Glasgow comic Gary Little has accused British comedy big-wigs of snobbery after sell-out live comedy shows such as Still Game and Burnistoun were ignored in the big UK comedy awards.

He said: “What was quite depressing was with all the big UK comedy awards, when Still Game played to something like a quarter of a million people and wasn’t nominated for anything….you think, if that had been any show in England, that would have been a major deal and they’d have been talking about it non-stop."

Little said he was disappointed that Monty Python and James Acaster received awards at The Chortle comedy awards while the Scottish shows were ignored.

However, he says the big live show phenomenon is not going away. He said: “I think the big shows will be a thing for quite a while now. Gary Tank Commander is coming next year. For people that go, that’s their big night out”.

Little has witnessed the growth of the Scottish comedy circuit as a performer for the past ten years and thinks he knows why Scottish comics have been so successful.

“I think that Scottish comics are more self-deprecating, they laugh at themselves a bit more easily. I think that’s a lot to do with the Glasgow style of humour. In the past, guys like Billy Connolly have shown that it’s easier to get a laugh out of yourself. So I think, maybe the west coast humour is a wee bit different from other parts of the country, but ultimately funny is funny. You’ve got to still make people laugh and so you can’t be too different, otherwise it wouldn't work”.

Little, who spent time in jail over two decades ago, involving an eight-year stint in Barlinnie for dealing ecstasy, reduced to four for good behaviour, started comedy in 2003 after a five-minute video competition, run by The Stand Comedy Club, which saw him reach the semi-final stage.

“I hadn’t any idea of doing comedy until I was nearly 40. So it’s not as if I had a burning desire to do it. I mean, I was always the sort of the guy at parties who would be the pain in the arse. But obviously, growing up in Glasgow, I remember people like Hector Nicol, who was sort of the equivalent of Chubby Brown, we used to have tapes and cassettes of his shows and he was really, really rude, but really, really funny. When you’re a young kid, another guy is Lex McLean - they were the sort of guys who did all the working men’s clubs and stuff. Then obviously Billy Connolly who broke all the rules and he made it okay just to tell a story about whatever party you were at. But I’d never even been to a comedy club until I did my first gig”.

So what makes a good comedy show?

One of the key ingredients for any show to be successful is to build a strong connection with the audience and provide something that people can relate to: “Audiences appreciate a bit of honesty. Even in shows about depression or being in prison, if you can show a comedy side of that, people can be there with you, even though perhaps you’re telling them about a brutal experience or a hard time in your life.

A few years ago, I did a show on depression and people came up to me after it and they were saying about their partner suffering from depression and it’s the first time they’ve sort of been able to laugh and be laughing about the sort of side-effects that I was talking about, having gone through them. Obviously, they weren’t laughing at the time but they can have a laugh about it now”.

“I’ve done gigs at cocaine-anonymous meetings and I’m not slagging them off, but I’m having a joke about the whole addictive thing like AA meetings and that sort of thing. And they’re all laughing because they’re thinking, ‘We know people like that’. So you can’t be too serious about things, but that’s just my type of humour. I mean, obviously there’s people who are maybe a bit more surreal and whimsy but I just find it easier to do what I do, I feel a lot more people can relate to that. The beauty of comedy is that it’s all subjective; someone thinks you’re funny and some people don’t get you, it’s just one of those things and can be the frustrating thing about comedy”.

“They say that the Scottish and Irish are more story-tellers, when they hear things and get up at parties and tell stories. I don’t know how true it is now but that’s the type of humour that I prefer, when people paint a picture. I appreciate and admire guys that do one-liners and puns and stuff but I wouldn’t really want to sit and watch that for an hour, I’d rather hear about a guy’s discomfort and they tell a story that you can relate to”.

Gary Little plays at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 7-30th August, The Stand, 9:30-10:30pm

Two jokes that could be used as breakouts:

“Every day I go to the park with my dogs and every day I see this guy, who I thought was a dog walker but I think actually he might just be a poor person who collects dogs……poor people do that…….and trampolines.”

“I’ve heard sentences in Glasgow where no words get used. Only vowels and other noises.”

Blob: Lewis McKenzie will be joining the Evening Times online to writer about comedy. Keep up with him at www.eveningtimes.co.uk