Will Mars

Will Mars

Comedian and creator of the Joke Thieves show
Read More

Bottom made me realise I wanted to become a performer

Will Mars picks his Perfect Playlist

Fringe comedian Will Mars picks some of his comedy favourites.

Steptoe and Son

The first sitcom I remember laughing at was Steptoe and Son, and I absolutely loved it as a kid.  I used to sprint towards the television whenever I heard the theme tune, and I still have a visceral reaction to it today.

Harold’s desperate attempts to escape his father and become ‘somebody’ completely captivated me. I guess it’s because I had problems with my father too. He was the sort of man that made a lot of empty gestures, such as waving glasses at barmaids.

Eddie Murphy

I’m the middle child in my family. Although my brother is a lot older than me, so who knows how long that’ll last.

Having an older brother had one main advantage: he gave me access to Eddie Murphy at a young age. He got hold of a pirate copy of Eddie Murphy’s Delirious album on VHS and it quickly became the tape I watched on repeat most weekends.

I was only around six years old so I had no idea that he was performing stand-up because I didn’t know what that was until much later. All I knew was, the only sound - apart from the theme tune to Steptoe and Son - that could send me insane was the chime of the ice cream van on a Saturday afternoon. Eddie nailed it for all working-class six-year-olds with this bit:

Trading Places

A year or so after I discovered Eddie, I discovered one of his early movies, Trading Places. The 1980s really was a fine time for comedy movies with the likes of Eddie, Steve Martin and John Candy around.

Trading Places was a feature that had it all for me. It had Eddie, it had a fantastic script, and it had a poor man making it rich. That last element was like catnip to a poor kid like me. And to be crystal clear, we were really poor. We were so poor, my brother, my sister and I grew up thinking three meals a day meant one each.

Game On

As a teenager I was half sporty, half nerdy and obsessed with girls (despite not being able to talk to them). Game On had a nerdy guy, a sporty guy and Samantha Janus all trapped in a flat share. It was a perfect fit.

I spent most of my teenage years either at college or watching shows like this on repeat in my bedroom. If I wasn't in either of those places then I'd likely be at work. As a teenager I had more jobs than girlfriends. I had one job.

Bottom

Bottom was another show that helped me through my teenage years. In a small way, it was the show that made me realise I wanted to become a performer.

I loved every inch of dialogue between Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson. I even bought the script book so a friend and I could memorise chunks of it and perform excerpts on break time at school. One scene in particular led to a few broken windows and I was almost expelled.

This scene with the gas man calling to check the meter was amongst my favourites. As a kid I’d seen my mother evade a meter man many times. I’ve dodged the odd one myself as an adult too.

Sam Kinison

The funniest thing in the world to me is a quick transition from one emotional state to another, and nobody does that quite like Sam Kinison. Quite simply, he’s the reason I do stand-up (so that’s who you have to blame).

Will Mars My Life In One-Liners is on at Gilded Balloon @ Patter Hoose at 2.20pm

Read More

Published: 14 Aug 2022

Past Shows

Edinburgh Fringe 2012

Will Marsh's Ruination


Edinburgh Fringe 2013

Joke Thieves

Will Mars: Americana


Edinburgh Fringe 2016

Will Mars: Schtick Shift


Edinburgh Fringe 2017

Will Mars: This


Edinburgh Fringe 2018

Will Mars: Candid Cafe


Edinburgh Fringe 2019

Will Mars: Phoenix


Edinburgh Fringe 2022

Will Mars: My Life in One-Liners


Agent

We do not currently hold contact details for Will Mars's agent. If you are a comic or agent wanting your details to appear here, for a one-off fee of £59, email steve@chortle.co.uk.

We see you are using AdBlocker software. Chortle relies on advertisers to fund this website so it’s free for you, so we would ask that you disable it for this site. Our ads are non-intrusive and relevant. Help keep Chortle viable.