#Interview with Comedian, Director, Actor Stuart Laws on new tv series, directing comedy specials and more… #StuartLaws #Comedian #Actor #Director #TVDrama #Stage #Patience #Channel4 #ComediansTakingPenaltiesWithChloePetts #StandUp

Interview with Comedian, Director, Actor Stuart Laws
conducted by Louise Cannon

Stuart Laws is known for his stand-up comedy, directing well-known comedians James Acaster, Rosie Jones and Nish Kumar and is highly respected amongst many other comedians too. I was given the opportunity to interview him on Bookmarks and Stages where we covered what it was like to direct the aforementioned comedians, his latest projects, including acting in channel 4 drama, Patience, Comedians Taking Penalties with Chloe Petts, a new web game show, Is It A Bone?, his inspiration to do these many jobs and being neurodivergent in the tv world, for him it’s autism. After the interview you can also discover his latest live shows for February and March 2026.
Welcome Stuart Laws to Bookmarks and Stages and thanks to PR, Julian Hall for creating this opportunity. Now, let’s begin our interview…

You’ve done stand-up comedy, appeared in dramas, directed, it’s a great achievement. What spurs you on?

A desperate desire to prove my enemies wrong. Also, I do find it funny to not see a friend for 3-4 months and then when they ask – “oh what have you been up to?” to be able to provide a list of genuinely surprising new developments. I love watching TV, comedy, film and so to be any part of it fills me with excitement. As long as I can I will keep doing as many different, fun things until it’s very clear I’m not good at those things. VERY CLEAR. It’ll have to be VERY CLEAR.

Who or what inspired you to act, direct and do comedy?

When I was a kid it was films like Jurassic Park and Back to The Future or stand up comedy like Lee Evans or Harry Hill’s Channel 4 show, then I got older and it was things like Twin Peaks and Arrested Development. Once I had started doing stand up comedy and was making short films I was really inspired by new acts that I met on the circuit and loved watching perform and made me want to be better. Chuck in enough arrogance to believe that I could help them be even better and bam, it all started to coalesce.

You’re appearing in Channel 4 drama, ‘Patience’, can you tell us a little bit about the character you play?

Alex is a member of the adult autistic support group that Patience Evans, the lead character played by the brilliant Ella Maisy Purvis, attends and so I get to stretch my acting muscles by playing an autistic adult. When the audition came in I remember being excited because I don’t get a huge amount of scripted and definitely very little drama auditions so I knew I wanted to nail it. Because the show has a strong sense of humour running through it I knew I wanted to lean into that, especially knowing the character was across multiple episodes – it’s a good chance to have a think about the wider context and life of your character. Saying that, it’s not a huge part but a delight to play and the production team so good and the first series of the show so compelling and fun to work that I knew I wanted to be involved and to be able to add whatever details and experience I could.

You’re a go to director for comedians, James Acaster, Rosie Jones and Nish Kumar, what is your process to direct other comedians and have you got any favourite moments when directing these comedians in-particular?

Directing a comedy special is a lot about just getting the cameras in and making sure the lights look nice and the comedian is as good a mental space as possible to do their show as well as they can. I’m there to put out fires, be a sounding-board and to ensure the crew all are supported and can do what they do best. The next level up is a chance for me to work with the comedian, watch the show in advance, suggest structural tweaks or new lines, to eventually know it inside out, know the vibe of the comedian and talk about themes, tone and style they’re looking to achieve and what of my ideas are interesting to them – it could be to do with the style of how the cameras move, where they’re positioned, what the lighting is like and how we want the audience to feel while watching. Then I get to have conversations with heads of department about the best tools for those ideas and prep the crew as best as possible about how they can make the plan a reality. We recently shot Nish Kumar’s new one and we discussed dutch angles, 70s directors and Stop Making Sense, for James Acaster we talked about wrestling, 3:2 open gate aspect ratio and creating a sense of perpetual motion so that the cameras all cut together smoothly in the full 360 degree audience set up. That’s the fun of it for me, knowing that there’s certain things a stand up special needs to have but to also know that there’s wiggle room to express what makes the comedian brilliant, to make the jokes and the themes land even harder.

You have a new SO TV series of ‘Comedians Taking Penalties with Chloe Petts.’ What are your football skills like and is there a particular football team you support?

I’m a Spurs fan and a Gotham fan and played for Goldhill FC for 23 years. I’m not a good footballer but I’m pretty solid and I think I’m happy with that, let’s put it this way – there is one cup final that my team played in that’s called The Stuart Laws Final – and I’m pretty happy with that. When I met Chloe on the circuit we immediately bonded over football and both being absolute lads so getting to write on and be in this series is a real dream come true. What is less exciting is the physical toll of playing football for 10 hours straight, two days in a row on the hottest days of the year. I think it took a couple of weeks for my body to recover and I can absolutely tell in some of the penalties that I haven’t dived because my brain refused further injury.

What was your favourite moment of ‘Comedians Taking Penalties with Chloe Petts?’

Harriet Kemsley being on any TV is a promise of a good time and in her episode I suggested that she do a run-up from the halfway line for her last penalty. She of course immediately ran to the halfway line to do it and after a 15 second run-up she kicked the ball and it went so far wide that science still doesn’t really understand it. It was so funny and such a perfect denouement. Aside from that, it really was the team – they were so welcoming and supportive and that was all from Chloe and Andy at the top. They had brilliant ideas and worked so hard to turn the concept from a fun summer kick about into a genuinely funny and charming series that I HOPE HOPE HOPE gets a second series.

You’ve created new web game show series ‘Is It A Bone?’ It sounds intriguing, with it involving a different sense: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste.. How did you come up with the idea?

I was at dinner with comedian Chloe Radcliffe and she asked for her bone marrow dish to be boxed up to take with, it was served on a bone and they put that into the box and dropped it down on our table. Chloe said “IS IT A BONE???”. I laughed and then said that it was a game show and then immediately started laying out what I saw as the format. I then mentioned it to Rhys James and he said yeah of course that’s a show and we riffed more, then I took it to Al & Nick at my production company and they both had their own great ideas. Then we got Ben Mumford on board as a producer and he brought even more ideas. That got us to shoot day where Sam Lake the host and all the brilliant guests brought even more of their own ideas to it – that’s what I liked the most, creating a set up for the comedians to be funny and do what they like, knowing we could get them back onto the format when appropriate.

. For ‘Is It A Bone?’ How did you choose your contestants?

I texted a bunch of people “Would you like to be a contestant on a game show I’ve developed, it’s filming at my office studio, you’d be in two episodes and it’ll take a couple of hours?” And they just all said yes. Like, didn’t even ask for more details about the show or what they’d have to do. Which means that each of them is genuinely reacting in the moment to what’s happening. How did I choose who to text? I went through my phone and thought who is damn funny and would team up well with others? I’d say that’s 35% of my address book to be fair, so more people will be getting texted for series 2 in 2026.

12.You’re autistic, what advice would you give to other people who want to enter showbiz who also autistic?

It’s becoming more welcome and accepting of neurodivergence, which is handy considering the percentage of people in the entertainment industry who are neurodivergent is probably higher than the average population. It can be tough, it isn’t necessarily guaranteed that every project, location, team will be open or aware or able to make adjustments but it is becoming more common. Hopefully through my increasing awareness of it and trying to be vocal and supportive where I can I can play a part in it becoming more normalised in conversation. I’m aware that I’m privileged in being white, straight, able-bodied, low needs and therefore that makes my path smoother in disclosing. I know of a good number of people who are reluctant to disclose because they feel the discrimination is palpable or it makes them feel less secure. Hopefully that is changing.

14. Where can people follow you and your work on social media?

You gotta get on instagram, though I am now trying to crack on with building my mailing list – I send out semi-regular updates with exclusive stuff and links to tickets and other cool things before they go public. Sign up at www.stuartlaws.com

Latest Live Shows

10th February @ Pleasance London

Comedians Beer Mat Flipping Championship

https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/beer-mat-flipping-and-pub-games-championship

6th March @ Pleasance London

Stuart Laws as Michael Caine Saying Never for One Hour

https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/stuart-laws-michael-caine-saying-never-one-hour

#Interview by Lou with Nathan Scott-Dunn and Stirling Sands of 1902 by Saltire Sky to mark Hibernian F.C’s 150th Anniversary. From Football to Social Issues, Class and more… @SaltireSkyTC @saltireskytheatre #EdFringe

Interview of 1902 with Saltire Sky’s

Nathan Scott-Dunn and Stirling Sands
about Hibernian FC and much more…

interview by Louise Cannon – Bookmarks and Stages

There’s more to the Off Westend Award Winning play, 1902, than football, as I discovered whilst asking the questions. As much as it is celebrating 150 years of the club, Hibernian FC, we also talked about other themes, such as toxic masculinity, using music in such a play, reflecting working class.

What makes Hibernian FC, Hibs so special that you chose to create a play with this particular football club at its centre?

Hibernian FC is deeply woven into the identity of Leith and its people. It’s not just a team, it’s family, tradition, and home. For generations, supporting Hibs has been passed down like a birthright. That sense of loyalty, of clinging to hope in the face of disappointment, was what really drew us in.
The 2016 Scottish Cup win, after 114 years, was a moment that felt like something more than football. It was a collective emotional release, a victory for everyone who had ever believed through all the heartbreak. 1902 uses that moment as a backdrop, not to tell a story about football, but to explore the lives and relationships of the people who live for it. It’s about community, resilience, identity, and how something as simple as a match can carry so much emotional weight for working-class people who don’t always feel represented in mainstream narratives.
How do you feel toxic masculinity can change and how do you deal with this to make an impact in your play?

Toxic masculinity changes when we make space for vulnerability and when we show that there are other ways to be a man than the one-dimensional, emotionally repressed version we’ve been sold. In 1902, we look at masculinity in a very real, grounded way. These characters argue, lash out, make mistakes but they also cry, admit fear, and support each other in quiet, powerful ways.
The play doesn’t lecture, it reflects. We see how bottled-up emotions, shame, and societal pressure affect working-class men who’ve grown up being told that showing weakness isn’t an option. Through their interactions, especially in moments of conflict and intimacy, we show that emotional honesty can exist within these tough exteriors.
The goal isn’t to preach, it’s to represent, and in doing so, invite empathy and change. We’re trying to open up a conversation about how men can still be strong while being emotionally present and accountable.
What genre(s) of music do you use in your show and how did you choose what to put in it?

The music in 1902 is deeply rooted in identity and place. At the centre of it is the music of The Proclaimers, which we use to underscore the entire show. Their songs aren’t just a soundtrack, they’re the emotional heartbeat of the piece. Being from Leith themselves, The Proclaimers’ music captures the spirit, struggle, humour, and heart of working-class Scotland in a way that’s unmatched. Their lyrics speak directly to themes of home, belonging, loyalty, and love, all of which are central to 1902.
Their songs allow us to move fluidly between moments of tension, reflection, and celebration. They help us create atmosphere, elevate emotion, and at times give the audience space to breathe or reflect. The music is woven into the fabric of the show, not tacked on, but lived in by the characters.
Alongside that, we also use authentic Hibs football chants throughout the play. These are the songs you hear in the stands, in the pub, on the streets, full of energy, defiance, and unity. The chants bring the community to life on stage and act as a powerful form of collective expression. For the characters, they’re a release; for the audience, they’re instantly recognisable and deeply nostalgic.
Together, The Proclaimers’ music and the Hibs chants create a soundscape that’s unmistakably local, emotionally charged, and completely immersive. It’s not just about setting the scene, it’s about capturing the soul of a community.
What research, if any, did you do so the working class in Scotland is portrayed accurately and so everyone can recognise it.

A lot of the work came from lived experience and working closely with people from the communities we’re representing. This wasn’t about imposing a narrative, it was about reflecting one.
The script was developed through workshops, conversations, and a lot of listening. We made sure the dialogue was honest, not softened for a wider audience, but kept true to how people actually speak in working-class communities. That includes the humour, the swearing, the silences, and the things that are said without being said.
We also paid close attention to the cultural references, the emotional rhythms, and the socioeconomic pressures that shape daily life, from debt and employment struggles to family responsibilities and unspoken expectations. Every detail was considered so the people who live this reality can watch the show and feel recognised, not stereotyped.
How important do you feel that the working class is represented in theatre and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in particular?

It’s absolutely essential. The working class has historically been underrepresented or misrepresented in theatre. When they do appear, it’s often through a middle-class lens, which tends to flatten the complexity and dignity of working-class life.
At the Fringe, which can sometimes feel dominated by shows that are inaccessible either financially or culturally, it’s even more important to create space for stories that reflect real people’s experiences. Representation isn’t just about visibility, it’s about ownership. It’s about giving working-class artists the opportunity to tell their own stories on their own terms.
1902 is part of that effort. It’s theatre rooted in lived experience, told in a language and setting that working-class audiences can connect to. It’s also about making theatre feel like a place where everyone belongs, not just those who can afford a £20 ticket and a glass of wine at the interval. Our ticket prices have remained the same since our inception in 2017 ensuring everyone can access our shows at an affordable price.
Where can people follow you?

You can follow Saltire Sky Theatre on:

📸 Instagram: @saltireskytheatre
🐦 Twitter/X: @SaltireSkyTC
📘 Facebook: Saltire Sky Theatre
🌍 Website: saltireskytheatre.com
Tickets: 1902 | Edinburgh Festival Fringe

We post regular updates, behind-the-scenes content, and info about upcoming shows, and we always love hearing from audiences who’ve connected with the work.

#Interview By Lou with YA Author Craig Leener @CraigLeener about his YA Book There’s No Basketball On Mars, Sport and more…

It gives me great pleasure to interview Craig Leener about his YA Book There’s No Basketball On Mars, Why he writes YA, About his Autistic character, his thoughts on instant replay, find out what his stand-out basketball moment is and more…
Firstly, let’s start with the blurb for There’s No Basketball On Mars and then on the interview.

Blurb

Lawrence Tuckerman is a fan of probabilities — well, any numbers and math, really. It’s an interest that goes hand-in-hand with his autism. It’s also how he met his best friend Zeke, who is off fulfilling his dream of playing basketball at the University of Kansas. Now Lawrence expects his life in Los Angeles to become even less social and more routine — just the way he likes it. He plans to finish high school as he pursues his own far-off dream of manning Earth’s first mission to Mars . . .

Then the improbable happens: Lawrence is recruited for a top-secret mission of cosmic proportions! The whole operation relies on him realizing the full potential of his 1-in-6-billion mind — without freaking out. The rocket-science math is a no-brainer, but is he made of the right stuff to manage the communication and cooperation of a team effort . . . without his best friend?

Who or what inspired you to write a novel and in-particular for the YA market as opposed to other age groups?
As is the case with most writers, I wanted to write a book, but I really didn’t know how to, and I was at that point of my life where it was time to make good on the threat or move on. So, I read seven books on how to write a novel, and the storyline soon began to fall from the heavens. I told my son about it, and he said, “Hey, Dad, that sounds like a YA.” All of that happily coincided with my volunteer work mentoring young journalists.

What’s are the differences and similarities in writing a novel to you being a sportswriter?
Writing sports for a newspaper involves relying on one’s wits whilst navigating a looming deadline. Conversely, as a novelist, I have the good fortune to live in my imagination as the clock remains safely at arm’s length.

And the similarities are there as well, certainly in executing the proper mechanics of grammar, usage and punctuation, but also in structuring a story that takes the reader on a journey that includes a moment of equilibrium, followed by a trigger, a quest, a series of critical choices, then a climax, potentially a reversal, and then finally a resolution.

What inspired your title – ‘There’s No Basketball on Mars’?
Those were the first words I wrote when I began to draft the manuscript. I remember the moment. It was eery and humbling, like I was serving as typist for some kind of higher power trying to get my attention. The fun part was looking for the ideal opportunity to shoehorn those exact words into the story.

Interestingly, your character, Lawrence Tuckerman is autistic, how important is it that readers are now increasingly seeing a diverse range of characters within books?
When I set out to write my first novel, I sat down for breakfast at a coffeeshop in Hollywood with a YA librarian I met through my daughter-in-law. Over flapjacks and Canadian bacon, I asked the librarian what publishers were looking for from new authors. Without hesitation, she said underrepresented characters. And in that moment, the intrepid, neurodivergent Sherman “Lawrence” Tuckerman was born.

Books that offer young readers a chance to explore diversity and inclusion are a true reflection where we’re headed as a society — and it is long overdue.

Lawrence is recruited for a top-secret mission that is going to take him realizing the full potential. How challenging do you think that is for both your character and people in general to discover and know what that full potential is?
I threw a lot of challenges and obstacles at Lawrence in the book. I felt it was important for readers to experience the Sultan of Square Root learning and growing as the stakes rose to greater heights. I believe that discovering your true potential starts with gaining an understanding of what your true calling is — the reason why you’re on this earth.

Lawrence knew early on that he was born to be the mathematics flight specialist on NASA’s first-ever manned mission to the Red Planet. For most people, though, that sort of epiphany can be elusive. It often takes many years of the closed-eye process to discover it.

What would a stand-out moment of a basketball game be for you and what team do you support?
For me, there’s nothing quite like a perfectly executed fast break, where all five players on offense are moving in total grace and harmony and awareness of what their teammates are doing as the play unfolds.

I support high school and community college basketball programs all over the Greater Los Angeles area. At the college level, my favorite teams are UCLA and the University of Kansas.

It is said that you are a lifelong opponent of the instant replay in sports. What made you come to this decision?
To my way of thinking, there is intrinsic value in the human element’s potential to influence the outcome of athletic competition, inadvertently or otherwise. It’s another way of saying that we’re all perfect in our inherent imperfection. And I have it on good authority that James Naismith, who invented basketball on Dec. 21, 1891, would not have wanted future technology to replace a well-meaning person in a striped shirt and a whistle around his neck.

You sit on the board of directors of CSUN’s Journalism Alumni Association serving as the organization’s director of scholarships, how did this come about and what, in brief, does that entail?
I learned about the organization from the sports editor at the newspaper where I used to cover local high school sports. He and I are both CSUN graduates. The JAA board meets six times a year to brainstorm ways to support student journalists and raise money for academic scholarships.

What are you reading or writing just now?
I’m currently drafting the sequel to There’s No Basketball on Mars. (Insider intel: Look for Lawrence to potentially travel to the moon in this one!)

10. Where can people find your work?

The Zeke Archer basketball trilogy and my follow-up Mars novel are available wherever books are sold in the solar system.
You can also find the books inside the Little Free Library that’s in the front yard of my home in the suburbs of Los Angeles.

Review of Izzy’s Magical Football Adventure @emmalarkinbooks @rararesources #IzzysMagicalFootballAdventure #Kidslit #football #sport

Izzy’s Magical Football Adventure

I am pleased to announce that it is my turn on the Izzy’s Magical Football Adventure blog tour, right at a time when females playing football has been more and more in the spotlight and for good reason, with the teams playing so well.

About the Author

My name is Emma Larkin, and I am the founder of “Emma Larkin Books” and “Rebel in Kerry Press”. I have recently written and published my first book “Izzy’s Magical Football Adventure”, and I hope to write many more books about Izzy and her adventures in sport. As may be evident from the name of my publishing imprint, I am a “Rebel in Kerry”! This means that I am originally from County Cork in Ireland, which is known as the Rebel County, but I moved to Kerry (another county in Ireland which neighbours Cork) in 2006 and have been happily living in Kerry since then, with my husband and four children. My husband is a Kerry native and we live in North Kerry, near Listowel, where my husband is from, and is an area which is rich is literary history!

I have always enjoyed reading and writing. Writing essays was my favourite part of primary school!

In my spare time, I love to run. I am very involved in my local parkrun in Listowel. I also coach ladies’ football at underage level with my local ladies’ football club and did attempt to play ladies football for a few years with my local “Gaelic4Mothers&Others Team”! I may not have been the greatest football player, but I could run! And it was an hour each week where I could exercise in a fun environment with a fantastic group of women, who I remain friends with to this day.

My inspiration to write this book was my grandmother, Maureen Hennebry, née Cashman. She was on the Cork camogie team which won the All-Ireland Camogie Championship three times in row between 1939 and 1941. She came from a family rich in GAA history, the Cashman’s of Blackrock in Cork, and is even mentioned in the following poem by the famous Irish poet, Patrick Kavanagh:

Camogie Match

Patrick Kavanagh 1905 – 1967

Bright shone the sunlight on Peggy and Doreen

Wild swung the ash sticks. Be careful astoreen;

Josie is getting into her stride now,

Kathleen is hurling with all her Cork pride now.

A shout from the side-line: Mark your man, Kathleen Cody.

Kathleen pucks it. I tell you that puck was a dotie.

The game is exciting, it is indeed really,

Maureen Cashman is tackling the bold Ide O’Kiely …

In hindsight, I am in awe of the fact that my grandmother and her teammates played camogie at such a high level at a time in Ireland, where a woman’s role was predominantly to be a wife and homemaker. Which comes to my reason for writing this book, my grandmother was my inspiration to write it, but my reason for writing it was to encourage all young girls to play sports. It is crucial for our wellbeing and development and we need to make it as normal for girls to play sport as it is for boys. The growing popularity of women’s sports in Ireland and further afield is so encouraging and we need to continue to develop this. As the current 20*20 campaign says, “if she can’t see it, she can’t be it”. I hope that my book can in some way help to normalise girls playing football and that both boys and girls will enjoy reading about Izzy’s adventures!

Blurb

Izzy is a seven-year-old girl who lives in Ireland and loves all sport, especially Gaelic Football.

Izzy plays football with her brothers on a regular basis in their back garden and dreams of playing for her county in the All Ireland Ladies Football Final in Croke Park when she is older.

One day, Izzy puts on her great grandmother’s bracelet, which is made of old All Ireland medals that her great grandmother won a long time ago, and something unexpected and magical happens, which may make Izzy’s Croke Park dream a reality sooner than she expected…………….

Review

The book will seem so familiar in situation to children. It deals with sibling-rivalry as well as Izzy and her 3 brothers playing football together. Izzy is however downcast as she doesn’t see how her dream of playing for the county ladies football team can ever become a reality. I like that she does find some inspiration and realised a female relation of hers won 3 times. The story then takes an imaginative turn as Izzy starts to realise her dream of playing in the ladies football team could become a reality when she was older. There’s still the child-tantrums, but this is handled well as apologies are said and there is some inspiration to be garnered by children reading this story.
It’s fun and full of possibility and hope and positivity, without losing natural child behaviours.
I recommend it for children of 5-8 years as this seemed to be the age that enjoyed it.

This is a book to inspire both boys and girls alike to realise their dreams or to give football ago. When reading the book, the same positivity can be put into any child and their desires.

Sporting links:

20*20 campaign – www.20×20.ie

Sport Ireland – www.sportireland.ie

Ladies Gaelic Football Association – www.ladiesgaelic.ie

Camogie Association – www.camogie.ie

Women in sport – www.womeninsport.org

Social Media Links

https://www.facebook.com/emmalarkinbooks/

https://twitter.com/emmalarkinbooks

https://www.instagram.com/emmalarkinbooks/