HE has a book called Pun Direction and a long list of one-liners – `I’m the youngest of three; my parents are both older... I farted in a lift today, which was wrong on so many levels’ – and now Canadian comic Stewart Francis is on his way to Ireland.
The stand-up, known to many for his turns on TV comedy panel show Mock The Week, says Ardal O’Hanlon is one of his favourite acts.
“He’s one of the funniest fellas on the planet. I don’t know if the Irish people know about it, but he was in a sitcom called Father Ted,” he deadpans. “You should Google it."
Father Dougal, he says, "is one of my wife’s favourite characters ever. She just giggles at the mere mention of his name”.
When I phone the London-based comic, he tells me the phone call is his one and only plan for the day.
“I’ve just been building up to this. I’ll be talking about this phone call for... at least the next couple of days.”
He then jokes that he and the rest of the Mock the Week team – including Dara Ó Briain, Frankie Boyle and Russell Howard – are all in the room together.
“We sit around in the exact formation that we’re in on the show,” he says, before holding the phone away for a second and whispering, “Shh Dara. I’m on the phone. Dara. Please?”
He is excited to be taking his tour to Ireland.
“Absolutely. The audiences there are always so up for it. Back in the day when I was on the circuit, Belfast was one of my favourite stops. I love it there.
“And years ago I supported Ricky Gervais in Dublin. I’ve always enjoyed Vicar Street.”
As well as his constant gigging, Francis is working on two sitcoms.
“I was in an award-winning sitcom in Canada in 2005 and 2006 and that was a fantastic experience. I’d love to do more acting.
“One of the sitcoms I’m working on is me playing a Canadian who comes over to the UK.
"Things haven’t gone that well for me back in Canada. I’m led to believe that I have some extended family but I discover that my entire family is in the UK and I got separated from them.
"So it’s like a road trip, with cameos from some of my more famous chums. The other one is a chat show within a show.”
As the main publicity photo for his Pun Gent tour is of him in a tux with a cocktail, does he think he’ll get auditioned for the James Bond role at some point?
“Well, I am hoping...”
He says he probably won’t do any more episodes of Mock the Week.
“Probably not, no. That’s for the young ‘uns now, the whippersnappers. Like Dara.”
Seeing Francis perform a full show is a remarkable thing, as he reels off an hour-plus of one-liners to roars of laughter without once skipping a beat.
“I’ve added some new bits since the tour started but it’s more or less locked and loaded. That’s the only way I can approach it and remember it; the way an actor would approach a script.”
So he never uses an autocue?
“No, not that I’m aware. There is a thing with a bunch of words on it that I’ve never paid much attention to; that could be it. No, there’s no trickery.”
I tell him he has clearly always had a good memory.
“I have, Jim,” he says. “I have.”
Stewart Francis plays Vicar Street in Dublin on Saturday night (www.stewartfrancis.com)
