![\"Alan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Alan-Davies-Think-Ahead-tour-image-4-photocredit-Tony-Briggs-d3b9-e1758226309122.jpg\")
\n\t\tAlan Davies\u2019 show Think Ahead is his most personal comedy show yet (Picture: Tony Briggs)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tAlan Davies\u2019 show Think Ahead is his most personal comedy show yet (Picture: Tony Briggs)<\/p>\n
After a life of loveable yet sharp TV panel show appearances under a shaggy, puppy-like lid of curly hair \u2013 which became the trademark feature of Jonathan Creek for almost a decade \u2013 it was clear Alan Davies was going to be a likeable bloke.<\/p>\n
But as he approaches 60, the QI star\u2019s people-pleasing public profile along with his happy-go-lucky armour has cluttered all around him. But what\u2019s underneath is much more salient, as I discovered while watching<\/a> his most personal \u2013 and perhaps worryingly raw \u2013 stand-up show yet at the Edinburgh Fringe<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018If I\u2019m a cake, there are all these ingredients in me, right?\u2019 Alan tells Metro over Zoom, in a tone that suggests \u2018stay with me\u2019 on this admittedly unsatisfactory metaphor.<\/p>\n \u2018The cake that I\u2019m putting on stage is not the same. It\u2019s like the ingredients aren\u2019t there. It\u2019s decorated better and it\u2019s nicer to look at. It\u2019s got its own virtues. It\u2019s about getting the two cakes the same,\u2019 he says, answering every question steadily and thoughtfully, in stark contrast to the bouncy quick-fire Alan we\u2019re accustomed to seeing on our screens.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a disconnect, naturally, with any stand-up comedian. Their stage persona allows them to be someone people will pay to see; a glossified, chaoticised, or exaggerated version of their relatively ordinary selves. <\/p>\n But until now \u2013 in Alan\u2019s return to stand-up comedy<\/a> after 10 years \u2013 the disparity has been gaping. Through Think Ahead, his stand-up show which he\u2019s touring this autumn and beyond, Alan is closing that distance. It\u2019s time to put his people-pleasing cat jokes to bed.<\/p>\n \t\t During his bone-scratchingly personal and raw show \u2013 and in between some knee-slapping anecdotes (don\u2019t worry) \u2013 Alan opens up on stage for the first time about his horrific experience of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of his father.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s like I say to the audience, come to the edge of the cliff, and then we all look over together, and then we go back,\u2019 Alan says of this brave moment in the show. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s a comedy show. I\u2019ve always had this view of stand-up: whatever your opinions are, whatever you want to say, you have to buy the time from the audience by being really funny at the start,\u2019 he adds. <\/p>\n \u2018You have to engage them and reassure them and get the laughs going at the beginning. And then as the show goes on, they want to know more about you.\u2019 <\/p>\n When Metro saw Alan perform his Edinburgh run<\/a>, he looked visibly affected by recounting the ordeal: he suffered shortness of breath and his chest tightened, which he revealed were symptoms of his PTSD from the years of abuse. <\/p>\n Have these on-stage retellings\u2026 opened the floodgates for Alan?<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018It\u2019s quite tricky that bit,\u2019 he admits, thinking. \u2018Katie [Alan\u2019s wife] was a bit concerned about that, because I told her that was happening, and she said, \u201cI don\u2019t want you to re-traumatise yourself every night for two years of touring.\u201d\u2018<\/p>\n But Alan hopes his physical PTSD response may ease off as he tours the show more.<\/p>\n \u2018If it happens, it happens. If it doesn\u2019t, it doesn\u2019t. But I think it surprised me. But then I thought, well, this is the reality of this experience for lots and lots of people,\u2019 he says. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\tChildhood abuse helpline \t\t\t<\/p>\n The National Association for People Abused in Childhood has a helpline available, and resources<\/a> online via their website<\/a>. <\/p>\n Call the free confidential service on 0808 801 0331\u200b<\/p>\n Ten years ago, the line between pure comedy and muddy drama was blurred with the likes of Fleabag<\/a> and Richard Gadd<\/a>\u2019s Edinburgh Comedy Award-winning Monkey See, Monkey Do, which turned into Baby Reindeer. <\/p>\n Stand-up comedians were suddenly expected to bear their souls and darkest secrets on stage. Comedian Amy Mason told Metro<\/a> at the Edinburgh Fringe this year how her hugely personal shows sometimes sparked audience interactions of people dumping their trauma in response to the show. It\u2019s lovely, obviously. But it\u2019s also overwhelming.<\/p>\n \u2018People do come up to me and say, \u201cThat happened to me, or that happened to my friend,\u201d\u2018 Alan says. <\/p>\n \u2018I always just say, \u201cThank you for telling me\u201d. I can\u2019t think of another response really, and I want people to feel able to say that, not just to me, but to anybody. It\u2019s kind of the point.<\/p>\n \u2018But I don\u2019t say, \u201cOh, let\u2019s go and have a drink and talk about this.\u201d I\u2019m not qualified to anyway, but I try to be kind to people. You try to be kind to people anyway. It\u2019s not always possible.\u2019 <\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to think of Alan being anything but kind. But one recent unsavoury interaction with a fellow Londoner unsettled him \u2013 he hasn\u2019t had a run in like this in years.<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018A guy came up to me in the street, and he stopped me right in front of me, and he said my name loudly and held his hand out for a handshake, and I was really miles away. I was thinking about something else,\u2019 Alan explains. <\/p>\n \u2018And then he said to me, \u201cDon\u2019t be a pr**k.\u201d And I said, \u201cWhy are you calling me a pr**k?\u201d He said, \u201cI didn\u2019t call you a prick. I said, don\u2019t be a prick.\u201d I said, \u201cWhat are you doing? I feel like I\u2019m not being a prick. Think maybe you\u2019re being a prick\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n After this bizarre exchange, Alan walked away and the man who\u2019d recognised him hurled \u2018insults and abusive names\u2019 at him all the way down the street.<\/p>\n \u2018I thought, God, I haven\u2019t had this for years. You know, really, it\u2019s been ages since that sort of thing happened.\u2019 <\/p>\n \u2018It really unsettled me,\u2019 he admits, explaining the man told him he was homeless<\/a> \u2013 but looked to have \u2018freshly laundered\u2019 clothes.<\/p>\n The sour taste this left in Alan\u2019s mouth aside, that encounter talks to a lot of stuff Alan touches on in his stand-up show.<\/p>\n \u2018It talks about fame and it talks about mental health<\/a>, it talks about homelessness, it talks about male aggression and hostility. It\u2019s sort of lots of the things that are in my show, ironically,\u2019 he says. <\/p>\n Of course, it\u2019s a cliche that men don\u2019t talk about their feelings. But Alan is aware this particular cliche has substance. <\/p>\n \u2018If you say we\u2019re all going for a drink, it means we\u2019re all going for a laugh. That\u2019s what you mean. We\u2019re going to let off some steam and unwind and be together and laugh and joke,\u2019 he says. <\/p>\n \t\t Problems come, Alan says, when men \u2018shut down\u2019 because they haven\u2019t discussed what\u2019s really going on with their family.<\/p>\n \u2018Trusting the people who love you is very difficult for lots of people, I think. I think quite a lot of relationships, I imagine, are not complete because of that. It\u2019s very difficult when you\u2019ve got this secret,\u2019 he says. <\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s made more difficult because very often abuse \u2013 and usually actually, abuse of children \u2013 it takes place within the family. <\/p>\n \u2018Often the person who\u2019s speaking up is the one who will be ostracised or somehow excluded from the family, because the abuser is often a very powerful person in that in that family.<\/p>\n \u2018They don\u2019t just manipulate the victim. They manipulate people all around the victim as well. You can\u2019t believe anything they say. They\u2019re very dangerous, and they need to be jailed.\u2019 <\/p>\n It\u2019s heavy stuff for Alan to re-hash the whole time, I sense. He is sacrificing the darkest parts of his private life in the name of helping others. <\/p>\n \u2018I feel better about the sort of things I\u2019m writing and talking about,\u2019 Alan says. \u2018I\u2019m 60 next year. Imagine if I wrote it all down and put it in a box and said, publish after I die, and then I died, and then people read it went, \u201cOh, my God, I didn\u2019t know that about him.\u201d\u2019 \u00a0<\/p>\n But is Alan comfortable with how much he is giving? <\/p>\n He shrugs with his smile, somewhat beat. \u2018I\u2019m alright,\u2019 he says. \u2018I was no good before, so it makes no odds.\u2019<\/p>\n Alan Davies: Think Ahead is touring the UK this autumn and winter. Tickets here<\/a>. <\/p>\n Got a story?<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk<\/a> entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff<\/a> page \u2013 we\u2019d love to hear from you.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Alan-Davies-Think-Ahead-tour-image-5-photocredit-Tony-Briggs-86a4-e1758226374436.jpg\")
\n\t\tHe is touring the UK this autumn and next year (Picture: Tony Briggs)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Alan-Davies-Think-Ahead-tour-image-3-photocredit-Tony-Briggs-d9ae-e1758226407518.jpg\")
\n\t\tAlan toured Think Ahead at the Edinburgh Fringe this year and opened up about his traumatic childhood for the first time on stage (Picture: Tony Briggs)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Alan-Davies-Think-Ahead-tour-image-1-photocredit-Tony-Briggs-6663-e1758226435882.jpg\")
\n\t\tMetro rated the show four stars at the Edinburgh Fringe in August (Picture: Tony Briggs)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Alan-Davies-Think-Ahead-tour-image-2-photocredit-Tony-Briggs-37d6-e1758226482767.jpg\")
\n\t\tAlan is approaching 60 and feels better about his material now than in his younger years (Picture: Tony Briggs)<\/p>\n
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