Glasgow Comedy: Comedian Stuart Mitchell on his first UK tour, going viral and Glasgow da's

With more than 50 million TikTok views, Stuart Mitchell is a bonafide viral sensation. His brand of comedy has earned him rave reviews and a fan in the form of Will Ferrell. The longest-running panel member of BBC Radio Scotland’s Breaking the News is now embarking on his first full UK tour, taking in a staggering 65 dates.

We caught up with him to discuss the tour, going viral and his Glasgow Da’ podcast.

Glasgow World: This is your first UK tour on the back of a string of really, really highly rated Edinburgh shows. What can people expect from this one?

Stuart Mitchell: It's just a really solid hour in terms of my greatest hits that I've built up over the years and really I've pulled it all together into my life story. So everything they hear is true. It’s what's happened to me, and it's really an interesting journey that I take the audience on in terms of my life and how I met my wife and my kids and losing the tips of my fingers. Really it starts with how that accident when I was a young child really shaped the way my life would go in terms of medical complications and losing my parents, and coming out of the other side.

I think it's a really feelgood show. Sometimes, you can maybe see clips of individuals online and be disappointed, but the previews I'm doing, people have been really, really honest and shocked in terms of ‘oh we weren't knowing what to expect off the back of a 90 second clip’, and the preview’s have been going well, so I'm really excited to take it around the UK.

GW: Does the social media side of things affect how you write a show, or anything like that, or do you just have to kind of use that as a shop window, but the show kind of remains the same sort of thing?

Stuart: Yeah, I think it's great, social media. It's like an advert, isn't it? I mean, you're putting out a lot of free content that people are really enjoying, and get a lot from, which is super and I'll get a lot of private messages saying that in terms of how it's helped people in all different aspects of their lives, there’s some really poor souls that are going through a lot, and if they can, if they can get something out those clips, that's awesome.

And then you've got individuals that are lucky enough that they can take a punt and buy a ticket, which is great as well. And I think now social media has just become that shop window in terms of putting wee ads out, and then they come along and see the full full hour show.

But there is the sort of mix of that I do, I'm known for talking to the audience.

So the first half of the show is me a bit more interacting and getting to know them, and then after the intermission I put on my full hour set. So people get the best of both worlds. In terms of, they see me do my thing in terms of audience interaction, and then they also see me do my full stand up set as well.

But it's so interesting how things have changed. I find it mad that at the weekend, more people watched one of my clips on a Friday night than they would watch Live at the Apollo. So I'm getting more views on one clip than some people get doing a TV show, and that's really showing how the tour has grown in terms of when we started off. I was absolutely crapping myself because you never know what to expect. We started with 18 dates, and now we're up to 65 and that just shows you how it snowballed. The Pavilion sold out very quickly. And then we're on to the second Pavilion date that's sort of nearly sold out as well.

GW: I was having a look through the tour dates now and it's a gigantic tour. Seeing it sell out, how does that feel?

Stuart Mitchell: I mean, it's crazy to think we're doing matinees and afternoon shows, I feel I'm in the Singing Kettle just putting on so many shows. I'm really pleased people have invested in that.

The audience is really interesting from a sales perspective, you've got individuals that still like an eight o'clock show, but you've also got people that like to get out at four o'clock in the afternoon and then back in the house for half past six. That just shows you the choice they've got in terms of coming to an afternoon or evening show.

But there's been certain venues, I know Lanark and Airdrie, that just sold out instantly. They were probably the ones that sold really fast and put on an extra date. Certain areas have been really fast. I've got no complaints in terms of how the tours went. Especially for someone like me. Although I do Breaking the News up here in terms of the radio, I've no TV exposure whatsoever, and I've built my own following, and that's that's really reassuring, as well.

GW: I suppose being able to do it yourself, you've almost got that kind of complete control over it.

Stuart Mitchell: I think that's changed. That’s certainly changed in the last 10 years. It's interesting as we're starting to go to streaming platforms, and maybe we never really watch any live TV now, and that's the same with clips. In terms of social media, we scroll and we find our own, I guess, individuals that we believe in and want to get out to support. And you're almost cutting out that platform now. You're doing your own thing online, and that's leading to live shows. Whereas in the past, every comedian you had to be on Live at the Apollo, you had to be on Michael McIntyre. Now, that's not the case.

GW: You’ve obviously been working with the brilliant Raymond Mearns, that must be great as well?

Stuart Mitchell: Yeah, Raymond's always been sort of a mentor to me. Obviously, I lost my dad a few years ago, and he's been a good mentor to me in terms of really giving me a bit of direction. And I think that worked both ways. In terms of, I've given him a bit of a new lease of life as well, in terms of the Glasgow Da’ podcast, and we work very well together, and we're close and there for each other.

So yes, it's a really good sort of partnership that we've got. And again, people seem to enjoy that podcast. That all started from phone calls and social media sketches, and it's grown into a bigger thing. So again, utilising social media to generate a following.

Stuart Mitchell embarks on his UK tour on Friday 28 March at the Performing Arts Centre, Kilbarchan. It runs until Saturday 22 November at Tait Hall, Kelso. You can catch him at Glasgow Pavilion on Friday, 3 October and Friday, 17 October.