Comedian Mark Watson Discusses Playing The Sydney Opera House, Awkward Conversations With The Public and Bristol City's Start To The Season.

Why did you decide to go into Comedy?

Well I did open mic competitions when I first came out of university. I didn’t really have a job plan to be honest so I thought I’d give it a go and see if I could make it into being something like a comedian full-time. And I just kept at it, and kept doing it. It wasn’t really a conscious plan; it was just more something I took up to see if I could make it work. It kind of panned out better and better as I keep at it. That’s the best I can describe it as really. I could say it was something I always really wanted to do but to be honest with you it wasn’t. I wanted to do something fun and maybe something where I was entertaining people but I just never thought of myself as a stand-up really. It’s not something you plan, more something that happens to you.

Have you got any advice for someone who wants to become a stand-up?

The key advice is just to give it as much as you can. Quite a lot of people like the idea of stand-up but if it is something you want to keep pursuing just hit it hard and try and do all the gigs you can. Be prepared to do it for a long time without reward as if it does end up working then the rewards are very big. It is a very satisfying job, but it just takes a long time to get to that stage.

What’s been the best moment of your career so far?

Well I’ve played round the world quite a bit. I played at the Sydney Opera House a few years ago, it wasn’t full, there were literally a few hundred people there at the time, but still you’re in the Sydney Opera House and there is still a poster of you outside a world landmark so I turned up thinking this was pretty cool actually. I reckon in terms of feeling good about yourself that would probably be it. If nothing else happens I can say I’ve played at the Sydney Opera House.

How was the Edinburgh Fringe this year?

It was great. Really hard work as it always is – it’s just really long. Doing about a month of shows back-to-back is quite tough. But it is really enjoyable to have your own audience and the people that come to Edinburgh are really big comedy fans so you feel like you’re in the thick of it. But I was pleased when it was over to be honest because I have a baby and am training for the Half-Marathon as well so what with the baby and the training and the show by the end of Edinburgh I was absolutely b***ered.

Can you tell us about your upcoming tour?

Yes. It starts next week, and it is the show I did at the Edinburgh Festival, though of course the tour will be a longer, more suped-up version of the show. The Edinburgh Show was just an hour. It is called ‘Do I Know You?’ and it is basically about how I go through my life with a lot of people vaguely recognising me because they’ve seen me on panel shows on TV but most people don’t know quite who I am. I have quite a lot of weird conversations with people whilst they try and work out who I am and that after a while is quite strange. So it is kind of about that really, just going through your life with people constantly saying ‘Do I Know You’ all the time and the awkwardness of having people know who you are but just not that well. If you were really famous it wouldn’t be a problem, but because I’m sort of in the middle it gets quite strange trying to justify my life to people.