An interview with Sean Hughes

Irish stand-up Sean Hughes talks about his two new Edinburgh shows.

Sean Hughes - Ducking Out

The funnyman tells me: "I've just done an interview where the woman had looked at Wikipedia and said: 'So, it says online that you're a hard line IRA supporter.'

It's August: you may have noticed from the cute pictures of animals and coverage of the Edinburgh Festival plastered across the media. Fred MacAulay is broadcasting his radio show direct from one of the many venues for the next two weeks, offering a daily pick of the fringe. Largely focused on comedy, MacAulay & Co brings listeners a mixture of stand-up and interviews, with a surprisingly large number of guests. It's a real fringe experience - some acts are a bit disappointing but there are so many that if you don't like one, another will be along in a minute. Wednesday's show proved to be the best so far with Doc Brown, Mark Watson and Glyes Brandreth. Other highlights include Sarah Millican on Monday and Sean Hughes on Tuesday. As an extra treat, fellow Scottish comic Susan Calman joins Fred every day too.

My Edinburgh Sean Hughes, comedian

I've been coming up to Edinburgh for almost 25 years - with a seven-year gap in the middle. The Fringe has totally changed in that time. You used to turn up on the day and do your show. Now you're doing interviews about your show in March.

The fizz hasn't gone flat for Sean Hughes

Two decades after nabbing the Fringe's top comedy prize, the stand-up is in a darker and angrier place.

I'm planning to write a sitcom

For most stand-up comics, Edinburgh is just the start. For Sean Hughes, however, it could well be the end.

Sean Hughes - Ducks and Other Mistakes I've Made

The youngest ever winner of Perrier returns to Fringe, and here's an interview...

Sean Hughes doesn't Duck the issue

THE acerbic wit of Dublin-bred 44-year-old comic Sean Hughes earned him a cult following before he achieved fame on Never Mind The Buzzcocks. Ahead of his Edinburgh Festival dates, Sean talks about what may be his last stand-up shows for a long time...

Interview: Sean Hughes

Holly Williams interviews the acerbic Irish stand-up ahead of his new Edinburgh show and gets a grilling in the process...

The line-up seems to change as often as the cast of your average soap but somehow this comedy music panel game has endured. Since the show's inception in 1996, Mark Lamarr and Simon Amstell have had spells as presenter, and Sean Hughes and Bill Bailey have both taken the role of regular team captain. Only Phill Jupitus has lasted the distance. Even the tone of the show has changed over the years - particularly after Amstell took over presenting duties. He put his own quirky, irreverent and somewhat juvenile mark on the programme and when team captain Bailey quit last year he referred to the guests as "gormless indie twerps". Now Noel Fielding (of The Mighty Boosh fame) will take the captain's seat opposite Jupitus, and Amstell will be replaced by guest presenters (beginning tonight with Gavin & Stacey's James Corden). Whether the show will survive after such a flurry of changes remains to be seen. Although Buzzcocks has long since left the illusion of improvisation behind, it has certainly become much "trendier" in recent years and, thanks mostly to the wit of Amstell and Jupitus, it has remained entertaining. Now one must hope that Jupitus can carry on that tradition alone. Joining the teams this week are the potentially dull Tom Clarke of indie band The Enemy and singer Paloma Faith but fortunately actor/comedians Ben Miller and Janeane Garofalo should help keep the proceedings lively.