Sir Lenny Henry planning return to stand-up comedy
After over a decade concentrating on his acting career, Sir Lenny Henry is returning to comedy.
Sir Lenny Henry is planning a return to stand-up comedy.
The 66-year-old star has spent the last decade acting in theatre and in TV dramas sucha as 'Missing You' and 'Broadchurch' but confirmed "there are plans afoot" to bring his jokes back to the stage.
Lenny - who hasn't embarked on a full comedy tour since 2002 - told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “I haven’t picked up a mic in anger since 2010, it’s been a while. There are plans afoot. We’re writing and we’re thinking about things.“
And the Comic Relief co-founder isn't worried about getting cancelled for his jokes.
Asked if he worried about upsetting people, he said: “I think people can say anything they like as long as they edit. As long as you can self-edit you’ll be fine, if you can’t self-edit then you in trouble.”
Lenny could bring back some of the characters from his self-titled 1980s comedy series because he still "loves" his alter egos, but he also enjoys just telling his own stories.
He said: “I think it will be a mixture, it might just be me talking. I’ve done shows where it’s just me talking to the audience and I love that. It might be that the characters are weaved in because I love doing them, and why wouldn’t you."
And the veteran star insisted he doesn't have to look too far to find inspiration for his gags given the current state of the world.
When asked what’s inspiring his jokes, he said: “Everything. Everywhere. Look at what’s going on at the moment. It’s like a massive smorgasbord of subject matter.”
Last year, Lenny hosted Comic Relief's Red Nose Day fundraiser for the final time and previously insisted it was the right time to pass on the baton.
He told the BBC: "I love Comic Relief and I've been doing it for 39 years. I'm a Life President of the charity and I'm still going to be supporting other Comic Relief and Red Nose Day projects throughout the year, like recruiting new talent, doing voiceovers etc. so I'll be around just not onscreen.
"I think it's time to hand over the reins because there is an extraordinary new generation of talent and we need to give these people and their audiences access to what Comic Relief can do and how we can raise money together."
