Comedy

'So...is there anyone in from Hades? You, madam?'

Mark Watson
Sell your act in a line... 'Welsh stream-of-consciousness genius'

Age 26.

Manor Lives at no fixed address: ‘It’s a rock ’n’ roll situation.’ Previously in Kentish Town.

Who is he? He’s indefatigable. Since 2003 he’s done around 250 stand-up gigs each year. He’s performed a show that lasted 24 hours. He followed it with ‘2005 Years in 2005 Minutes’ (that’s 33 hours). Last month in Edinburgh he achieved a 36-hour marathon. Oh, he clocked in for a full, festival-long run of his stand-up show too.

As well as energy, Watson exudes talent, voicing his frustrations about a mean and illogical world, and his brain moves so fast it’s hard to keep up. His first stand-up experience was at Anglia University in March 2002 – in a heat of the Daily Telegraph New Act competition.’ Feature continues

This year’s stand-up show, ‘I’m Worried That I’m Starting to Hate Almost Everyone in the World’, won Watson an if.comeddie panel prize. A bright future beckons, but first he wants to lay the ghost of his fake Welsh accent to rest. He comes from Bristol. His family is partly Welsh. But the accent’s fake. ‘I used it early on because it made me feel less self-conscious. It worked out so well that I’m stuck with a long-running lie.’

Worst gig Up the Creek in Maidstone on April 5 2004. ‘The compère arrived late. The crowd was restless. Frightening, mostly bald blokes in a provincial town. They booed me off.’

Favourite comedians They include Lee Mack, Dara O’Briain, Emo Philips, Daniel Kitson.

Favourite London clubs Up the Creek in Greenwich, the Comedy Store and Happy Monday at the Amersham Arms in New Cross.

Look out for him at the Pleasance Theatre (September 26), Up the Creek in Greenwich (October 1) and Garrick Theatre (October 13, 14). See www.myspace.com/markwatsonthecomedian for news of a series of novel-writing shows.