Jason Manford

by Jon Gardner on 12.01.10

Nice guys finish funniest.

Jason Manford is finally hitting the sweet spot. The South Manchester born comedian has been treading the boards of stand-up clubs around the UK since he was 17, brandishing a sharp, wittily observed line in giggly, easily-relatable material that has seen him become one of the UK’s most popular comics and a team captain on ‘8 Out Of 10 Cats’, replacing Dave Spikey last year, having proved a popular guest in the past thanks to his unashamedly nice-guy persona.

As anyone who has seen Manford live, either in person or on the unendingly popular ‘Live At The Apollo’, will profess that while he is very, very funny, both in his acute observations of family and Northern life, this very loveable, silly boy is almost as clean as a whistle in terms of the material that he will employ. While once upon a time, Ben Elton and The Comic Strip’s so-called “Alternative” comedy movement was welcome when it laid waste to the graying, non-PC and yet still “safe” comedy of TV such as ‘The Comedians’ and family fare like ‘Celebrity Squares’ (with what was essentially exposed later as mostly fart and nob gags with a ‘little bit o’politics’ thrown in), it’s now interesting to look back on this supposedly sharp-edged assault on family values and snort at how well it holds up next to Elton’s new role as King of the West End Musical – and just how different was Julian Clary from Larry Grayson anyway? It’s also fun to witness Jason Manford cleaning up the way he is, with what could easily be described as a return to those halcyon days of family friendly, no-need-to-offend, honest-to-God just funny stand up.

Born in Salford, raised in Whalley Range (“My mum likes to say Chorlton, but no…”), Manford attended Oakwood High School and, to his memory, his was not one of those “always a funny kid in school, used laughter to get by in real life” stories that we’ve read a dozen times about a dozen different comics.

“No, whereas some people go ‘Oh I knew you were going to be a comedian’, I do meet people from school now and they usually tell me ‘I can’t believe you’re a comedian!’” he laughs. “I used to have a laugh with mates of course, but… I was a bit of a smartarse I suppose. I had a couple of good teachers who let me get away with a bit, without encouraging it too much, but, to be honest I meet most of my old mates from school these days and they say ‘I can’t believe you’re not dead!’”

So as much as Manford might disappoint in terms of that particular well-worn legend, there is a story of a cocky youth being in the right place at the right time and stepping up to his destiny in such a mythical way that the facts simply must be checked. Joyfully, after a little prodding, it turns out the story holds up to the polygraph test very well. In Chorlton, there is a comedy club that has more than earned its’ place in history. Known at the time as the Buzz Club, situated above The Southern pub, not 500 yards from the aforementioned Oakwood High, the open mic nights run by a local comedy stalwart known as Agraman The Human Anagram boosted (or even began) many a young UK comic’s career in its’ heyday. Living as he did round the corner from the Southern, Young Jason Manford had a part time job at Buzz, collecting glasses. One of the booked acts failed to show, and the spotlight of fate shone down on young Jason, who duly stepped up…

“I wasn’t even working at the Buzz, particularly,” Jason explains. “My mum knew the landlady and got me a job at the pub. I’d work weddings and funerals, whatever, and every Thursday I’d be sent upstairs to collect glasses at the Buzz. I used to watch all the acts getting up and doing their thing and then, one day, Agraman said I could have a go. A lot of people do ask me though, ‘Is that true?’”

As well they might. It’s almost Arthurian. It’s easy to imagine the microphone glowing under the empty spotlight, calling Manford to his life beyond the bar work. But it gets even better and, perhaps, even harder to believe. Six gigs later Jason Manford was crowned City Life North West Comedian of the Year. Where were you six months ago? I know where I was. I was in this chair, probably wearing these jeans, wondering what was for tea. My point is, nothing has really changed in the last six months, as I’m sure is probably fair to say for most people. Other famous types might relish the chance to bask in a legend like this one, but Manford is unfazed by such piffle.

“Well, again, it’s one of those things,” he shrugs, “At the time, you only needed five minutes to win a competition. I’m not trying to say it’s not hard; it is still quite hard, it’s just not as hard as it probably sounds…”

Does Jason feel the UK comedy scene nurtured him along the way?

“I don’t know about that really,” is the considered response. “I’m not sure if the scene really helps much, other than the actual acts. When I look at the people who have made it, they are all really hard working. You know, you open up the Guardian Guide, seeing who’s doing what gigs, and the guys who are doing five or six nights a week, all over the country, probably losing money (because you do, for the first five or six years, you lose money); they’re the guys that are now reaping the rewards.”

Like any other vocation it seems, the opportunities are there for the hard workers.

“That’s right,” Manford agrees. “If you’re willing to crack on and do the work, then it’s there. There’s loads of gigs, if you can be bothered driving five hours for twenty quid, you know, when the petrol’s going to cost you thirty and you wondering ‘Can I be bothered?’ when you just… have to. You have to spend hours, every day, on the phone, ringing promoters asking ‘Can I do a gig? I don’t mind if it’s unpaid; let me show you what I’ve got and if you like it, book me.’ Nobody’s owed a living are they? You just have to crack on.”

Again, as in any profession, early days have their challenges.

“Oh yeah! I mean, you do these gigs and at a lot of them, you’re dying on your arse and they’re horrible venues all over the country, but it means that when you do finally get a tour like the one I’m on now, playing all these lovely theatres… You can’t believe your luck! It’s like you’ve been abused all your life and then all of a sudden everybody loves you. You can’t help but remember that gig where the bouncers were fighting each other!”

Bearing such darker times in mind stop the good days going to Jason’s head.

“I don’t know if everyone’s like this, but I’m always thinking… you know, When’s the end of the line? When’s the next guy going to come along and get the opportunities I’m being offered right now? I think that’s only natural.”

There should be no such concerns. Anyone who knows Jason or has watched his career closely would be hard pushed to deny he has grafted, and earned everything that has come to him. Besides he must be in the Career Safety zone by now. He has after all landed that most coveted of modern UK Comedy Grails: The Quiz Show Captaincy chair! As an irregular guest on ‘8 Out Of 10 Cats’, Manford shone as a gifted, quickfire mind and, sure enough, eventually logic dictated that he be given a shot at a more regular spot. He took over from Dave Spikey and proved a real hit. He seems comfortable in the chair, too…

“I’m alright now, yeah! Once you get to that Team Captain stage, if you’re comfortable, unless you decide to leave, nobody’s going to shift you!”

The panel show does seem to be becoming very valuable to comics these days. Manford agrees.

“It’s the new way of getting on telly, definitely. It’s almost the only way for a new comic to get on telly, really. I got the job when Dave chose to leave because the producers of that show had seen me take a guest spot two or three times, so that worked out nicely. You see it all over the place now; you see Russell Howard, Michael McIntyre, ‘Mock The Week’ was a great starting point for them and guys like Frankie Boyle. People can be a bit snippy about it, but truth is, it’s just good, cheap entertainment. It’s not ‘Pride and Prejudice’ is it, it’s just a good laugh for half an hour, with six or seven good comics on the bill in one show. I think it does a good job. Also I would never have got ‘Live At The Apollo’ if not for ‘8 Out Of 10 Cats’.”

Ah yes, the Jason Manford appearances at ‘Live At The Apollo’ may well go down as the best of the series since it began. It’s evident Manford is happy with them too.

“Yeah, it’s all subjective isn’t it, I mean some people tell me the first one I did was the best one, others say the second was better. I think the first one was best. It was nice and easy, seven minutes, so you record ten on the night, so I have all my material to choose from to make that ten minutes up, so great, I use what I think is my best stuff and happy days. Of course then I do the next one, and I have a bit less to choose from and I have to do a bigger set too. So, less to choose from and more to find. It gets harder each time. I’m doing another soon where I’ll be hosting and Michael McIntyre is the act, so that will be a big one. That should be aired in November.”

November should be a decent testing ground for Jason. In addition to the Apollo hosting slot, his DVD ‘Jason Manford Live At The Manchester Apollo’ is due for release on November 16th. How did recording his first solo DVD go?

“Well, I recorded it in Manchester, which helped to be honest, and I recorded it over two nights and then took the best [material] from the two nights. The audience was well up for it, so it went well, I think. I sort of mixed and matched; it’s all the stuff off the tour I’m coming to the end of, plus about twenty minutes of stuff I’ve done on telly, then some bits where I’m just messing around! It was nerve-wracking though – I didn’t want to let Manchester down!”

Judging by the reviews, he did nothing of the kind. So what’s next for Jason Manford, local hero?

“I’ve written a sitcom, which I’d like to see on telly at some point, but I picked the wrong time it seems, with all the studios hit by the credit crunch and cutting back! Then the new tour kicks off next Autumn, which will be nice to be honest because, as much as I’ve enjoyed this one, I’ve been touring this material since last September! The DVD release means I can draw a line under it, which was a relief. It’s hard to start from scratch of course, but it’s nice, after touring the same material for such a long time, to sit down at a blank page and go ‘Now… what’s funny?’ Then I’ve got the Royal Variety Performance – in front of the Queen! – in December, a new series of ‘8 Out Of 10 Cats’ in January and a bunch of other quiz shows coming up; proper quiz shows, you know, rather than comedy shows. I’m like Bob Monkhouse!”

He really is. Since the sad demise of Lord Bob and the crowning of Ben Elton as Emperor of the Disappointments, we’ve been looking for Manford, whether we admit it or not. We like Christmas, we love Panto, we need a natural successor to Bruce Forsyth…

“It’s funny you should say that,” enthuses Manford. “I go into meetings and they say ‘What do you want to do?’ and I say ‘Give me the ‘Generation Game’ and I will knock it out of the park.’ I would love to do that show. There’s not a lot of comics who would be happy doing quiz shows and working with the public in that way, but that would really do for me. Les Dawson was one of my heroes and I look at ‘Blankety Blank’ and think that was brilliant television; the way he handled it was brilliant and that would really do for me. I plant myself firmly in that so-called middle of the road comedy where you’re just aiming to entertain; to make as many people laugh as possible.”

If Mainstream is the new punk, Jason Manford is the Sex Pistols. You heard it here first.

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