Howard’s say (From Surrey Comet)

Howard’s say

3:27pm Thursday 11th January 2007 in

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Howard Read's got his fingers in so many pies he should buy shares in Fray Bentos, writes Paul Fleckney.

Luckily for Howard, his stand-up work - the oldest of all his pies - is still fresh and tasty and nowhere near its sell-by date. In fact its becoming something of a vintage pie, one packed with prime comedy cuts and a distinctive flavour.

In other, non pie-based words, he's a busy fella, so we should be impressed he has fitted a run of stand-up shows - including the Walkabout in Putney tonight (Thursday) - into his schedule, which is dominated by TV stations demanding his animation wizardry and radio channels after his gaggery.

Most recently Howard has been doing the visuals for a BBC pilot: "It is called Stairlift To Heaven, which is about a nine-year-old, who, due to a terrible administrative error, has been placed in an old people's home.

"It's got Richard Briers, Rik Mayall and Una Stubbs in it and I have been left to do the animation, so it's entirely my fault if it's rubbish," he says.

Apart from the assortment of channels fighting over Howard, there is also an ITV2 sketch show in the offing plus seemingly never-ending tours.

The Perrier Award nominee explains: "Every so often you get a wave of lots of big things but then you'll get nothing for a while, so you have just got to enjoy the ride.

"There's so much happening at the moment I would be unlucky for it all to fail!"

Howard has become known for doing tours alongside Little Howard - an animated six-year-old version of himself - and his stint at Edinburgh had the phone buzzing (including a call from American TV behemoth Jay Leno). But for now he is going it alone again.

"It's so much more work with Little Howard," he asserts, "I have to use two computers and get there three hours earlier.

"It's a good exercise as I'm a fan of really good filth, but I have to be funny without the shock tactics."

It will also make a change to be facing fully grown adults after taking Little Howard on a kids' tour: "They are completely different but very similar at the same time.

"You get the same hard work scenarios' like a birthday party where they have been eating lots of sugary foods and they are bouncing off the walls. It is the equivalent of a stag party where they have been drinking all day.

"The shows are different though," adds the 31-year-old.

"There are more gags per minute in my normal stand-up. With Little Howard it is more theatrical and there's a storyline; there are goodies, baddies, subtefuge and songs."

Howard says his rammed diary is a result of his scattershot brain and never having two consecutive ideas in the same genre. So catch him before he spins back off into the fantasy world of cartoons and Richard Briers.

Howard Read; The Comedy Tree, The Walkabout, Putney High Street, Putney, SW15; Thursday, January 11, doors 8pm (bar and dj until 1am); £7, £5 members, £4 students; call 0207 736 1446 or visit thecomedytree.com.