I’ve lived in Glasgow all my life. There’s a unique vein of humour running through the city and a particular ability to find the funny in even the darkest of things and most bizarre circumstances.
I left school and I went to university for three months. Between my bus stop and uni there was a café with a Guns and Roses pinball machine. I’d nip in for a quick game on the way and reappear some hours later so it’s fair to say uni wasn’t for me. I dropped out and worked my way up to managing pubs, clubs, and restaurants in the city centre.
In 2001, I got a random phone call asking if I knew anyone who would want to do a tattoo apprenticeship and I replied, “Me!” They were sure it wasn’t for me – it was unpaid, and I had a good job and a young family – but I’d loved tattoos since I was young and I’m quite an obsessive person. Once I get an idea in my head, I go full pelt for it. I turned up at the studio the next day and they had me scrub the toilet and clean all the equipment. Then they said, “If you come back tomorrow, you’ll need to tattoo yourself”, thinking it would see me off. It didn’t. Next month, I’ll have had my own tattoo studio for 18 years.
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I’d always wanted to give stand-up comedy a go too but there was always a reason – or an excuse – not to. Last year I was out of excuses, and I applied to do the new act night, Red Raw, at The Stand Comedy Club. Like with everything else, I’ve thrown myself into comedy headfirst. It’s been wild and I’ve met so many amazing people. There’s a real feeling of support and bringing each other up amongst the stand-up community in Glasgow and it’s really thriving with good and talented folk.
I’m gearing up for my first Glasgow International Comedy Festival in March. We’re bringing our show, Wholesome Prison Blues, to venues around the city with one particularly unusual one – HMP Barlinnie.
The group made up of myself, Paddy Linton, Eddy McKenzie, Jack Traynor, and Amanda Hursy – have been taking a show to prisons around the country and during GICF it lands at Bar-L. It all started when we were on our way back from the Fringe, talking about a recent gig we’d heard about where half the audience walked out during the show.
Jack said, “You should be able to lock the doors” and I said, “That’s your ultimate captive audience”. At that moment, Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues came on the radio and Paddy said “No, that’s your ultimate captive audience” and the idea was born. We’ve done shows at nine prisons so far.
Every member of the Scottish Prison Service that we’ve come in touch with has been amazing – welcoming and supportive – and the gigs have been a phenomenal experience. It’s a real privilege to be able to do it. I feel a bit ashamed that before we did this I thought of prison as just punishment. From doing the gigs, I’ve seen first-hand how important humanising experiences are as part of rehabilitation and laughing together is pretty high up the chain of those.
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