Jason Manford: 'I'm like a gateway comedian to the harder stuff - and I like that' he says ahead of Yorkshire tour dates
Scan the room at a Jason Manford gig and you’ll see hundreds of happy people nudging each other and exchanging knowing nods. Whether the Salford-born comic is talking about relationships, life on the road, paddle tennis or anything else, really - being relatable is near the top of his list of priorities.
Can he make out those responses, from under the bright spotlights? “Yeah, I see that and I feed off it,” he says. “That’s how I develop stuff, how I end up finding material that on paper might not not feel like much, but suddenly you see the audience respond in a certain way and you think, ‘Oh, hang on, I’ve got something here’.”
“After funny, relatable is the next most important thing for me,” says Manford, who is celebrating 25 years in comedy, and currently on tour with his new show, A Manford All Seasons. “I love it when people say, ‘It was like listening to one of my mates down the pub,’ or ‘It’s like you had a camera in our house.’ I love that because it means I’ve put the work in and got it right.”
Coming up with funny stories from real life seems like a natural progression, given how he started in the business. As a 17-year-old, he was working at Manchester’s now-closed Buzz Club, collecting and washing glasses, when one of the comedy acts couldn’t make it.
The boss, noticing that Jason had the kind of wit and likeability that would work well on stage, asked him to come on as a substitute. He did as he was asked and, despite being completely unprepared, ended up playing a blinder with his observations about real life.
He soon got a taste for it. It, of course, helped that Peter Kay became something of a mentor to him, encouraging him to spend the equivalent of a full-week’s working hours on comedy to perfect his craft.
In 1999, having only ever done six gigs before, Manford won the City Life North West Comedian of the Year Award, and the following year was named Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year.
Six years into his career, he was shortlisted for the Edinburgh Comedy Award (then called the Perrier) for his show, Urban Legends, and he has won bundles of other accolades since then, including for his Sunday Absolute Radio show.
His latest tour, A Manford All Seasons, will see Jason play over 175 dates this year including in Leeds, Scarborough, Halifax, York, Bradford, Doncaster and Hull.
It’s packed full of the comedy he’s become known for, much of it reflecting the fact that he now has six children, three of them teenagers. He’s keen to avoid going down the “aren’t they a nightmare at that age?” route, though, and it’s all underpinned by obvious affection.
“I want audiences to forget about the stresses of the day, and to leave feeling positive,” he says. “A lot of the show is about where I am in my life, with things changing very quickly. My little darling children are turning into young women, so I talk about dealing with that, with stories of my life and my own childhood. Comparing my childhood to my children’s is a rich source of comedy, but it’s all upbeat.”
Manford blends humour with heart. His ability to approach it gently from all angles means he regularly sees people bringing their own teenagers to the show, and he often gets three generations of the same family in. “I love that,” he says.
“I’m like a gateway comedian to the harder stuff. I really like that, and I find myself very comfortable in that space of someone you feel you can sort of bring anyone to the show.”
Standing up on stage – or sitting on a stool, having got himself a footballing injury and then realising he rather likes being perched – isn’t the only thing in Manford’s busy career.
He’s starred in countless TV panel shows, including hosting the 2025 New Year special of Have I Got Sport For You, led hit quiz shows like Unbeatable and ITV1’s What Would Your Kid Do?, and was also a judge on ITV’s Starstruck.
He has showcased his acting as the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz at the London Palladium, featured in BBC One’s Ordinary Lies and the long-running hit drama Waterloo Road, and has led the cast in Manchester’s Opera House pantos as Captain Hook, Jack (Jack and the Beanstalk), and Prince Charming (Cinderella).
Then, there’s the trickiest gig he’s ever done – hosting The Royal Variety Performance. It’s something Manford had always wanted to do, but when his chance came, it was during lockdown, and he had to perform not to a huge auditorium packed with big names but too 100 faces on a screen.
“It was the best and worst gig of my life. It was a great gig, with great material, and we got to open with a song and have this magical moment, but also I feel a bit robbed of the experience of being the Royal Variety Show host,” he says. So would he do it again? “Would I? I literally ring them every year,” he laughs.
In his memoir, Manford talks about how being funny can be an important life skill, both in the way it can help kids deflect bullies and make teenagers more appealing to potential dates. He’d love to see comedy on the national curriculum, being taught for a term as part of drama classes as a way of helping kids build up their confidence.
“Like I say in the show when I quote Edgar Degas, art is not what you see, it's what you make other people see, and that's what stand-up comedy is,” he says.
“I think that would help narrow a bit of the gap between the public and private schools because a lot of kids come out of private school with the absolute confidence that they belong in any room. State school children don't often have that.”
- Visit /www.jasonmanford.com