NATALIE HALE catches up with Mark Watson as the award-winning comic prepares to bring his comedy home to Bristol

One of the most exciting comic talents to emerge from Bristol's burgeoning comedy scene, Mark Watson is a stand-up and novelist, who is lauded by critics and loved by Edinburgh Festival devotees.

The multi award-winning comic, who grew up in Henleaze, is a regular on the TV panel show circuit, including Mock the Week and 8 Out of 10 Cats. And last summer the popular stand-up recorded his first live DVD at The Bristol Hippodrome, with both gig and DVD going down a storm.

Mark is renowned for having numerous projects on the go at all times, and 2012 looks set to be another busy year for the father of one.

Launching this Saturday night, Mark will be appearing as a team captain, opposite Micky Flanagan, in Channel 4's The Mad Bad Ad Show, a new comedy entertainment series that lifts the lid off the advertising world. He's also taking his latest show to Australia, before returning in time for the Edinburgh Fringe and just to top it off he has a couple of writing projects underway.

One of the comedy firmament's brightest stars, snap your tickets up now to see this local comic done good playing a home gig at the intimate setting of The Comedy Box.

eB: The Hippodrome shows were a big success. You must have been delighted by the reaction?

MW: I was pretty happy, yes, but I didn't really register whether they were going well or not at the time.

A show on that scale pretty much always goes by in a blur. You look back on it like a dream – one of those anxiety dreams where you're naked in front of 1,000 people – but in this case, a T-shirt instead of the nakedness. Luckily.

eB: Congratulations on the DVD. How involved were you in the editing?

MW: I had to be quite heavily involved because I'd never want to put my name to something sub-standard, but it was a weird process for me because I normally run a mile from watching anything I've done.

I've almost never seen myself on TV. This time I had to watch 90 minutes of myself, several times over, cringing at all my little tics and at bits I messed up.

The first time I watched it I was hungover on the train to Nottingham. I had to shield the laptop screen from other passengers in case they saw I was watching myself.

eB: We're looking forward to seeing you back in Bristol. What can we expect from your gig at The Comedy Box?

MW: It is a warm-up gig for a new show, but the show's going to be in the Australian festivals in March and April, so it's nearly ready now.

The show is about the internet and the information age, and what it means for modern life. But I spend about a third of it talking about ham, so I wouldn't overstate the heaviness of the themes!

eB: You're an Edinburgh favourite, known for your hit shows, gruelling 24-hour gigs and winning the Panel Award for best capturing the spirit of the Fringe in 2006. What can we look forward to this summer?

MW: Just the one stand-up show, but I'm also doing a little side project which is Olympic-themed and will be typically chaotic and stupid. I'm looking forward to it with the usual mix of anticipation and dread. Next year I'm definitely not going to Edinburgh – it'll be my first break in 13 years. I would say I'm looking forward to that.

eB: You're forever touring up and down the country – as a new dad, do you now experience "parent guilt" when you're away?

MW: Yes, it's hard to get a two-year-old to understand phrases like "Daddy has to go to Wellingborough, in Northamptonshire, to do a show rescheduled because of TV commitments".

On the other hand, at least I'm around in the days sometimes so I probably get more playground time than a banker would. And I'm not a figure of hate either. The boy will appreciate that when he's bigger.

eB: Tell me about The Mad Bad Ad Show, launching on Channel 4 tomorrow night.

MW: It is a mixture of panel-show about advertising and sort of Apprentice-type bits where me and Micky Flanagan are given an unpromising product and have to pitch it and make an ad for it.

We had various guests from the world of advertising and celebs like Lorraine Kelly. I think it'll be pretty good, but it's hard to be sure when you're involved in it. It'll be rude. I can promise that. Flanagan is appallingly rude.

eB: We've all had the "favourite TV ad" conversations in the pub. What's your favourite classic ad?

MW: I watched so many ads for the show that my brain has lumped them all together into one feature-length advert for a watch that you can drive and which makes coffee and yells GO COMPARE!

I suppose the ads on the show that most triggered nostalgia for me were the "you know when you've been Tangoed" ones, where a big orange man slapped passers-by. That took my school by storm. I still have a sore face.

eB: You tend to have many projects and ideas on the go – what else have you got planned for 2012?

MW: I have another novel coming out in August, called The Knot, and I'm working on a graphic novel as well. And I've got a host of TV projects and scripts in development which I'm too superstitious to mention in case they don't come off. So just imagine something really good!

Mark Watson plays The Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken from Monday, February 20, to Wednesday, February 22, at 8.30pm. Tickets cost £15. Tel 0117 902 0344