From stand-up comedian to quiz team captain to actor, Sean Hughes has made a career out of having lots of careers. He tells Nick Morrison about his low boredom threshold.

HE'S proved so elusive that when the phone rings and an adenoidal-voice says "It's Sean," it comes as something as a shock. Two previous attempts to interview Sean Hughes have fallen down - either he was ill or he forgot, depending on who's apologising for him, and going by both his bunged-up tone and his scatty image, both are equally likely.

When he rings, he's completed three dates of, well, not so much a tour, as "a series of readings", reading from his novels, poetry and biographical pieces at a series of small-scale venues around the country. Although more well-known as a stand-up comedian and team captain on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, recent years have seen him develop another successful career, as an author.

"I'm halfway through writing a new novel, and these readings were to give me impetus. To get the opportunity to read something while there is a work in progress is fantastic," he says. "Although I'm aware that because of my history I tend to have a bit of banter with the audience as well. It's not a stand-up show, but I'm not going to be po-faced and say I'll only do the book. So it's a reading, and everything else is a bonus."

The Irish stand-up was the youngest winner of the Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe and after his first two books, Sean's Book and The Grey Area, collections of poems, short stories and autobiography, were published to widespread acclaim, he went on to write two novels, The Detainees and It's What He Would Have Wanted. His third novel is due out in September.

"I started novel writing because it is obviously something you do at home, but having had a history of touring for years and years and not having done it for a while, it is nice to touch palms, so to speak, every so often."

His TV career began with Channel Four's Friday Night Live, before getting his own show, Sean's Show, and then a series of short films on BBC2. He's also branched into acting, appearing in The Commitments, The Butcher Boy and the TV series The Last Detective, appearing opposite Peter Davison, which returns to our screens on Friday.

"I don't wake up in the morning and say 'Today I'm an author', but I've been given the opportunity to do various things. I always came into it to do stand-up comedy - everything else is just branching out. I do love the novels, though, because I'm a bit of a control freak, and I can control everything in them.

"There is a huge buzz from stand-up, but I got that for so long you become cynical about that, you know it is something you can do. What you really want is challenges. Attempting new things is always the best buzz for me."

His novel-in-progress is the first time he's turned to stand-up for material, telling as it does of a comedian whose tasteless joke goes down so badly he's beaten up, pushing him into a breakdown. Sean tells the joke as part of the readings, and so far the audience reaction has confirmed the accuracy of his plot.

"It is a horrible joke, but it is there for a reason, and in the novel I describe how the audience reacts, and at the readings that is how the audience has reacted."

He's got no desire to return to stand-up at the moment, after doing it for so long, although he's not ruling it out for the future. "I never say never, but I'm 38 and I like my own comforts," he says.

The first episode of The Last Detective sees him go naked, but he's done it before and says the embarrassment fades pretty quickly. Instead, acting gives him something else to try, just in case he was getting bored.

"I do have a low boredom threshold, but the problem with acting is you do have to get offered the work, whereas with stand-up you can do it yourself. But I enjoy the readings. Every night is different, and I like to have a chat with the audience. We will have a night," he promises.

* Sean Hughes is at Stockton Arc next Saturday at 8pm. Box office: (01642) 525199.

Published: 07/02/2004