“I used to feel my bottom lip going, like I was going to cry”
Look out for this man- five years into his career in comedy, Mark Smith has seen so much success- but I bet you still don’t know who he is.
One of posh schooling’s finest funny boys, Mark found that he is a big fan of comedy after visiting a friend at his university, and getting more out of the experience than he bargained for.
“I ended up writing sketches with him and Simon Bird and I thought Ah, this is quite cool- I might try this.”
Inspired by all the laughs, Mark went back to his own university and performed for the first time in the spotlight.
“I was terrible, obviously. Everyone is when they start. When I used to do public speaking I would feel my bottom lip going, like I was going to cry.”
Was that enough to put him off? Hell, no. Self-proclaimed sadistic at the start of his career, Mark got back up on the stage despite his fright and, luckily for us, grabbed a mic.
“I liked it enough to try it again. Within a year I’d done about 30 gigs- I wasn’t very good at anything else so I thought why not carry on?”
So what does Mark actually do now to try and break through to our funny bones?
“We do a double act, the other guy is called Max Dickins and we performed at Edinburgh in 2011. To be honest: now it’s just a podcast every couple of weeks on iTunes.
“We just talk sh*t for about half an hour. It’s quite nice- it’s a laugh.
“At the minute, though, I’m writing my first hour for Edinburgh this year- it’s quite stressful but it’s quite exciting as well. A whole hour on stage just you and a microphone seems so daunting.”
After appearing on Russell Howard’s Good News and being involved in the scripting, filming and editing of an impressive number of comedy programmes and appearances, what more can Mark do in taking the comedy scene by storm?
“The overall goal is to one day have my own tour. Just have my own little thing that I can go wherever and just do that. I’d like to do it properly and have a mini-bus, like a party bus.
“I know it sounds soppy but I’d just like to be a better standup.”
Skillful standup and podcast pro; Mark loves the travelling part of the business and the varying crowds around the country.
“It’s good because you have such different audiences in different parts of the country. In smaller places they’re much more grateful, much more up for it and they’re a better crowd because of it.”
So, watch out fellow comedians, Mark Smith is out to win it all.
Follow him @marksmithcomedy.
