has moved in with his girlfriend and as a result, Seann: 28 is about the two of them. “I think couples have enjoyed it” he says of the new show. For his performance at Warwick Arts Centre, Walsh has his good friend Marlon Davies as his support act, though Mark Simmons also covers part of the tour.

His material isn’t written on paper but constructed over a period of time and added into the show. Most of Walsh’s material “comes from being angry”, he laughs. He complains about his iPhone’s battery life; “The iPhone is the worst bit of technology we have. You know when you charge it and it doesn’t turn on for about 10 minutes? You wouldn’t get that sort of problem with a toaster.”

So, what drew Walsh to comedy? “I couldn’t have done anything else.” he laughs, “Anyone who knows me says that, which might not be a compliment.” From childhood, he “loved laughing and making people laugh.” Watching Jim Carrey and other comedy figures as a child reinforced Walsh’s love of laughing. “I don’t think anything is more fun than making people laugh”, he ponders. “My shows definitely improve if I’m enjoying myself- I think the audience can tell if you’re not having a good time.”

Although he’s no longer influenced by other comedians, as a teenager classic stand-up figures like Jack Dee and Lee Evans were Walsh’s stars. “I loved Dee’s moodiness and Evans’ brilliant take on the world”, he tells me, “and of course I still do.” As a fully-fledged comedian, Walsh is still a huge fan, except nowadays he’s fortunate enough to work with them, something that “blows (his) mind.” “He introduced me on Live at the Apollo.” Walsh says of Dee, “It was a dream come true, incredible.”

As a young artist performing in pubs and clubs (“everyone has to start off playing in pubs”), Walsh’s dream was to perform at his hometown comedy club, the Komedia in Brighton. He has nothing but praise for the venue, telling me “It’s my favourite place to play in the world. I’d rather do 100,000 nights there than do the O2.” Why is the venue so important to Walsh? “It’s where I grew up watching comedy…when I was 17 I used to go and watch shows there on my own. Stephen is the best compere in the country. It’s the best comedy club in the country.”

There’s one more important question to ask- if Walsh had to swap places with anyone in the world, who would it be and why? He’s stumped for a second before blurting, “Dan Ackroyd! I want to be a Ghostbuster.” Why a Ghostbuster? “I think about being a Ghostbuster way too much. I’d also like to be someone who works in a cocktail bar on the beach in Hawaii. That would be a good life.”

Catch Seann Walsh at Warwick Arts Centre on 10^th October, or visit www.seannwalsh.com to find other tour dates.