I’m getting the word…

Despite a long acting career in stage productions, TV and film - comedian Alex Lowe might be best-known for his character act, Clinton Baptiste: a fraudulent psychic written by Peter Kay for his cult-classic comedy series Phoenix Nights. Often recognised as one of the series’ key highlights, Lowe has since turned the character into an increasingly successful stand-up tour, with the permission of Kay.

We spoke backstage at Brighton Dome a few hours before the show to discuss his career, the current Spectral Intercourse tour and the incorporation of Lowe’s other character, Barry From Watford (a parody of pensioners), into the show.

I saw you at a 250-capacity gig two years ago, and now you’re selling out theatres. How's the move to bigger and bigger venues impacted you, personally?

To be honest with you, I cannot tell you how delighted I am. I have spent so many years going all over the country, doing gigs above pubs as Clinton [Baptiste] or as Barry From Watford, and really bricking it. I was an actor, and so it was a risk in my forties, saying “do you know what, I'm gonna sort of throw it all in with this stand-up thing.” [Phoenix Nights co-star] Justin Moorhouse said "you're not a stand-up, you're a character act." It's really deeply thrilling and I just want to go on forever. The odd thing is, it would have been great if this had happened twenty years ago. It is a very funny thing to be really ploughing your furrow for years and years, and to be in bigger venues now and go, 'right, what can I do now?' I don't feel particularly ambitious anymore!

Do you ever get fearful of going onstage, especially with the huge increase in venue sizes?

I do, actually - particularly doing this, which is like two hours of me. I have a theory about it: I recently decided, as I'm approaching sixty, I have done everything as an actor. And this comedy thing, I've done for many years, so I've decided not to be nervous anymore. I just can't be bothered with it, you don't gain anything. People always says it's good to have a little bit of nerves. I don't know whether it is, actually. I think it's good to be absolutely full of arrogance and pomp. You've got to be disciplined, but the mind-numbing terror I used to go through was really horrific when it was all stag and hen do's and they're just horrible, pissed crowds. I'd be up there doing my nicely-observed Barry From Watford creation and [they’d] just be going "I don't give a fuck can you just swear at us"

“say nonce…”

Say nonce, yeah, that's it. So it is really nice [having] nicer, bigger audiences.

Where do you think this ever-increasing popularity stems from?

An increase of nonces around them? Well, that's just a funny meme, isn't it - Clinton saying "I'm getting the word nonce". I have to say - whether its down to Peter [Kay], I don't know - you never see Phoenix Nights repeated or anything, it has this sort of mystical, magical cult following.

Has touring with Clinton Baptiste brought more new fans to Phoenix Nights?

I hope so, whether it will I don't know. There's always threats of making more Phoenix Nights (or a film, I think Peter was talking about). Maybe if it's done and dusted, you don't want to go back there. I don't know, it might be, but times move on. I think your age group have a sort of nostalgia affection for it, but kids younger than you don't know what it is.

You've appeared on lots of other famous UK comedy series, like Brassic, House of Fools & Spaced. When you look at your career, as a whole, how do you feel about your current stand-up work in comparison to your acting roles in the past? Is it a strange feeling going from being recognised from TV to performing in front of large, often sold-out crowds?

Well, yeah, that's really lovely. But I've been in lots of straight plays and on-stage in big venues in the West End. I think that if you've survived a few horrible stand-up gigs, that does sort of give you a little bit of a grounding. But, doing this, it is a revelation to finally be doing it. If you thought you were never capable of something, you'd never bother doing it all, would you?

You've said before that you don't believe in the supernatural, or in the very things that you satirise with Clinton. Are any of your characters ever an extension of yourself?

I used to do a character called Damon From The Oval, who was an Australian hospital porter, a real not-as-you-imagine Australian. An arsehole, no friends, a social hand grenade; you wouldn't want him near you. Steve Coogan sometimes says [Alan] Partridge is an extension of him with the nerdiness. I think there's an element of that character in Damon. And Barry is based on all my Cockney forebears. I like to think there's something of Barry in my family that I recognise, which might have rubbed off upon me. I suppose if you can play any character, you're going to draw something from yourself which you recognise.

You usually bring Barry From Watford on as a support act for Clinton Baptiste. Drag queen Myra DuBois also fills in the support slots of her shows with her other alter ego, Frank Lavendar. Would you ever consider any of the character work you do to be a form of drag?

Well. I think Clinton is much more camp than me, and we never really say if he's gay or not. I just think it'd be too easy to say "I'm a great big camp queen" but we can keep it really vague. Dame Edna Everage (Barry Humphries) used to do Sir Les Patterson in the first half and Dame Edna Everage in the second half. I loved both of those characters. My director talked me into doing Barry for the support. He said "well, all I'll say is: Barry Humphries used to do it, and let me tell you, he was ten to fifteen years younger than you, so I'd hurry up and do it." I'm quite glad I did, because I really love doing Barry. I now have a lot of new found respect for the support acts.

What are some highlights from the current tour?

I would say, playing the London Palladium was an absolute dream come true. Honestly, that was a real thrill. I had a lot of my friends there, my mum, my brother; and thankfully (touch wood), it went really well. My dad used to take us there to see the Two Ronnies - some great stuff over the years. To have Clinton out the front was really fantastic. This looks lovely, tonight, in Brighton. Every place I go to, I really love.