Mark Steel

Classic interview: Mark Steel, 2006

Mark Steel is currently on tour with his In Town show, the live spin-off of his Radio 4 series in which he researches the area he is performing in and makes his set specific for that place. In recent years the veteran comic has been keen to do more than mere off-the-peg satirical stand-up. Here is an interview from 2006 when he was on the road and finding references to the French Revolution wherever he played.

Video: Five minutes with Mark Steel

Mark Steel talks to Matthew Stadlen about interruptions, how to influence public opinion, small town life and the difficulty of having original ideas.

Mark Steel: Can't just shut us up now Thatcher's dead

If someone robs your house, you don't say: "I disagreed with the burglar's policy, of tying me to a chair. But I did admire his convictions."

Town in Steel

One joy of making the Mark Steel's In Town series is experiencing the immense, sometimes ridiculous sense of pride in each place we visit, especially when there's nothing obvious to show off about.

Mark Steel calls Victor Lewis-Smith a joke thief

Mark Steel has accused critic Victor Lewis-Smith of stealing his material.

Victor Lewis Smith apologises to Mark Steel

The global issue of jokegate seems to be resolved. I received an apology from Victor Lewis Smith, so that's fair enough I'd say.

Mark Steel's back with his Sony Gold-winning stand-up programme, Mark Steel's in Town. And what a lovely show it is: slotting into that Radio 4 6.30pm slot with humanity, humility and, best of all, jokes that genuinely come out of the situation in which he finds himself. On Wednesday, Steel visited Handsworth and managed to engage the locals to such an extent that he could riff about a Rasta weatherman, in full Jamaican accent, and it not be offensive in any way. Good comedy is such an amazing skill, such a balancing act between telling the truth and pointing out faults, between teasing and bullying. Steel manages to be political and make an audience feel as though they've had a great big cuddle. That is a hard thing to do.

Comedy review: Mark Steel - Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh

Mark Steel is a worried man. He's fretting about being in his 50s, which means he's getting ever closer to taking a cruise holiday and he's concerned that he now has a teenage son with his own ideas and, it seems, a promising talent for jokewriting.

Mark Steel's in... Leith

Mark Steel's In Town has come up to the fringe festival to record a one-off episode of the stand-up show - this time about the Edinburgh district of Leith, home of Irvine Welsh, the Proclaimers, and some of the most bonkers pubs in Christendom. Here's some of what we picked up along the way...

This can't be right. The comedic chronicler of small-town Britain tackling the majesty of Auld Reekie? But fear not, Mark Steel is not concerned with the tourists traps on the Royal Mile; he's down the road in Leith. It may now be considered part of Edinburgh, but it only became so in 1920 despite fierce opposition from the locals, and Steel will be casting his, er, steely gaze upon the unique characteristics of the area.

And unique it is: there's the pub where staff perform The Rocky Horror Show on the bar and a cycling shop that held a birthday party for a hole in the road. It should make for a lively show, as long as there's no mention of trams - Leithians hate the new tram project with a vengeance.