Lots of blokes think they’re funny, and 1% Club host Lee Mack is one of them.
But as he told one newspaper several years ago, thinking you’re funny “counts for nothing unless you get up and have a go”.
So he did. In Surbiton, southwest London, in the mid 1990s. That was his first stand-up gig.
And he hasn’t looked back since, although it hasn’t been the smoothest ride.
Find a dive into Lee Mack’s biggest controversies here, which include getting momentarily cancelled. He’s found himself trading barbs with the “future King”. And he’s also been in hot water with his wife over sex scenes on TV.
But all of that… came after this.
Lee Mack’s most embarrassing moment during which he ‘absolutely died’
Not long after starting out on the comedy circuit, Lee Mack did a gig at Stoke University.
He shared the bill with Julian Barratt, of The Mighty Boosh fame, and Pub Landlord Al Murray. His brother-in-law was a student at the university, so he had somewhere to stay.
And, in Lee Mack’s words, “all his mates were so excited”.
But the gig didn’t go to plan.
“When I went on stage, I absolutely died,” Lee told The Guardian in 2010. “After five minutes they started slow hand-clapping. Afterwards, no one came near me, for fear of catching unfunniness.”
Does he prefer working on the stage or on-screen?
They’re very different worlds, he says.
When you’re performing on TV, “you get driven to work in a luxury car, and find flowers in your dressing room. Then suddenly you’re on tour, drying your hair backstage on plastic curtains.”
The ideal? Somewhere in the middle, because life is about balance.
His biggest gig at the moment is The 1% Club, which launched in April 2022.
Its first and second series attracted four and a half million viewers per episode, and shows bearing the same name have since popped up all over Europe – in France, Ukraine, Greece and Hungary – as well as further afield.
Mexico, Turkey, the US and Israel all have their own version of The 1% Club. But ours is the only one with Lee Mack at the helm, laughing along with contestants during seven-hour shoots and maintaining a “disco” atmosphere – in one contestant’s words.
Are you a fan?
Catch Lee Mack on The 1% Club, Saturdays at 9pm, on ITV.
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