Frank Skinner is cleaning theatres... in a good way

Despite being 'exiled' from his beloved Saturday radio show, the legendary stand-up is still killing it on the comedy circuit. In the midst of a sold-out tour, he talks joke-telling, fatherhood, woke culture and Al, which he insists will never take his job

- Kat Hopps

FRANK Skinner is back on the standup circuit and in blisteringly good form. "That's a terrible question to start with," he replies, when I ask him how he is. "I feel fine, but I'm no doctor." Fresh from two gigs in Nottingham for his new 30 Years of Dirt tour, Skinner is in buoyant mood inside the Starbucks near his home in Hampstead, north London, because he's been "doing a lot of cleaning" on the comedy circuit.

The insider term refers to sold-out gigs where the odd single seats, usually left empty because they're difficult to fill, are occupied.

Does Skinner, now 67, feel as if he's still got the magic? "As far as live stand-up is concerned, yes. People are thinking, 'I'll sit on my own, but I just want to be there'. So live, definitely. Radio, maybe not as big as I was."

The first of many giggles erupts from his mouth. "And telly... I have my moments but I used to do four or five series a year. I don't know if those days are gone but they're certainly in hibernation."

It's true that Skinner's broadcasting profile has dipped recently. Today he's still sore about his sacking from Absolute Radio after 15 years, first announced in March. The last episode of The Frank Skinner Show, with his co-hosts Emily Dean and comic Pierre Novellie, will air later this month.

"Our show on Saturday was brilliant, it had everything," he says, clearly exasperated. "It was explosively funny and interesting and different. I thought halfway through, "This is mad that it's not continuing'." 

He hasn't read the many messages of public support sent to the station.

"It's all been gallows humour at the moment and I don't want anyone to read anything out that might set me off, [make] me a bit more emotional. We're going out guns blazing rather than tears streaming."

He understands "it was a financial thing" and won't entertain the idea of ageism.