Dave’s words come easy

Dave Spikey’s Words Don’t Come Easy tour will show to a sell-out audience at the theatre on Friday April 15.

Following on from the success of his last tour, Best Medicine, the new show looks at situations that leave us tongue-tied including parents struggling to explain the facts of life, pathetic adolescent chat-up lines and weird hospital speak.

This time around Dave is trying a new technique to keep his stand-up show fresh and funny. He said: “I’m splitting this tour up into three legs. We’ll do spring, autumn and then spring again in 2012 with about 25 shows in each section.

“Last time I did all the shows on the bounce and it just ruined me. I learnt my lesson quickly. I want to keep the show fresh and going on stage every night makes that difficult sometimes, it’s got to be fresh for me too. So breaking the tour up gives me a chance to add bits and update it.”

Famous for writing and appearing in TV comedy series Phoenix Nights, and starring on others including Eight out of Ten Cats, Dave explained how his stand-up comedy comes together.

“Writing for Phoenix was great – I love inventing characters and writing for them and making them come to life and speak their way. It’s creative and exciting. With Eight out of Ten Cats you’ve got to stay on the ball on anything topical.

“Stand-up is completely different. My brain is like a back task on a computer, always running and picking up on funny things. Most of the stuff that makes me laugh goes into the sketch.

“Some comedians think it’s terrible to laugh at your own stuff but if it doesn’t make you laugh then it can’t be that funny. I include things that make me laugh and talk about what I know.”

Dave said people can expect this tour to be “fun, fun, fun, all the way”. He added: “I look at life at a slightly skewed angle and observe it as being like a comedy drama.”

In between tour dates, Dave is currently working with Neil Fitzmaurice, a Phoenix Nights writer, on Glitter Ball – a comedy series about ballroom dancing in Blackpool.