profile
SEANN
WALSH
With Seann Walsh’s funny
being scheduled in at the
Pontardawe Art Centre
this month, James Ayles
talks to the lie-in king of
comedy.
F
rom the flowing mane of wild blonde hair to
the title of his stand up-show, The Lie-In King,
at first glance there is something wild and
unrefined about this precocious comedian.
Seann Walsh’s material is notoriously centred on
his hard-drinking habits and a rather debauched
lifestyle, yet closer inspection suggests a far different
character to his on-stage persona. He speaks with
honesty and demonstrates mellow introspection far
removed from his boisterous live performances.
“After college, university didn’t appeal to me because
I didn’t like the idea of living with other people,” says
Walsh.
This gentle self-awareness is something that may
surprise his fans, who are accustomed to the
energetic, frantic nature of his comedy.
Having burst onto the scene in 2008 as the Leicester
Mercury Comedian Of The Year, the 27-year old has
gone from strength to strength. From supporting
Stephen K Amos to regular panel-show appearances,
and most recently his own programme: Seann Walsh
World, on Comedy Central. It is clear that this is
a man who has worked relentlessly hard to reach
the pinnacle of his profession, even if he doesn’t
quite realise it himself: “Stand-up is what I always
wanted to do, so I just started gigging constantly and
unknowingly worked my way up.”
It’s clear that he is far from finished as he claws
his way up through the notoriously overcrowded
profession of stand-up comedy. This is reflected in
his unceasing schedule, currently combining the
second leg of his extended 2013 show The Lie-In
King, which takes in both familiar locations such as
London’s Soho Theatre and a host of new venues,
including the Pontadarwe Arts Centre, with his
growing schedule of TV commitments.
Despite the inexorable success of recent years, he
confesses that he is unable to multi-task: “If I’m
playing a gig in the evening, I can’t write during I the
day. I wrote The Lie-In King in two months, because
that’s all the time I had.”
BUZZ 24
This inability to combine commitments almost led
to disaster earlier this year: “Before Edinburgh, I
previewed 50 minutes of new material to absolute
silence. It was so bad that I scrapped it straight away.”
Typically of a man so well versed in the art of comedy,
he turned this near-failure into unprecedented
success; returning to older material, his show
became one of the highlights of Edinburgh and led to
“University didn’t
appeal to me
because I didn’t
like the idea of
living with other
people.”
his nomination for the main award.
Building on from this achievement, his future plans
are similarly rooted in past successes, and following
last year’s triumph, his next act is much anticipated;
“My next show is Stand Up For The Whatever, and I
want to use the best material from the eight episodes
of Stand Up For The Week and tour it again. If it’s
funny, why bury it?’”
He does however appear to pine for more time to
dedicate to a new routine: “I wish I had six months to
write a new routine like the big names do, but before
I know it my schedule is booked up for a year.”
Yet with the aforementioned TV work he has
increasingly been doing, he is well on the way to
becoming a big name himself, and like the true
greats, his ambition isn’t limited to the stand-up
stage. He has demonstrated commendable acting
chops in Big Bad World, and professed a desire to
continue down this path if he has the chance.
“I enjoy it, I even enjoy auditioning, and the whole
process is a lot of fun.”
Seeming to be at once both an eternal man-child
perplexed by the intricacies of adult life, and a
seasoned comedian destined for great things, he
maintains a refreshing humility towards his art, and
his future plans: “I’ve had some pilots that haven’t
been turned down yet, so that’s promising.”
We look forward to whatever comes next for Mr Walsh.
Seann Walsh: The Lie-In King Tour,
Pontardawe Arts Centre, Thurs 27 Mar.
Tickets: £13-£15. Info: 01792 863722 /
www.nptartsandents.co.uk