In Profile: Stu Who?

You’d be forgiven for not expecting much festive cheer from a man who doesn’t celebrate Christmas because he’s 'a grown-up who doesn’t have imaginary friends'.

However, whilst he won’t be decking the halls of his own house, Stu Who? relishes performing for that much-maligned group, the mere name of which can send shudders down the spines of the most seasoned comics: The Christmas Party Night Out. "I used to moan about it like everybody else, but over the years, if I really look back on it, most of them have actually behaved better than the rest of the audience." he tells us. "The bad, drunken nights are the exception, but they’re such an exception they’re memorable and everybody talks about them."

These exceptions include the time a Police Chief Inspector ended up being arrested by his own men, and a show where the vast majority of the audience seemed more interested in nipping to the toilet. "I thought, either there’s a urinary infection hitting this town or there’s cheap cocaine. When we checked with the bouncers we realised our suspicions were correct..." Let’s hope the audience at The Beehive this December have other ideas about what makes a white Christmas.

But whilst Christmas ain’t really his thing, there is one part of the Festive season Stu Who? would never miss – his Hogmanay performance at Jongleurs Glasgow. "I love gigging at the New Year and then partying with the crowd. The atmosphere is brilliant and the crowd are great."

This year sees him gigging alongside Tom Stade who he describes as 'mental'. "Someone said recently they were doing a gig with Tom and asked what he's like. I said 'Take bail money.'"

Not that anything is likely to faze Stu Who?, the self-described "voice of wisdom from a lunatic." Talking about his comic style, he tells us: "I’m not political, more into social comment. But with a ridiculous streak of knob-joke sensibility." With over twenty years experience on the circuit (he was one of the original stars of STV's Funny Farm) there’s not much he hasn’t done. Taken Apocalypse Now star Robert Duvall for a pint in a Parkhead boozer? Check. Cycled through China? Check. Turned down a part in Phoenix Nights? Check.

"I never regret anything. I’d like to be filthy, stinking rich, but I think if I’d carried on doing TV stuff I’d have ended up divorced, a recovering coke addict in The Priory, talking shite like the rest of all them. And no longer doing comedy."