Bobby Davro on Fringe memories and bouncing back from a stroke

Comedian Bobby Davro on the Fringe, cancel culture, and recovering from a stroke.

What brings you to the Fringe after so many years in comedy?

I came last year, did a couple of shows and got standing ovations, and they asked me back. I did it to prove a point, and it went well. I thought it was rather charming. They don’t always go that well.

Do any come to mind?

Andy Cameron is a mate of mine and he asked me to come up and play at Ibrox. My dad, Bill Nankeville, used to run at Ibrox in the annual Sports Days – he was an Olympic athlete and ran with Roger Bannister. He competed in the 1948 and 1952 Olympic Games. Anyway, the night I performed, Scotland had beaten England in the rugby. I was doing so badly I thought I would sing a song, so I put on my Sergeant Pepper jacket and started singing Hey Jude. But the jacket was lime green! The abuse I got that day.

Your show is called Everything Is Funny If You Can Laugh At It. Why did you call it that?

I’ve come out to entertain and make people laugh, not to make people hate or get angry. It shouldn’t be like that. I think you should be able to tell jokes about everyone, within reason. Sometimes the subject of the joke is confused with the actual joke itself. Offence isn’t given, it’s taken. Everyone is entitled to be offended, but it doesn’t mean we all have to be offended with them.

Do you feel you have had to change your act?

I’ll come off stage and people will say, ‘Well, you can’t tell jokes like that anymore.’ And I’ll say, ‘Actually, I just did.’ Remember, a joke, by definition, is not anything to be taken seriously. It’s quite the opposite. And I love what I do. You can’t take every single person’s offence into consideration.

You were a huge TV star in the 80s. What was that time like?

It was an incredibly creative time. I had a great time. I don’t have as much money as I used to have, but I’ve tried to hold onto a bit of it. I have three children and I put them through private school, which I’m not ashamed to say, because like any father I tried to do the best for my kids. I used to tour and it was wonderful. We would come up to the Glasgow Pavilion and fill theatres. I didn’t continue touring, I did other things. That’s a regret. I fell short of achieving what I wanted to achieve. But I achieved a lot and I’m very proud of what I did. I’m very much into science, and I asked the universe to bring me the things I want. If you really love and want something bad enough, it will come to you. I remember hearing Gilbert O’Sullivan on the car radio when I was at school. He became my idol and I knew he would mean something to me. It took about 15 years, but I met him and we became the best of friends. And I had my own TV shows because I wanted it badly enough.

You suffered a stroke in January. How are you doing now?

I’d been playing at a local comedy club and I did an hour and 20 minutes. As I was coming off the stage, my left leg buckled. There were two ex-firemen there and they could see I was having a stroke. I was one of the lucky ones – I got to the hospital in time. My girlfriend Vicky had died and I’d been smoking a lot of cigarettes and not looking after myself. I was miserable. I think it came from high blood pressure due to the stress, so I’ve got to really slow down. I had to take January and February off work. I still have a little numbness in my toes occasionally and sensitivity in my fingers. My voice has come back but I’m not quite singing at full whack. I have to do exercises. I watch what I eat, I’ve stopped smoking and I’ve cut my drinking down. But I think it was to do with the stress and the high blood pressure, because they say that’s a silent killer. I have to take a tablet every day for the rest of my life, but I’m a bit upset because they only gave me six.

Bobby Davro: Everything Is Funny If You Can Laugh At It, Frankenstein Pub – Bier Keller, tonight, Wed-Sun, 9pm