Meet Chortle Hotshot Liam Tulley

Earlier this year, Chortle selected five Hotshots from a series of gigs around the country. They are all comedians making their debut at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe that we tip for good things. We’ll be profiling them all across this week, starting with Liam Tulley.

How did you get into comedy?

I used to go to Blackpool a lot when I was younger with my dad. He’d take me to working men’s clubs where there’d be a comedian on every afternoon and night. I was too young to understand most of the jokes, but everyone having a good time and the laughter is something that's always stuck with me. 

It wasn’t until I was 25 that I finally got on stage at the Comedy Store in Manchester. I’d waited years—partly out of fear, partly out of not knowing the route—but once I did it, I knew I’d found what I wanted to do. 

What are the most surprising things – for good or bad – that you’ve discovered about yourself or the job of comedian – since you started?

How much it takes over your life. Not just the gigs or the writing, but the way your brain is constantly looking for anything remotely funny, even in serious situations. Comedy has became the thing that helps me process everything. It went from just something I did to something that helps me process things. 

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given in comedy?

If you want to do this as your job, treat it like a job. You should be putting 30 to 40 hours a week into it – not just writing and performing, all of it. If you don’t have an agent, then you’re also booking gigs, sorting hotels, transport, chasing invoices, emails. You’ve got to put the effort in offstage as well as on it. 

Who’s your comedy hero?

I don’t think I’ve got a single hero, more a lot of influences. The first mainstream comedian I ever saw was Lee Evans. He was nothing like the acts I’d ever seen in a working men’s club and he blew my mind. At the time, I was about 12 and I wanted to be exactly like him. But when you start performing, you realise you have to find your own style – and mine turned out to be the complete opposite. I barely move on stage.

Then there’s people like Peter Kay and Ricky Gervais – I want to write, direct and act in my own work so that's the long term goal. 

What’s your Edinburgh Fringe debut about?

It’s about my life and trying to hold it together when things go wrong. I’ve had things go wrong that I didn’t see coming, break-ups, medical procedures and spending a lot of time trying not to lose my head. I’ve always used humour to cope, so this is me looking back at the mess and trying to make sense of it. Not in a ‘woe is me’ way – just honest and hopefully funny. 

Which is your favourite bit of your own material? And is it the same as the bit that goes down best with audiences?

My favourite bit is when I talk about the medical stuff. It’s not a big sob story, it’s how I dealt with it – finding the humour in the middle of all the worry. I’m not mocking anyone, I just talk about what happened to me and how I got through it. 

And what is good about it is people come up after a gig – usually men – and say they’ve had similar symptoms and they’re going to get checked out. It shows you can talk about the serious, awkward and embarrassing stuff and it doesn’t have to be heavy. It can actually help people feel more at ease, just by laughing about it. 

Is there anything in your show that you were a bit reluctant to share?

Yeah, most of it. I’m actually quite private in real life. I don’t really open up much. I post stuff online, but that’s the version of me I want people to see. It's the same on stage it’s a version of me. It’s more honest, but it’s still me deciding what I want people to know. It’s just a bit easier to say it hiding behind a stage persona.

Someone asked me after a gig, ‘How much of that was true?’ and I said, ‘All of it.’ If I was going to make stuff up, my life sound a bit better. I’d be more successful and more confident. But no – it’s all real.

What are you expecting from the Fringe?

To become a better comedian, hopefully. I haven’t had the chance to get 20 hours of stage time anywhere else, so I’m just hoping to use it to improve. I’m not expecting awards or rave reviews — I just want to come out of it sharper than I went in.

• Liam Tulley: Baldilocks is at Just the Tonic, Mash House at 3.30pm During the Edinburgh Fringe. Tickets

• Comics chosen as our Hotshots get financial help with their Fringe run, supported by the Fast Fringe showcases we run at Edinburgh. This year our usual 6.30pm show at Pleasance Dome (tickets) is supplemented by a clean, family-friendly version at 1.15pm in Gilded Balloon Appleton tower (tickets). Thanks to the comedians – 12 of them each day – taking part.

Published: 14 Jul 2025