Seann Walsh World

Seann Walsh has been rising up the stand-up ranks over the last couple of years, to the extent he's now got his own show on Comedy Central. Seann Walsh World mixes internet clips with stand-up and sketch comedy. Here the host talks to us about the format, and ponders the conflict between television work and performing live...

Hi Seann. So you've got a TV series with your name in the title. That's got to feel pretty good?

It's wonderful. It's not one of those things I ever thought I was going to do - I suppose it's not even something I wanted. We actually finished filming it a while ago, but talking to you now it's like 'oh, wow, right, fuck... I've got a show with my name on it! Where did that came from?'

This TV show is the latest thing on your ever-growing CV. Have you, at any point, had a chance to pause to take stock of where you're at now, career wise?

There was a good moment actually, when I did Channel 4's Comedy Gala for the first time last year. I don't know if you know, but Lee Evans was one of my heroes when I was growing up... well, I had this moment at the Gala...

How the changing rooms work at the Gala is they just go down this massive corridor which runs down the length of the arena - changing room, after changing room, after changing room - it goes on forever. I stepped out last year on my own and, as I looked to the right of me, all the way at the other end of the corridor was Lee Evans. It was just me and him in this corridor. He didn't see me. He was just in his trousers doing air boxing; getting ready - we all know what he was about to go and do, and it was just amazing to witness that.

It was a real moment - I made sure he didn't see me - ha ha, I sound like a perv! - I almost saw it in black and white, and it was just a great moment to be in the same corridor as my hero, Lee Evans, warming up for a gig at the O2.

When you were starting out did you ever think you'd play to an arena-sized crowd?

It's weird - when I was teenager I didn't know about comedy clubs. I thought that you could only do comedy if you're 'one of the people doing comedy'. A lot of people thought this I think.

I would go and watch Jack Dee and Lee Evans at the [Brighton] Dome... and I thought then you had to be 'a famous comedian'; to be a famous comedian, do you know what I mean? I didn't know there was a route to that position.

Then, when I was 17, my mum took me to a comedy club and that's when it all changed. That was the day I realised there were comedians that weren't famous. For me, that was such a revelation - 'holy shit, I can just get up and do this!'.

All I ever wanted to do for years was to play the Komedia in Brighton - that's all I wanted to do. I was back there recently and I don't think I'm ever happier than when I'm playing there.

It's quite something when you consider that, a few years ago, I was bunking the trains to get to gigs, sleeping in Gatwick Airport (because the gig was so far away, and it was too far to get home that night)... and now I've played gigs like the O2, on the bill with Jack Dee, Michael McIntyre and Lee Evans.

I don't take that for granted, I think that's amazing. I don't want to pretend that I don't go 'wow, I'm playing the O2', do you know what I mean? Komedia is where I most love doing stand-up, but that doesn't mean I don't want to play the Hammersmith Apollo too.

You seem to be at a bit of a crossroads now - TV is demanding a lot of your time, which leaves you less time to perform new shows live. That can't be a comfortable position to be in - having to choose which path to take?

Er... I would like to, um... well... hang on, what do I think? [Pause]. I would like to get myself in a position where I can really dedicate my entire time to writing a stand-up show. I do feel slightly at the moment that I'm quite busy and that, er, yeah, I guess I don't have the opportunity to really commit to writing a new 60 minute show... so I would love to do that.

If I ever had the opportunity where I got to call the shots and go 'actually I'm going to take a break from everything and write a new stand-up show', that would be the dream I suppose. But I'm in no position to turn down these things and, as well, a lot of this TV stuff is fun. Does that makes sense?

People [other acts] complain about doing Mock The Week and stuff, I don't really have that [negative view] - I've done Never Mind The Buzzcocks twice, and that's so much fun. They [panel shows] are not a problem to me, and they're not a thing I do un-willingly, but I am saying the downside is maybe I am not getting to just focus on just stand-up. I don't think I've ever had the chance to do really.... Actually, I had the chance when I was younger, and I didn't realise that's what I should have been doing then!

Has presenting your own TV show been a learning curve?

It's pretty weird doing a title sequence. Someone else has designed it and... you do it. That's quite strange, because obviously I'm not in a position where I've done that before, because I have [in the past] decided how I'm going to walk out on stage and what I'm going to do before I get to the microphone. So it wasn't really a learning experience, because I knew it was going to happen, but it was strange.

In terms of it being a presenter role, I do hope the only presenter aspect is the bit where I say 'hello' at the beginning and then say 'time for a break' and 'goodbye', I do hope everything between that is a stand-up comedian saying things. Obviously there are some clips where you just reference them and move on, but there is an attempt to have actually stand-up there, and sketches as well.

I'm not looking for a presenter job. I don't want to do T4! T4 presenters have this thing where they feel like they have to appear as if they're not presenting a programme... but they are presenting a programme. They do that thing where turn to a camera and pretend to just realise the camera is filming them... it's not a surprise for them though, they've been booked a car to a studio, had their makeup done and are sat in a big white room with lots of cameramen.

I say that... cut to two years from now and me going "and now, number 59 in Greatest Handbags is...!'

Ha ha. You get to show off your acting in the sketches on the show. Talking of acting, you're first major acting role was filming the forthcoming new sitcom Big Bad World (pictured). What was that experience like?

It was brilliant. It was so much fun. It's like the most fun I've ever had doing something, working with Blake Harrison, David Fynn and Rebecca Humphries. Rebecca is also in some of the Seann Walsh World sketches. We became a big group of friends - we hang out, we've stayed friends.

I really hope people take to it; it's almost harder for a sitcom because people have to invest their time in a story and the characters. Seann Walsh World is great for people who are just waking up on Sunday hungover - the Chelsea Arsenal match hasn't started yet, and so you watch Seann Walsh World on Sky+ because you just want to watch a frog bum a goat!

That's not a real one is it? Ha ha. We can confirm the show does contain a dog with what must be the world's longest wee session though. Russell Howard's Good News showcases funny clips too, and that's quite an established hit now... have you done anything to avoid comparisons?

Well, you've got clips, you've got a comic, but I hope that there's maybe a bit more... stand-up [in Seann Walsh World]. I mean, it's more personal to me. Does Russell's show have - I've not really seen it in a long time - does it have sketches?

Yeah, there are some brief sketches in Good News. Your sketches are longer...

I think the format is that it's a 'stand-up clip show'. Russell's is a stand-up clip show isn't it? There's nothing you can do about that, and if people compare it that's fair enough, but hopefully the stand-up is mine, the jokes are mine...

Thanks to Seann for his time. Seann Walsh World is on Comedy Central on Tuesdays at 10pm. Here's a catchy tune made to promote it...

Catch Seann live at the Hammersmith Apollo 26th September 2013. Visit www.seannwalsh.com for his Edinburgh Fringe and tour dates.