Adam Morton speaks to Iain Stirling ahead of his show 'Relevant' at the Gaiety Theatre on February 28 2025.
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00:00So we're here today talking to comedian Ian Stirling,
00:03ahead of his show Relevant at the Gaiety Theatre
00:05on February the 28th, 2025.
00:08To start off, Ian, do you mind telling me a bit
00:10about the show and what it involves?
00:14Yeah, it's called Relevant, it's a stand-up show.
00:19Yeah.
00:20It's like my fifth tour, my biggest tour yet,
00:22and then, yeah, I'm just like having a lot of fun
00:25with my stand-up at the minute.
00:27Yeah.
00:27Really enjoying myself, and I think it's just,
00:30I'm discussing sort of being and becoming a father.
00:36Yeah.
00:38Finding my relevance in today's society,
00:41with like, in the world of social media
00:43and all the rest of it.
00:44So yeah, that's sort of what I'm talking about.
00:46Great, fantastic.
00:48I have to ask, since you're coming to the Isle of Man,
00:50have you ever been here before?
00:53Yeah, I've been a few times.
00:54Oh, okay.
00:55Actually.
00:56Yeah, I've done a few gigs,
00:57I think in the same venue, actually.
01:00I've never done it on my own tour.
01:01Right.
01:02I've always had like a really lovely time,
01:04so yeah, I'm looking forward to it, actually.
01:06Yeah, I'm quite surprised at that answer, actually,
01:08because normally, if I'm speaking to comedians,
01:10they always say, nope, never been, it's my first time.
01:12So that's a nice surprise.
01:15Are you going to be doing any sightseeing while you're here,
01:18or is it just the one night gig and then off you go?
01:21Well, you know, we've got, I mean, obviously,
01:23there's easier places to get to,
01:25so I'll probably end up spending a night somewhere.
01:29Any recommendations?
01:31Yeah, well-
01:32If you need to come up to the show
01:33and give me a shout-out, just tell me now.
01:35I will do, mate, I will do.
01:36I'll be there, so I'll let you know.
01:41What else?
01:42It'll be quite late, so pubs near the theatre
01:45would be a good place.
01:46Yeah, there's a few nice spots on Douglas Promenade,
01:50which is where the Gator Theatre is,
01:51so it's got, obviously, a nice view out to the sea,
01:53and then there's a few places like Frank Matcham's
01:56and some of the bars,
01:57and Sir Norman Wisdom Bar is on that road as well,
02:00so some nice places for you to go to
02:03if you get some spare time.
02:06It's like Paris.
02:08Yeah, well, exactly.
02:09I mean, the way I'm describing it, it really is, yeah.
02:13I know, it sounds great.
02:14Yeah, also, we recently spoke to Frank Skinner
02:19before his show here, and after he was here,
02:21he sort of, he went on a podcast, his own podcast,
02:24and said about how much he didn't like the island,
02:26so hopefully, you'll have a different viewpoint,
02:29a different viewpoint on that after you've been here,
02:32but fingers crossed.
02:33We'll see.
02:34I'm quietly confident.
02:36I don't think I'll be popping up on my podcast.
02:39Good, good.
02:40In five minutes, it'll be good.
02:41Yeah.
02:43Of the island.
02:44Yeah, obviously, you're well-known
02:47as the narrator on Love Island,
02:49so I have to ask, I've always wondered this.
02:52Do you ever get people asking you to recite certain lines,
02:54like, tonight, or anything like that?
02:56Does that ever come across from anyone at all in public?
03:00Get it every now and again, you get it.
03:02Yeah.
03:03Which is obviously, like, a nice thing, isn't it?
03:05Because it's nice to work on a show
03:07that people actually know.
03:08Yeah.
03:09I mean, people spend a lot of, put in a lot of effort
03:12and spend a lot of money and all the rest of it
03:13to get a show that people,
03:16that resonates with them, I think.
03:17So, yeah, I think when I was younger,
03:19I'd find it, like, a bit annoying,
03:20but now I'm, like, just genuinely incredibly grateful
03:24that I've worked on something that people like
03:27as much as they do, or it sort of sticks in their psyche
03:30in the way it does, which is great.
03:31Yeah.
03:32Do you still enjoy working on the show?
03:34Are you still well into it?
03:36Yeah.
03:37That's my aspect.
03:38Because also, I've always liked the show,
03:41but now, obviously, after, like, 10 plus years,
03:44Yeah.
03:44the whole team and the people that I work with,
03:47like, now are little families, you know what I mean?
03:48Yeah, of course.
03:50Yeah.
03:50I sort of, like, yeah, it's like a high school,
03:52like, literally every year,
03:54it becomes more and more like a high school reunion
03:55and, like, all the people that I started a show,
03:58like, my mid, early 20s,
04:00and they were all, like, young kids, new to Pele,
04:03and now they're all, like, important bosses
04:06and they've all got kids and, yeah, it's crazy.
04:09So, yeah, it's a lovely show to work on,
04:11lovely people to work with.
04:13Yeah.
04:14I've always wondered, how does it work as well?
04:15Do you get sent the full package, like, in the day
04:17and then you come up with your own lines to add to it?
04:20Yeah, we just watch the, we watch the show,
04:23sort of, like, give or take a final cut
04:25in, like, the early afternoon
04:27and then we just work our way through it.
04:28I write with a guy called Mark,
04:31who's, like, I've been working with for years.
04:33Right.
04:34Great guy.
04:34Yeah.
04:36Yeah, and we just start, just get to work.
04:38Normally takes a few hours, then we're done.
04:40Yeah.
04:41Sort of, then it's the school run and all that.
04:43Yeah.
04:45Rock and roll.
04:46Yeah.
04:47It used to be off the stage,
04:49off to the hotel bar for a few pina coladas.
04:52Yeah.
04:54Are you actually in the area where it's filmed?
04:56Are you in the same place?
04:58I've got, I used to go to Spain.
05:01Yeah.
05:02But now I can do the American one as well and stuff.
05:04I've actually got a little, like,
05:05Studio.
05:06Recording studio.
05:07Yeah.
05:08I work from, you know.
05:09That's nice.
05:10I'm doing, I do four a year now,
05:11two American, two UK.
05:12So it's sort of,
05:14Yeah.
05:15To go, I'd basically never be home.
05:18I've had the whole studio, so yeah.
05:19Yeah.
05:20It worked out well, I mean.
05:21Yeah.
05:22I wanted to ask as well,
05:24I grew up coming home from school
05:26and watching you on Scoop on CBBC.
05:29Obviously with the talking dog.
05:31I can't remember the name.
05:31What was the name of the dog?
05:33Hacker dog.
05:34I'm glad you can't remember.
05:35Normally it's the other way around.
05:36Normally people don't ever hack anything.
05:38I'm glad you can't remember that dog the other way around.
05:42But yeah, I look back on that with fondness myself.
05:44I was wondering,
05:45do you sort of see that as being like a springboard,
05:48like a starting point of your career?
05:49Is that how you view being on the CBBC?
05:54Absolutely.
05:54I've done, like, I presented television
05:57for like two, three hours a day,
05:59five days a week for four years.
06:01Like there's no better.
06:02Yeah.
06:03There's no better training ground, really.
06:04Yeah.
06:05So yeah, no, absolutely.
06:06It's a great training ground.
06:07And also it's low pressure,
06:09because it's kids' TV, so.
06:11Yeah.
06:12Yeah, there was no,
06:13it's not like a big Saturday night show
06:16that people were being all very critical.
06:18I just sort of got to get better slowly.
06:20Yeah, it was really nice.
06:21And again, look, there's such lovely people.
06:23I got to work with them.
06:24Yeah.
06:25I've been lucky to work with like nice people
06:26my whole career, so yeah.
06:28Yeah.
06:29Have you found the jump up from kids' TV
06:32to like more adult material?
06:34Has that jump up been difficult in your career?
06:36Has it just sort of been like a natural progression?
06:40Well, it's a weird one,
06:41because back in the,
06:43I got the kids' TV job from being like,
06:47I was a stand-up comedian first,
06:48so I started doing stand-up like 15 years ago,
06:51so I was always doing stand-up.
06:53My stand-up's never for children.
06:54I just, I don't quite know how it happened
06:57that someone started doing stand-up
06:58and thought I'd make a good kids' TV show.
07:00I'm glad they did.
07:00Yeah.
07:01So yeah, it wasn't,
07:02it was a bit of a change.
07:04I think more like,
07:05especially when I was doing like my sitcom.
07:08Yeah.
07:09Yeah, of course.
07:10Celebrity, which is like on after Love Island,
07:12you've got like five,
07:14like half a million, a million people
07:15watching your show,
07:16they're not so,
07:17it's just a lot more pressure rather than like,
07:19Yeah.
07:20A different, and you could argue
07:22the sort of intellectual step up
07:24between CBBC and ITV2 maybe, isn't it?
07:28As big as people might think.
07:29Right.
07:32In what way, sorry?
07:35Well, it's just,
07:36it's moving on from kids' TV to young adults.
07:40Yeah.
07:41Yeah.
07:42Yeah.
07:42I didn't go from CBBC to Back to Night.
07:46Do you know what I mean?
07:47Yeah, of course.
07:48Yeah, I know what you mean.
07:49Yeah, of course.
07:50I also saw recently that you've been,
07:52you've done some things with Liverpool players
07:53on the Liverpool YouTube channel.
07:55Oh, yeah, big time.
07:56Yeah, I'm a massive Liverpool fan
07:58and it's a big game tomorrow.
07:59Are you up to it?
08:00Yeah, yeah.
08:01I wanted to know,
08:02I've not actually seen,
08:03I'm sorry, but I've not seen the video yet.
08:05It's on my Watch Later playlist on YouTube,
08:07so I'll make sure to,
08:08make sure to watch it.
08:10Yeah, yeah.
08:11It sounds like a Friday night watch to me, that.
08:12I feel like I'm going to go home and watch it tonight.
08:15But I was going to ask,
08:17are you a Liverpool fan yourself
08:18and what are your thoughts on us at the moment?
08:20Massive.
08:21Yeah.
08:22Yeah.
08:22I try to get to the games as much as I can and stuff.
08:24Yeah.
08:25Yeah.
08:26I love it.
08:27I went to university in Norway
08:30and in Norway they're all,
08:32not all, all-
08:33Oh, they are, yeah.
08:34Massive.
08:35Yeah, there's a big following there, isn't there?
08:36There's a big contingent,
08:37there's Liverpool fans, yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:38Yeah.
08:39I think there's,
08:40I was this sort of generation of like,
08:41young Henry Leeson and all that, so.
08:43Yeah.
08:44I got into,
08:45I got into pre-university
08:47and then I just stuck with it ever since.
08:49Yeah.
08:50Yeah.
08:51Fingers crossed it can go well this season, eh?
08:52Fingers crossed.
08:54Well, tonight's the big one.
08:56Win tonight.
08:57Yeah.
08:58Liverpool, Barcelona, City.
08:59Yeah.
09:00And then we could be,
09:00we could be sitting pretty.
09:02Yeah.
09:03Hopefully.
09:04Yeah.
09:04Keep everything crossed.
09:06Are you looking forward to the relevant tour in general?
09:08Are you excited to get marauding around the UK?
09:11Yeah, well, it was nice that I got to
09:15like, extend it.
09:16I had so much fun doing it.
09:17I'd go on tour with Joel,
09:19who's my electric manager,
09:20who's,
09:22we've been working together for,
09:23again, well over 10 years.
09:24Steve, who's here,
09:25who's my support act.
09:26We wrote,
09:28but for him,
09:29which is like a sitcom that I wrote.
09:30Yeah.
09:31And, yeah,
09:32I've been my mate for a long, long time.
09:34I just get to go around the UK and wider areas
09:38and just having,
09:40with my mates.
09:40Yeah.
09:41Of course.
09:42It's been such a dream, really.
09:43Yeah.
09:44Absolutely.
09:45Well, I can't wait to see it, Ian.
09:46I'm looking forward to it in February.
09:48Yeah.
09:49It'll be great.
09:50Mate, I'm glad you're coming.
09:51Like you said.
09:52Yeah.
09:53I'll hit you up with those pop recommendations again.
09:55Yeah.
09:55I'll heckle.
09:56I'll give you a shout out.
09:58Yeah.
09:59I'll let you know.
10:00Mate, I'll see you there.
10:01Yeah.
10:02Nice one.
10:03Thanks very much for speaking to me, Ian.
10:04Thanks for having me.