Andrew Lawrence talks to BCG about how he had a tumultuous 2015 and what he's looking forward to in 2016.

How would you sum up your 2015?

I was a little bit too honest for some people's tastes, consequently lost some friends, then made some better ones.

You're about to become a father. Are you excited by the next few months?

I'm 36 now, living in a nice home, in a relationship with someone extraordinary, it was the right time and the right person, and my balls work, so we thought we might as well have a go at parenthood.
I'm looking forward to it immensely, and I think we're going to have a lot of fun together, the three of us; along with the dog, the rabbit and the goldfish that I've also managed to somehow accrue somewhere down the line.

I think the only certainty over the next few years for me is that my house is going to smell like shit.

You're off on a new tour. What can audiences expect from Uncensored? Is there much change from the Edinburgh Fringe run?

A lot of funny jokes and stories about stuff that's happened to me over the past year. There's about half an hour/forty minutes of extra material in the tour show people won't have seen in Edinburgh, because in Edinburgh you only get an hour time-slot, whereas on tour you get longer than that to work with.

You were roundly attacked in 2014 for speaking out about a number of issues surrounding politics and diversity in comedy. In hindsight, do you regret making your comments in such a public arena?

Like many people, in the build up to the election, I noticed a glaring left-wing bias in the material stand-up comedians were doing on BBC panel shows, a lack of any kind of variation. I talked to people I was close to, they saw it happening too.

At the same time I noticed a really ugly bullying culture on social media whereby people with hard left-wing beliefs would collectively vigorously attack anyone who didn't share their views. This would often culminate in them setting up an online petition, containing defamatory content, smearing that individual professionally and personally, in an effort to tarnish that person's reputation and threaten their livelihood. Other people I talked to noticed this going on as well.

So I was putting a new show together and decided I wanted to do some satirical material targeting this left-wing bias in the comedy industry and the censorious, militant left-wing culture that had emerged online.

I started posting some mildly provocative material on Facebook, nothing particularly controversial actually, it's all still up there if anyone wants to take a look. Then suddenly I found myself at the centre of a shit-storm of opprobrium, sadly being attacked by some famous comedians who I quite like and respect actually, well a few of them anyway.

Then the Chortle website and The Guardian and The Independent ludicrously started referring to me as a 'Right-wing comedian', trying to portray me as the new Bernard Manning, despite having watched me doing stand-up for well over a decade and knowing full well I'm nothing of the sort. Mind-boggling stuff.

It was certainly a disconcerting experience, but the upshot of it is that it has given me what I would say is the best stand-up show of my career.

Have your audience numbers grown or shrunk since?

My Edinburgh sales were up 30% on sales of the previously year. We'll see how the tour goes, but it's nice to see that momentum, to see your audience growing and know you're moving forwards. I have a very mixed audience of all ages from all walks of life, I don't know why that is, but it hasn't changed in light of the controversy and most people at the show as I'm telling the story don't seem to have heard about it, which is all for the better of course.

You've talked previously about the 'left-wing gatekeepers' of the comedy industry, particularly on TV. Do you hope things might change, or are you resigned to the fact it'll always be like that?

I give any offers that come my way from the TV world fair consideration, as long as I think they're commensurate with my abilities. There is a lot of stuff I would be embarrassed to do though, and throughout my time in comedy I have turned down more offers than I have taken on. I don't honestly think there's much on TV that I would be excited about appearing in right now, and I don't need to do it as long as I have a decent income from touring.

Your Radio 4 shows What To Do If You're Not Like Everybody Else and How Did We End Up Like This? were well received...

I was lucky enough to work with some very talented people on those shows; the producer Jane Berthoud, who has been incredibly supportive throughout my time in comedy, and Sara Pascoe and Marek Larwood, who were so good at taking my scripts off the page and making them funny.

You made your first sitcom last year, There Is No Escape...

Again, some excellent people involved. Somehow we managed to persuade Diane Morgan to take on the female lead role and she did a brilliant job. And Graham Fellows agreed to be in one of the episodes as well and was hilarious.

From the idea being pitched, to the show being broadcast, it was just over a two year process.

Is a second series on the cards?

I hope so, I'm certainly talking to people about it, we'll see what happens. With the baby on the way it's not something I'd rush into, I'd want to make sure I had the time and space to make it as good as the first series.

Will you be heading up to the Fringe in August or taking this year off with the little one?

I've done ten consecutive new stand-up shows in Edinburgh over the past ten years, so it's time for a break, and I have said publicly on a few occasions I wouldn't go back, but the money was good last year, so stupidly I'll probably return there this August again, as I've got my daughter's future to think about now, terrifyingly...

To find out more about Andrew and see his tour dates visit www.andrewlawrencecomedy.co.uk