Glasgow International Comedy Festival Q&A: Stuart McPherson

Tell us a bit about your show.

It's an hour of jokes about how it feels to be scraping by in your mid twenties in 2019, being in and out of shitey jobs and rented flats. But lighter and funnier than that sounds. And it's not just that. There's a bit about having an English girlfriend, and a bit about Deliveroo. It's a work in progress so I reserve the right for it to be about all and none of these things.

Do you have any top tips for anything else visitors should do while in Glasgow?

It's a great city. Walk about and make the most of the free stuff like Kelvingrove Museum and then go to the pub, there's loads of good ones. Try and see some live music, too, there's always good bands playing. What else? The Necropolis is cool, not to sound like a goth.

Who would you recommend comes to see you at the festival?

Folk who are into comedy, I suppose. I'm not yet at the stage of my career where I can afford to be fussy about these things, I'll take what I can get.

And who would you suggest maybe doesn't?

I wouldn't dissuade any portion of society from coming to see me. That being said, in the last 6 months I have had shows tarnished by a guy from Chicago called Giuseppe Martino who couldn't understand my accent, a Jamaican guy who came to see me and sat at the front even though he 'hates comedy' and an old guy called Les who was a complete prick. I'd like them not to come.

What sets your show apart from others in the programme?

I'm probably not the best person to ask, as I'm not good at describing my own stuff, I don't think. I did a set once where I thought I was just doing flippant jokes about baked potatoes and the reviewer called it 'a bleak, existential cry about the mundane futility of existence.' Which I personally think sounds 'a bit much', but I must be doing something different.

What's next for you after the Glasgow International Comedy Festival?

I reprise my role as Archie Pepper in Scot Squad in spring on the new BBC Scotland channel, which is exciting. My main ongoing concern is making the show as good as it can be before taking it to the Edinburgh Fringe in August as my full debut. And now I think of it 'Ongoing Concern' might be a good title for it.

Stuart McPherson - Mun Tod (WIP)
State Bar, Thursday 28th March. 8pm. £5