Glasgow International Comedy Festival 2025: Discussion with Darren Connell and Craig Hill ahead of their shows

National World - LocalTV

We sit down with two renowned comedians at the Social Hub to discuss their involvement in this year’s Glasgow International Comedy Festival. Craig Hill and Darren Connell have built strong reputations for their craft and loyal fan bases over the years.

Transcript

00:00One day I'm going to go to Leon and say,

00:01do you know I came here because of your egg benedict sandwich in Glasgow?

00:04This works.

00:05Where did you get your specs?

00:07What?

00:07Where did you get your specs?

00:08What can you tell me about,

00:10this is a place to kind of start off

00:14telling stories?

00:15Well, it's got a storytelling tradition

00:18and it has had for a long time.

00:19And, you know, I remember people in Glasgow and Liverpool,

00:22both very similar cities, both saying,

00:25you know, you'll know you're funny

00:28if you play one of the places

00:29because they'll not just laugh for the sake of it,

00:31but you'll need to be as funny as them

00:33because the audience are often quite funny.

00:34So I think it's a good place to start your comedy career

00:38and test whether you're actually funny,

00:39because the audience here have a lot of power

00:42and if they see any fear in your eyes,

00:44you'll know about it.

00:45So I think it's a pretty ballsy place to start your comedy career.

00:48I think it's a good start.

00:49I didn't realise that at the beginning,

00:51you know, I was just going on stage and doing what I was doing.

00:53But it definitely has informed a lot of the things I laugh at

00:58and playing in front of the audience

00:59was a good test for moving everyone else.

01:02I know a lot of comedians sit down and they treat it like a nine to five.

01:06I don't feel like I do well under those circumstances.

01:09I like to go out walking and when I go out to clear my head

01:13and find myself daydreaming

01:15or the moment when I'm just about to fall asleep,

01:19ideas will pop into my head and then it could be a word.

01:24I'm like, I find that phrase or word really funny

01:27and then I'll go to my Wednesday night gig and kind of figure it out on stage.

01:32But that's how I write.

01:33I keep it really loose, real life stuff.

01:37I joke about family, being working class, being sober.

01:42Back in the day, mental health issues and seeking help and getting help

01:46and getting out the other end of that and just being able to joke about it

01:51and then realising that essentially you can actually make a joke about anything.

01:56The thing I've been sitting on this, I wanted to sing a wee bit more

01:58and a lot of people said to me, I wish you would sing more in your shows.

02:02And so for the first time ever, I do this big show tune.

02:05Oh my goodness, we've got Craig Hill, the musical.

02:08Oh my God, let's write that.

02:11And I ended up adding more music into it as well.

02:14I didn't really mean to do that.

02:16So there's a Glaswegian verse of Madonna called Mad Donna

02:19that I do in the show where it's all Madonna songs sang by a Glaswegian,

02:22which immediately I just thought my audience would love that.

02:24And I like it as well. It makes me laugh as well.

02:26You look at some of the comedians that have came out of Glasgow

02:30to know that you can be a comedian and live here.

02:34I know some comedians that have left here and went on to be very successful,

02:38amazing comedians.

02:40I think it's just up to that person.

02:42I don't think you need to leave.

02:44I think to be a professional comedian, you do need a lot of travelling.

02:48So if you're OK with constantly going down to Liverpool, Manchester,

02:53or London from Glasgow and you can do that, then good on you.

02:57But I don't think you need to leave here now.

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