About this episode

Mark Steel interviews Alan Davies about his life, comedy, and personal experiences.

This week Mark is joined by comedian, actor, cricket obsessive and national treasure Alan Davies for a conversation that covers childhood trauma, football VAR, council bureaucracy, working-class warehouses, stand-up comedy in the 80s, Peter Snow in a BBC toilet, and why comedians instinctively know when someone is “not really a comic”. Alan talks candidly about the deeply personal experiences behind his memoirs Just Ignore Him and White Male Stand-Up, including grief, abuse, anger and the strange way comedy became both an escape and a substitute family. Along the way there are stories about Barry Manilow on the motorway, being buried under coat hangers in a van, fights in comedy clubs, the glory days of the circuit, and why every workplace secretly survives because everyone is covering for each other. We're currently sponsored by BT - behind brilliant things! Search 'Why BT' to find out more or click on the following link: https://www.bt.com/broadband/why-bt You can hear the second part of the interview in next week's episode – but if you can't wait, why not join us on Patreon? For £4 a month you can listen or watch the whole interview straight away…

People in this episode

Host: Mark Steel

Guest: Alan Davies

Topics covered

• comedy
• childhood trauma
• stand-up comedy
• working-class experiences
• personal memoirs
• football VAR
• council bureaucracy

Keywords

• Alan Davies
• Mark Steel
• comedy
• childhood trauma
• stand-up
• memoirs
• football VAR
• council bureaucracy

Sponsors

BT

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Just Ignore Him, White Male Stand-Up

More episodes of What The F*** Is Going On? with Mark Steel

• Ep 184 with Alan Davies Pt 2: I Spent Years Pretending I Was Fine · June 1, 2026 · 50 min
• Ep 183 with Rachel Millward Pt 2: We Are Sleepwalking Into Disaster! · May 18, 2026 · 50 min
• Ep 183 with Rachel Millward Pt 1: Labour Came FOURTH! · May 13, 2026 · 54 min

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