‘I paid Craig Ferguson £30 and he was heckled off stage’ - Edinburgh Fringe comedy queen recalls Scottish comedian’s past gigs

I first worked with Craig in 1985, the year before the Gilded Balloon started. I was a director of a private members cabaret bar in Palmerston Place called McNally’s where we served dinner, cabaret and stand-up comedy.

Craig was performing at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow in a comedy Gong Show and I saw him there and asked if he would come and do gigs for me. I paid him a measly £30, and at the first show he was heckled off stage!

He called me the next morning and said he would come back if I paid him more – I said he had to come back to prove himself and that’s when he told me that he had changed his stage name to Bing Hitler! He would go on to keep this name throughout the 80s.

He was tough, he was rough, he was loud, but he was very funny. He still is – not so much of the rough anymore as he has been sober for at least 27 years.

It’s a welcome return to Scotland after conquering America with ‘The Late Late Show’ which he did for 10 years. I saw him record the show a couple of times and he is a master of the talk show, he even did his own warm-up because he was better than anyone else.

Craig achieved the highest ratings since ‘The Late Late Show’ started in 1995. Most episodes concentrated on comedy, however Craig also addressed his struggle with alcoholism and the deaths of his parents.

The show ‘Hobo Fabulous’ that Craig is bringing to Edinburgh has been touring the States, with a US-review saying: “Ferguson has a very versatile style. He can sustain laughs while jumping seamlessly between crudely-direct cultural commentary and more thoughtful and introspective observational comedy”; and also, “With a style that steers clear of harshness or judgment, Ferguson is a smart, engaging and grounded comedian whose subtlety belies greater depth.

“For these reasons the Scottish Parliament might want to consider casting a bust of him and sticking it on the Royal Mile somewhere. He’s a real gift to their cultural identity, and to the world of comedy”.

I don’t think that the Scottish Parliament should stick a bust of Craig on the Royal Mile – perhaps a bit over the top. However, it is a show that should not be missed, as one of Scotland’s greatest comics finally comes home.