After success at the Edinburgh Festival earlier this year, Laurence Clark’s observational, political stand-up and filmed stunts demonstrate the ridiculousness of human behaviour, the world as seen through Laurence’s eyes with humour and warmth.

Q Laurence, would you care to introduce yourself?
A I’m a stand-up comedian who happens to have cerebral palsy. My observational, political stand-up and filmed stunts demonstrate the endearing naivety and ridiculousness of human behaviour.
I’ve performed comedy everywhere from the House of Commons to a double-decker bus in Sheffield. My family and I were the subject of the BBC One documentary We Won’t Drop the Baby and I’ve been a presenter for BBC Newsnight. I was awarded Shortlist magazine’s Funniest New Comedian and I’ve been a finalist in the AmusedMoose Edinburgh Comedy Awards. I’ve just finished writing a sitcom pilot commissioned by Channel 4.

Q What inspired you to pursue a career in comedy?
A My career advisors at school never suggested stand-up comedy as a potential career. Because I have cerebral palsy, their advice was IT, as I could earn good money and never encounter access problems by working entirely from home. As far as disabled people go, computing has become the new basket weaving!

I really wanted to write comedy for a long time and was sending off scripts to the BBC and getting nowhere. I loved stand-up comedy and wanted to give it a go, but couldn’t see how someone like me could pull it off. Then I saw a show where the comedian Dave Gorman used PowerPoint slides and was completely blown away. He made me realise that stand-up doesn’t have to be just one person on a stage talking to an audience for an hour. All my life I’d had stuff to say and a dark sense of humour which I’d inflict on those around me. Suddenly this gave me an outlet, an entry point into the mainstream. My wife was also glad as now she wasn’t the only one expected to laugh at my jokes!

Q You are very open about your disability in your act. Do you find performing therapeutic?
A Being disabled has given me a unique outlook on life and probably makes my material different to a lot of other stand-up comics. But for any wheelchair user, the comedy circuit can be a daunting prospect. The majority of clubs tend to be above or below pubs, accessible only via long flights of stairs. Even if I can get in, often there are more steps to get on to the stage. So fairly early on I decided to focus instead on the Edinburgh Fringe where I found a few accessible venues and some considerable critical acclaim. This in turn enabled me to do tours of theatres and art centres up and down the country which tend to be more accessible. I wish I had a pound though for every time I’ve turned up at a venue I’ve not played before and the box office has tried to sell me a ticket for my own show!

Q Where do you get the bulk of your inspiration for the show?
A Comedy thrives on breaking taboos. Disability still seems to be considered a taboo which is why you get so many comics doing material about it. But because I’m disabled I think sometimes there’s a preconception that my act is going to be worthy in some way and not particularly funny. Sometimes people say to me: “You don’t do comedy about disability, do you?” as if they think it’s going to be really depressing. However, no one would dream of telling Graham Norton not to do material about being gay.

All stand-up comics use aspects of themselves and their experiences to create material and I don’t see why disabled comics should be any different. So I tend to use uncomfortable, socially awkward past experiences as inspiration – it can be very cathartic! Oh yes, and funny! Very, very funny!

Q How has being a comedian changed your outlook on life?
A I probably take life a lot less seriously than I used to before I became a comedian.

Q What advice do you have for others hoping to pursue a career in comedy performance?
A Watch as much comedy as you possibly can. Think about what made you laugh and what devices and structures the writers used to achieve that. The downside of this is that, once you start analysing comedy, you find that less and less actually makes you laugh. I’m probably the last person you want in an audience nowadays as I hardly laugh at anything! I just sit there smiling and appreciate the writing!