http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0900e...name_page.html Comic's stand-up days not over Jan 2 2006
Karen Price, Western Mail
THE comedian Lee Mack has never been one for military-style strategy when it comes to mapping out his future.
"I haven't got a great plan," admits the man who recently became host of the BBC1 sports panel game, They Think It's All Over.
"I used to work for £25 a week mucking out stables. So when a producer asks me 'Do you want to host this show where you just chat to sportsmen every week?', it's no decision whatsoever."
A lack of a career plan has not done Lee any harm - in fact, quite the opposite.
He is now one of the hottest properties in British comedy.
As well as his new job fronting They Think It's All Over, he has also starred opposite Kelsey Grammer in the American version of The Sketch Show.
And he has headlined in a series of BBC Radio 2's The Lee Mack Show, which was recommissioned on the spot. In addition, he has a BBC sitcom in the pipeline, more of which later.
Not bad for someone who started his working life cleaning up after Red Rum.
At the same time as all this broadcasting work, Lee has succeeded in maintaining his position as one of the country's top live draws.
To underline the point, he has embarked on a national tour, which includes two dates in Wales.
He is delighted to be back on the live circuit after several months cooped up in a TV studio.
"Stand-up is still my favourite activity," he admits.
"I always really look forward to getting back to it. Telly's brilliant, but what I'm most looking forward to about this tour is the pure freedom it gives me. It's just me in my car travelling round the country. It's fantastic not to have to sit through loads of committees deciding what should be in the show.
"There are always committees in TV. What's lovely about stand-up is that I'm the ultimate arbiter. I'm a control freak.
"I've spent years trying not to be, but now I just accept that I am one. It's easier that way!"
What makes Lee's live act stand out is his warm, bantering relationship with his audience.
"I love just chatting," says the comic, who will be covering such topics as swearing and predictive texting on the tour. He reveals that he will be mingling old with new material in an enticing-sounding package.
"On day one, you go out on stage with an entirely new show, but if you're still saying the same words by day three, you're already slightly bored with them. I want to keep it loose because the loose bits are often the best. They keep you on your toes.
"I love going to the pub for a laugh with my mates.
"That's the atmosphere I aim for on stage.
"I never prepare a script when I go to the pub with my mates, so why should I prepare a script when I'm doing stand-up?"
Lee manages to retain his rapport with his audience, despite the fact that he is playing pretty large venues these days.
"More people know who I am every time I do a tour.
"When I first performed live, I'd walk on to polite middle-class clapping and whispers of 'Who's he?'.
"Every time I've played live since, people seem to know a little bit more about me.
"The last time I went on stage, someone shouted out the name of my missus.
"Of course, in an ideal world I'd play to a million people a night and never get recognised. But you can't have it both ways."
His profile has rocketed in recent times thanks to Lee's critically lauded role as the host of They Think It's All Over.
For this card-carrying sports fan, it's the dream job.
"As a child, I always wanted to be a professional footballer, but unfortunately I was rubbish! I wasn't even in the school team.
"Even today, if I was offered the choice of playing football for England and retiring at 30 or being a stand-up till the age of 80, in my heart of hearts I think football might win."
In the odd spare moment, the frantically busy comic has also found the time to write Not Going Out, a BBC sitcom vehicle for himself which goes into production this year.
"It's about me sharing a flat with a girl whose ex is my best friend.
"She and I are not going out, but there might be some sexual tension there. It's a classic love triangle.
"I can't lie - it's a very traditional format. Everyone always complains about old-style sitcoms and tries to do something new involving shaky cameras and no studio audience, but I'm bored with that now."
Although Lee's profile is now sky-high, his head has not been turned. He has never lost sight of the primary requirement of any stand-up comic: to be killingly funny.
"I used to think that famous people were somehow special," he says.
"But the more celebs I meet, the more I realise it's not down to being special but to luck. In the same way, I used to think that everyone in showbiz knew what they were doing and I was the only one who didn't.
"I still don't know what I'm doing, but I now know that no one else does, either. I'm sure a lot of famous people probably sit there thinking, 'I don't know what I'm doing'. Once you realise everyone is in the same boat, it makes everything easier."
So given all that, how does Lee view the national tour?
"Every night I'll go on stage thinking 'I don't know what I'm doing. I hope an hour and a half of me standing there not knowing what I'm doing will be entertaining'."
He can rest assured that it will be.