“I couldn’t think of a better place to bring a comedy show back than to the Citizens,” Des Clarke says ahead of his upcoming show at the beloved Gorbals theatre.
The comedian and presenter will bring Life After Des to the Citizens Theatre on Thursday, March 26 as part of the Glasgow International Comedy Festival as he makes his return to stand-up after more than a decade.
He says he was inspired to make his return to the comedy circuit when he saw the theatre reopen in August last year following a multi-million refurbishment project.
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“It was an icon of Glasgow,” he says, “and the fact the place had been shut and was being rebuilt, and they were reopening back up again, I thought ‘well it’s the rebirth of the Citizens Theatre, it might as well be the rebirth of me doing stand-up’ because like the Citizens, I’m from the Gorbals.
“It’s my place of birth, it's a bit of me, that’s where my heart is.
“I just needed something to kickstart me and it was the reopening of the Citizens that was that thing.”
Having grown up in a flat on the 21st floor of a high-rise directly across from the Citizens and seeing it every day, Des says bringing the show there will be a “full circle” moment, recalling his childhood dreams of one day performing on the stage.
“That’s where I would first have gone to a theatre, first have gone to a panto when I was a kid,” he says.
“That flat is where I first started observing, not knowing what I was doing, looking out across the city and seeing things and making up little stories in my head of all the people I would see below me.
“As a kid, I was very shy, very introverted but I always had these thoughts that one day wouldn’t it be nice if I had the confidence to go on and do a bit of comedy and then I’d go to the Citizens Theatre and think ‘oh imagine being up there’.
“I couldn’t do that I thought at the time, and it just feels brilliant to come full circle and be back in the Gorbals on that stage and performing to a crowd.
“As soon as I saw it was going to be rebuilt I said to myself ‘I have to be there on that stage, I owe it to the seven-year-old version of me to get up there and do it’, so hopefully it’ll be a proud moment for me.”
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Life After Des will go on a mini tour to Edinburgh and Aberdeen this month before the third and final performance takes place in Glasgow.
The idea for the show first came about in 2019 when Des was filming BBC show Des Doesn’t Do... which saw him attempt to “overcome his preconceptions and fears” by doing things he’d never done before.
However, the idea got shelved in 2020 after the Covid-19 pandemic hit, before he went back and used the experience as the “nucleus” of his new set.
Life After Des is described as “a show about rebirth, resilience, and the power of laughing your way back to life” a journey through “breakdowns and breakthroughs, disasters and do-overs, and the strange joy of starting again”.
After more than 10 years away from the touring circuit, Des isn’t scared to admit that he’s nervous about a return to stand-up which he calls his ‘number one passion’.
“I’m really nervous and I’m happy to admit that,” he says.
“I think there’d be something wrong if I wasn’t.
“I’ve got butterflies. It almost feels like starting out again.
“I’m going back to doing what I started out doing, my passion, which is stand-up.”
He continued: “I’ve been lucky to have a brilliant career, and I’ve had so many amazing opportunities but for me stand-up is still number one.
“I think it’s the hardest thing to do but it's the most rewarding and it’s the one I care about most because it's pure art.
“You’re just up there talking with a microphone, there’s no script, no band, no music, it's just you and an audience and it brings me right back to starting out again where you just never know what’s going to happen when you walk on that stage.
“Comedy is high risk, high reward.”
Since announcing Life After Des, Des says the feedback has been “great” but he’ll “wait and see how it goes” before deciding about any future stand-up.
“I think there’s a whole generation of people who know me more from radio and television.
“A show like this, I think you’ll get to see the real me more than you would get on other shows because as much as I love TV and radio, you’re there to do a job whereas this is a chance for me to talk about myself a wee bit more and tell my story.
“I just want people to laugh.
“It's the number one priority for a comedian.
“It’s what I’ve always been about so that's important to me as well.
“I would love to do more after this but I’ll wait and see how it goes.
Des Clarke: Life After Des will be at the Citizens Theatre on Thursday, March 26.
Breaking The News, hosted by Des Clarke, will be at Drygate Event Space on Thursday, March 19 and Thursday, March 26.
Tickets are on sale now.
Glasgow International Comedy Festival 2026 will take place from March 11-29.
You can find out more at www.glasgowcomedyfestival.com.
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