Comic plans a 'long' sabbatical

Sean Hughes says he’s going to give up stand-up for ‘a long time’ once his Edinburgh Fringe show has ended.

The comic, whose last sabbatical from the circuit lasted seven years, says he finds life on the road takes too much of a toll.

‘Honestly, it's awful - except for the gigs,’ he said. ‘I can't stand hotels. It's the same with venues. This will be the last stand-up I do in a long time. I just need to regenerate.’

The 44-year-old, who returned to stand-up three years ago, also claimed that like ‘all good comics’, he doesn’t carefully write his act.

He told the News Of The World: ‘I think you'll find this with all good comics, I haven't usually written a word when I go on stage. I'll have bullet points with me but things will occur to me and develop. I don't sit down and go, “Let's write a joke”.

‘I'll never be slick. If I am walking down Princes Street and I have an idea, I'll go on stage that night and talk about it.

‘The older you get, you don't really care what people think, so you can say what you want. Which is what comedy should be about. But my key responsibility, always, is to make people laugh.’

The 44-year-old also revealed that he left Never Mind The Buzzcocks because of the ‘bullying’ he found himself involved in.

‘Mark Lamarr was a bit of a bully and I'd join in,’ he said. ‘That's an even worse person - the one who's not brave enough to be the bully. I used to pick on Phill Jupitus all the time... that got unbearable.’

Published: 1 Aug 2010