SUSAN Calman has become something of a TV treasure in recent years.
She’s known as a much-loved travel presenter - sharing her adventures at sea on cruise liners and heading off on road trips round the UK in a vintage camper van called Helen Mirren - and she has hosted countless TV and radio shows.
And there was, of course, her joyful time on Strictly Come Dancing.
Now, for the first time in 10 years, Susan is returning to the stage for a stand-up tour, coming to Bradford this month.
In Tall Tales, the comedian, writer and broadcaster draws on her TV stories for “a joyful, whip-smart and wonderfully unhinged evening of stories, silliness and surprise”.
From cruising the world to driving tanks, her love of cats and the trials and triumphs of getting older, Susan is getting back to basics - after a decade in front of the cameras on telly, it’s just her and a mic on stage.
“I love it when I’m on stage. I just wish I didn’t feel so sick beforehand,” she says. “I always get nervous before a gig, but you need that.”
I’m chatting to Susan as she travels up the M6 to North Wales for her next gig. Being on tour, she says, involves a lot of service stations and hotels, and not much sight-seeing. “I was saying to my wife this morning how unglamorous it all is,” she says. “By the time I’ve checked in, dumped my suitcase, headed to the venue, done a sound check, then done the gig, the amount of time I have left is pretty minimal.
“And I have to work at every show - it’s my job. I’ve never been on cruise control; when I walk on stage I know exactly what I’m going to say - I spent a year writing it - but every show is different. It depends on the area, the venue, the day of the week. I’m doing 51 shows and it can change each night.”
In the show she shares behind-the-scenes stories of her Channel 5 shows Cruising and Grand Days Out, as well as Strictly.
Susan with her camper van, 'Helen Mirren' on her TV series Grand Days Out. Image: Channel 5 (Image: Channel 5)
“I’m proud of what I’ve done, but it’s not always how it looks,” she says, referring to the smoke and mirrors of making feelgood TV. “With travelling, what viewers don’t see is me and the crew getting up at 5.30am and filming until 11pm, and lugging heavy equipment through the streets of Dubrovnik in 40 degrees.”
Stand-up comedy is how she started out. Is returning to it a way of showing her real self, rather than the cheery telly persona? “There’s a bit of me in there, I have a love of travel and a curiosity about people and the world, but as any presenter would say, it’s not the whole me. It’s a heightened version of yourself,” she says.
Susan will be on stage with her Tall Tales show (Image: Steve Ullathorne)
Susan has spoken openly about her mental health and in her podcast, Mrs Brightside, she invites comedians and other guests to engage in a positive, funny and frank discussion of depression and anxiety. Mental health, and menopause, feature in her stand-up show.
“I talk about different things I’ve been through. It’s important to be honest and start a conversation” she says. “If you don’t have a sense of humour to get through the dark times life can be very bleak.”
Comedy shaped her from an early age - “I grow up listening to Billy Connolly and Victoria Wood” - but she began her professional life as a corporate lawyer. “When I left school in 1992 there weren’t many comedy clubs. Being a comedian wasn’t a ‘proper job’.”
Having worked as a lawyer everywhere from Death Row in North California to the United Nations in Geneva, she “finally plucked up courage” to give stand-up a go at a club in her native Glasgow. She left a legal career to pursue comedy and quickly made an impression, reaching the semi-finals of the BBC New Comedy Awards and So You Think You’re Funny, and the final of the Funny Women competition.
She went on to have a successful career in TV and radio, winning a Scottish BAFTA for her Channel 4 pilot Blowout, followed by countless appearances on Radio 4 shows such as The News Quiz, The Unbelievable Truth, Now Show and two series of her sitcom Susan Calman Makes Me Happy. On TV she’s appeared on shows such as QI, Have I Got News For You and Mock the Week. She’s acted in Home from Home and Fresh Meat and hosted programmes including The Boss, Armchair Detectives, earning her a second Scottish BAFTA, and CBBC quiz show Top Class.
Her travel and adventure series are audience favourites, with three series of Secret Scotland, followed by Grand Day Out and Cruising With Susan Calman. She’s written two books, Cheer Up Love and Sunny Side Up, and contributed to Penguin Doctor Who anthology The Day She Saved the Doctor.
Has the world of live comedy changed in the decade she’s been away? “What I’ve noticed is the demands on me as a performer have changed,” she says. “People keep asking me for clips of my stand-up for TikTok, but 30 seconds is not representative of my show. I’ve always resisted that quickfire gags thing. I tell stories.
“When I started out, shows like Live at the Apollo wanted 10 minutes of jokes. I didn’t fit in then and I don’t fit in now with TikTok and Instagram.”
She adds: “The world has changed and when I’ve done this tour I feel like I’d like to disappear.”
That would be a great shame for her many fans. Surely there are things she still wants to do. “There’s just one,” she says “I need to do Taskmaster. I’m hoping that if I talk about it enough, they will eventually invite me on. I want to do Taskmaster, then I’m done.”
I can’t leave her without mentioning the dancing. In 2017 Susan reached week 10 of Strictly Come Dancing, and later won the Strictly Live Tour with partner Kevin Clifton. They were a joy to watch, not least for their glorious quickstep to Morecambe and Wise’s Bring Me Sunshine. Will she be dancing on tour?
“I can neither confirm nor deny that there will be dancing,” she smiles. I’ll take that as a yes.
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Susan Calman is at St George’s Hall on Wednesday, October 14. Call (01274) 432000 or visit bradford-theatres.co.uk
For a full list of your dates visit susancalman.com