Comedy

Even by MI5 standards, this was a shoddily disguised bugging devise

Andrew Lawrence
Sell your act in a line... 'I leave all the necessities of promotion in the hands of my management'

Age 26.

Manor Croydon.

Who is he? In a rasping, croaky voice he tells tales of his miserable upbringing in a dysfunctional family and his own shocking patterns of behaviour. Abandoned by his parents, he was brought up by squirrels and became a feral child. He once put his mother in a particularly tasty lasagne. It’s just one among many stories of extreme violence. Audiences detest or adore him. Feature continues

Lawrence went to university in Scotland, worked in a library for a year and moved to London after he came second in the So You Think You’re Funny? competition in 2003. He used to get nervous when he went on stage: ‘I don’t now. It wasn’t helpful.’ At the Edinburgh Festival he was shortlisted for the if.comeddie Best Newcomer Award. He views the prospect of fame with mixed feelings. ‘The more successful I become, the earlier I might have to get up. If I achieve a level of success where I have to get up before 9.30am, the only solution will be to rest on my laurels.’

Worst gig A ‘Spank!’ show at the Edinburgh Fringe last year. ‘Heckled by a drunk man. Invited him on stage for a fight. Had a fight on stage. Lost. Rescued by bouncers. Tried to finish my act. Booed by the audience. Went home, had a cry.’

Favourite comedians No comment.

Favourite London clubs The Red Rose Comedy Club: ‘It has a dilapidated charm. On a night when it’s not full, the indifference of the audience is deafening, but when it’s packed the audience can be sweetly reverential and it can be magic.’

Look out for Comedy Store gigs (October 19-21) on his return from a festival in South Africa.