Feature by Claire Lishman

Record-breaking stand-up comic Paul Chowdhry talks to Claire Lishman about cancel culture, diversity and making the break into acting.

Given what’s happened over the past couple of years, we’re all in dire need of a good laugh. Paul Chowdhry is the man to deliver just that. You might recognise him from comedy shows such as 8 Out of 10 Cats and Live at The Apollo, but his success is not limited to television; he was the first British-Asian comedian to sell out Wembley Arena and has won multiple awards for his Amazon Prime special stand up show, Live, Innit. Following on from these triumphs, Paul is touring the UK this spring.

Coming to Wolverhampton Grand in April is a bit of a bonus for Paul, who should have really finished his Family-Friendly Comedian tour last November.

“These dates coming up in April are additional dates due to demand. The tour was really only scheduled from September to the end of November. When this tour went on sale, the restrictions involving theatres and live entertainment were already lifted. We put the tour on with literally a month’s notice, and many of the venues sold out in that short amount of time. I’ve been quite blown away by the response.”

Wolverhampton audiences will see some material that the autumn part of tour didn’t include, as Paul has been updating his show over the last few months. “I wrote a lot of it during lockdowns, but not all of it. Some of it was written before the pandemic and some of it is really recent; since the initial part of the tour ended in November, I’ve added some more bits to it.”

Paul has got more strings to his bow than his hugely successful stand-up career. He also boasts an impressive acting CV, having worked with several Oscar and BAFTA winners. “I just did Cruella with Emma Stone, which was in cinemas last year. And season two of Devils is coming out this Easter on Sky Atlantic. It’s a fantastic drama with Patrick Dempsey. I was in all ten episodes in season one, and I’m back for season two. I also loved making The Cleaner with Greg Davies and Helena Bonham Carter, which was on BBC One last Autumn. I really enjoy the acting jobs, and it gives me a bit of variety to go along with the stand up, which will always be my bread and butter.”

Stand-up has been Paul’s bread and butter for nearly a quarter of a century now. He took to the stage for the first time in 1998, just after finishing his Media Studies degree. “I started a degree in Computer Science and dropped out of that.” And he says that live comedy has changed in that time. “The culture has changed. The world has changed. The country has changed. And what’s acceptable within the realms of entertainment has changed quite considerably, especially in comedy. You could say cancel culture is the new thing, but it’s probably been around for a while. ‘Lad culture’ was quite big in the 1990s and early 2000s when I was starting out, which was a bit annoying as I wasn’t really into it. But there’s so much more diversity and different types of people doing entertainment now. Back in the late ‘90s when I started, there weren’t many options for someone like me who is British Asian.”

So why call his new show ‘Family-Friendly Comedian?’ “It’s all down to what you can and can’t say these days. If someone’s considered a controversial comedian, the best thing to do is become family friendly. The audience can then decide whether I’m family-friendly or not. I leave it up to their own thoughts. After all, one man’s political correctness is another man’s offence.”

Paul Chowdhry plays Wolverhampton Grand Theatre on Saturday 16 April ahead of performing at Walsall Arena on Wednesday 27 & Thursday 28 April.