“It’s always been comedy”: Seann Walsh chats sitcom nostalgia, pet peeves, and his brand new tour
Luckily, it was anything but torture
If you’ve ever watched a British panel show between 2010 and well, now, you’ll be familiar with funnyman Seann Walsh. A cornerstone of the UK comedy scene, Seann has been entertaining the UK on tour for 20 years – and he’s not done yet.
Heading out on his sixth tour - This is Torture - in February, Seann Walsh popped in for a pint at The Lucky Saint with us, chatting all things London, TV shows, comedy, and indulging in some pure noughties nostalgia – LimeWire instead of Spotify, hour-long conversations in the pub about something that could have been Googled in an instant, and old sitcoms that could never be made now.
London is a city of highs and lows, literally
As a born and bred Londoner - he’s lived here and bought bread (or rather overpriced sourdough) from here - we hoped Seann was one of those locals with a list of favourite tucked-away spots, indie reccos, and some big city hot takes. One out of three wasn’t bad…
“It’s got to be the London Eye,” he immediately replied when we probed him about his overrated London spot.
“Every time,” he added. “Sorry, not to give you a more original answer, but I can’t get my head around it. I was walking past the other day, and the queue – you have Google Maps – just zoom out! Most of the buildings in London are pretty tall, just look up!”
Class Clown is more than a podcast
Seann's cheeky nature is perhaps best served up at the moment in his podcast, Class Clown, which sums up what his school days were like — and also looks to prove there are diamonds in the educational rough.
“Because I was naughty, I was in trouble a lot – detentions kind of trouble. I was interested to see the chemistry of being a naughty kid if, that helped you be a success later in life.
"You often listen to people’s success stories, and they didn’t find school easy. It’s sort of set up to give people belief [if they are struggling]."
Comedy show comebacks are on his wishlist
The UK undeniably has a plethora of great comedy shows from panels like Mock the Week, 8 out of 10 Cats, and Would I Lie To You, as well as sitcom classics like Gavin and Stacey, Here We Go, Not Going Out and hundreds more. Sadly, within that category of big hitters are some fallen soldiers – and some which are due a revival.
Putting things on a conveyor belt of dislike – that’s my thing! I’d be so good at that...
Seann Walsh
“Men Behaving Badly, I’d love to bring that back,” Seann reflected.
“I think I read that they said they couldn’t do it now – and that’s sort of what you want! One of my all-time favourite moments is from the show, when Tony (Neil Morrison) has a toothache and connects a wire to a door handle and slams it. He calls up his girlfriend Dorothy, who is a nurse, but they can’t understand him, and he’s trying to spell out his name with blood gushing, and then he faints,” he remembered, barely able to speak through laughter.
“I always wanted to do Room 101,” he added.
“I never got the chance to do it. I didn’t always love doing the panel shows when I was younger, but I loved that. Putting things on a conveyor belt of dislike – that’s my thing! I’d be so good at that.”
An Australian gig is to blame for his most loathed item (after the London Eye)
For many, Room 101 with Frank Skinner was an introduction to comedy – another fallen soldier in the battlefield of ratings and primetime entertainment. With 20 years of not-being-on-it under his belt, Seann definitely has a few items he’s been sending straight into that locker.
“Apple watches – write MUG on your head if you’ve got one. (I’ve got one). Man has gone thousands of years without knowing his step count – don’t tell me, just keep on walking.”
It's worse when the smartwatch takes centre stage, too.
“I was doing a show in Australia once, in Melbourne, and I was doing my set, getting quite worked up, and there was this woman in the audience who kept slapping her wrist, so I asked her 'is everything alright?' She went, 'Sorry, your performance is stressing me out, and it’s setting off my watch.'
"So, I'm not going back to Australia," he laughed.
"They don’t have that underneath, boiling anger that Brits have that they just keep in. They have a thing called A Happy Life? Never heard of it.”
This is Torture — on tour
It’s somewhat of a unique approach to set your tour name as something that could be interpreted as a forewarning to your audience – but then again, maybe it’s a genius move. A classically British move, but genius, nonetheless.
It turns out that life as a parent with two-under-two, most daily activities are torture as they metamorphose from doable tasks to seemingly insurmountable challenges.
“It’s the thing I mumble the most under my breath,” Seann joked. “It’s sort of become a catchphrase for my life. It was either that or 'typical',” he added, going over the number of occasions that elicit the response.
“Like when there’s no auto-fill when you’re trying to buy tickets and things. It’s those kinds of everyday things that drive me mad. It’s my own fault, but it’s because I’m usually running late, and it’s a panic.”
Relatable…
He's no stranger to a heckle, but he's had some good'uns
A normal day at work for you if you get heckled: go to HR. For a comedian: fight back. Anyone who has a 20-year tenure on the comedy scene will have some memorable fights, and luckily, Seann is no exception...
“One of the best heckles I ever got, I was supporting Stephen K Amos – brilliant comic, I was very new and on first. On this occasion, I was not having a good time, and I heard a baby start crying.
"I was like, 'Who’s bringing a baby to a comedy gig?!' and someone in the heavens just shouted, 'Maybe she was struggling to get it to sleep, so she brought it to see you.' And the whole venue in unison went into applause – I joined in, it was that good.”
It has always been about comedy
Comedians are sometimes like actors in that there is no uniformity in how they come to it, other than talent and persistence. Bob Mortimer was a binman/solicitor, Fatiha El-Ghorri was a university administrator, and Harry Hill was a doctor. For Seann, even if he wasn't a stand-up, he would still be comedy.
"I wanted to be a film director – in comedy, though," he reflected, thinking about what he would have done as an alternate career.
"It’s always been comedy. Even if I were an actor, I still wanted to be in comedy. Otherwise, without a doubt, I am the most useless human being you’ve probably ever met. My poor wife!”
Good job it all worked out, really.
Seann Walsh's latest tour, This is Torture is currently on sale with tickets available via his website. The tour is kicking off on 13th February and running until October 2026.
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