Interview: Brighton comedian Seann Walsh ahead of his Fringe show 'After This One, I'm Going Home'

By now, anyone who considers themselves a fan of UK comedy will recognise the dishevelled blond mane of panel show regular and Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Seann Walsh.

As an established favourite at Edinburgh’s biggest annual festival, Walsh will be returning to the Fringe this year before unleashing his mane on the rest of the nation in his UK tour from September 2018.

Image: Andy Hollingworth

Described by The Guardian as simultaneously a ‘millennial man-child’ and ‘one of the UK’s finest comedians’, Walsh’s comedy has historically been received ambivalently. Preferring to keep details of his upcoming gig a surprise, Seann instead shares the tale of his disastrous debut at the Fringe festival in 2012:

“The first year I did a solo show, the show had to be stopped half-way through because I had a panic attack. In hindsight, it was mainly down to the fact I’d been living on a diet of roll-ups, black coffee, house red wine and jagerbombs and waking up every day about 20 minutes before my show started, which was at 8pm or something. It is safe to say, the show was shit.”

It is ironic then, that Seann’s fantastically received return in 2013 was called ‘The Lie-In King’, and it set him more firmly on the path from former barman to British banter king.

As for this year’s performance, Walsh modestly jokes that “it seems to be working”, and he recommends his personal favourite one to watch from the other comedians:

“I saw Pete Firman’s show earlier in London and as always, I loved it - It’s also comedy magic so it’s something a bit different.”

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Amongst Seann’s longstanding comedic influences, he counts Jim Carrey’s ‘Growing Up’, Lee Evans, Lee Hurst, Dylan Moran, and Jack Dee, whose ITV sitcom ‘Bad Move’ Seann will be starring on this summer as pop star Grizzo.

But it’s not all rock n’ roll for Walsh this summer, and his other plans involve watching Star Wars, drinking wine, and “putting on weight from strictly eating food from service stations and returning lower back pains from sitting in a car for most of the day.”

“All I’m waiting for is Star Wars 9. I loved 'The Last Jedi' and cannot understand why it is so loathed.”

As well as a film fanatic, Walsh is somewhat of a wine connoisseur, and he tells us that Pinot Grigio is his drink of choice for the summer. He says: “It’s light with a thin crisp to it and goes down wonderfully with a cigarette. At first anyway, you could be drinking lighter fluid after someone says “shall we open another bottle?”

Football might not be coming home, but Seann Walsh is – catch him at the Fringe or on tour using the links below!

Seann Walsh will perform 'One For The Road’ at the at the Pleasance Courtyard from 14th – 25th August at 9.20pm (tickets here), before heading on his UK tour from September – December 2018. For dates see www.seannwalsh.com.

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Interview: Brighton comedian Seann Walsh ahead of his Fringe show 'After This One, I'm Going Home'

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