Because my stage persona is The Pub Landlord, I get given a lot of pints. It’s not a bad life! I get beers left at the stage door to drink with the show, but I can’t drink an 8% beer before performing. Last year we did our own beer – Guv Island – with Mad Squirrel Brewery in Hemel Hempstead – it’s a very delicious pale ale.
I ‘drink ’ on stage, but I use zero alcohol beer. It means I’ve drunk an awful lot of it. Kaliber was the alcohol-free beer when I first started 30 years ago. It had a really tart, fruity taste and it wasn’t very nice. They ’ve got so much better since then. I think Guinness Zero is a revelation – it’s incredible. And I do drink it when I’m out. Sometimes I alternate it with the real stuff so I don’t get too whammed.
On tour I’ll eat a proper big lunch. My tour manager is a massive foodie so he’s super organised and makes sure we book places in advance. If it were up to me, we’d just go to the chippy all the time. I manage with a sandwich or banana before the show. We recently went to Dishoom in Birmingham after a show at around 11pm. The food there is excellent, but I can’t be eating that late. You end up waking in the middle of the night and farting like you invented it.