The Pub Landlord Is "A Voice Crying In The Wilderness"

Al Murray has basically ticked off almost everything on a comedian's bucket list: he's played the O2, his sitcom has achieved cult status, he won the Perrier award at Edinburgh after a record run of nominations and next year he headlines a run of shows at Royal Albert Hall.

Had he any inkling that The Pub Landlord character he gave birth to two decades ago at the Edinburgh Fringe would have such longevity? "I did realise that it's a bottomless pit of material because it's a point of view, it's an attitude and one that really works. It struck me: I could do this forever."

"The idea behind that is to make sure that every audience gets a feeling that tonight's the night."

Aside from making Murray one of the most recognised comedians in the UK, all this success must have had some impact on The Pub Landlord as well. "He's become more big headed. I've given him this idea that he knows who he is, that he's nationally known and that he's on a one-man mission of common sense and that he sees himself as John The Baptist, voice crying in the wilderness and all that, and that's how a lunatic behaves, that's how he sees the world."

Earlier this year The Pub Landlord took the next logical step for a beer-swilling prophet and leapt directly into the political process by founding his own party, the Free United Kingdom Party (FUKP) and running for parliament in the same seat as UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage. Both candidates lost out in the end to the Conservative Party candidate, but Murray has fond memories of the experience. "Well it annoyed the right people. Winning was never a serious suggestion. It was satirical — I mean, that's a question of taste. I was interested in getting involved in the political process and we thought it would be hilarious at the same time. We had some completely amazing reactions. We had some people saying, 'Your politics are completely fucking ridiculous,' and I'm thinking, 'Yeah, well don't just ask that of me. Everybody standing should be asked if their politics are completely fucking ridiculous.'" 

Murray's wit is lightning fast and on stage he's known for exceptional crowd work that incorporates the audience as an essential part of the show. "I do improvise the first half hour. The idea behind that is to make sure that every audience gets a feeling that tonight's the night." Reminiscing about how his style developed, Murray remembers the safe, withdrawn stand-up he was seeing at the end of the '80s when he was just starting out. In contrast to this, he remembers the Australian troupe, Doug Anthony All Stars. "They put on a great big show, completely in your face — they didn't respect the audience. They to me were like, 'Jesus Christ this is what you can do with this. You can make every show like blood, sweat and tears if you want.'" After 20 years, Murray's prolific and notorious The Pub Landlord is doing the same, pouring everything he has into making people laugh.