Destined for the Hal of Fame...
Although nominated for the Perrier Best Newcomer Award over a decade ago, it looks like 2013 is going to be Hal Cruttenden’s big year following memorable performances on Live at the Apollo, Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow and Mock the Week.
Hal is hitting the road with his biggest ever tour, which stops at Arlington Arts, Snelsmore, on Saturday, September 21. Titled Tough Luvvie and based on his sell out Edinburgh show of the same name, it looks like his success is due to continue.
He talks to Newburytoday:
A few short days after the madness of the Edinburgh Fringe and you're on the road with a huge autumn tour - are you a masochist? A workaholic? Is your agent a sadist? Or are you counting your blessings? Or is it something else that is driving you to take to the road?
Over the last year or so, you've had a flush of high profile TV appearances (McIntyre's Roadshow, Live at the Apollo, Royal Variety, Mock the Week, etc). How does it feel to have been working hard on the circuit for over ten years and suddenly being "the new guy" again?
These TV shows are fantastic opportunities for comics to get massive exposure quite quickly and those that are good at it can become comedy megastars, selling out Wembley Arena, etc. Is this something you aspire to or is your heart more in the intimacy of comedy clubs and smaller venues? What impact do you think these TV shows have had on the life of a gigging comedian and the industry as a whole?
Congratulations on Making News, the play you've just finished in Edinburgh (with Phill Jupitus and Suki Webster). All the reviews I read singled you out as the highlight of the show. With your initial training as an actor, how was it to return to this type of performance?
- In your blog you often talk about your obsessive behaviour (centred mostly on you) but then much of your material is very easy to relate to - do you see yourself as an everyman character? Do you think everyone is at least a little bit self-obsessed? Or are you just giving us a window onto your world in a way that just happens to be very funny?
- You mention your wife and children in your material a fair bit - how does this go down at home? And how do they cope with you being away so much?
If your show were a journey (which metaphorically I'm sure it is), where would it start and end in the real world?
And finally, if you could describe the experience of that journey in five words or less, what would they be?
