‘I didn’t think I would ever do it’: Mo Gilligan reflects on fame and his South London roots

Since reaching viral stardom with his “coupla cans” bit, comedian Mo Gilligan has gone from strength to strength, from winning a BAFTA to hosting his own talk show on Channel 4. 

Towards the end of his globetrotting “The Mo You Know” tour, he returned home to South London and sat down with us to shed some light on life as a comedian.  

Despite his staggering fame – Mo laughed that “if we get some white van drivers that pull up here, nine times out of 10 they’ll say ‘oh coupla cans, what’s happening?’” – touring life is much more lonely than we might imagine. 

“I’m not touring like a Dua Lipa or a Taylor Swift where there’s a big entourage; it’s only just myself and my tour manager,” he revealed. “You miss home a lot as well, miss your loved ones.”

It’s not all doom and gloom for Mo though. He described why he enjoys touring and travelling so much: “Also it’s the privilege of knowing that I get to do this thing in a completely different country. And it might be the first time they’re ever going to see me.”

He has a particular affection for his fans Down Under: “They really get UK humour… so I love going to Australia and New Zealand.”

As much as he enjoys the flashy world tours and rubbing shoulders with the likes of Adele and Stormzy at the BRITs, it’s his O2 show that Mo looks back on as an “overall highlight” so far. 

“Getting to perform at the O2 and do my own show, and then we got to capture it and record it and put it on Netflix was something I didn’t think I would ever do,” he explains, smiling as if he had only just stepped off the stage. 

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“And, I was quite fortunate enough to play there before with a bunch of other people, but having my own show there was quite cool,” he added.

It was Mo’s talent in observational comedy that led him to such heights. The characters he creates are specific enough to feel real, yet familiar enough that you could swear you’ve met them before.

“In my head, I feel like they are real people”, he said, “but I base them just on a caricature that I’ve kind of made up. But also it’s the person, I know that I’ve met that person, I’ve met ‘the geezer’.

“Like everybody knows that guy, but I always make sure the characters feel warm and endearing and you can laugh at them.” 

For anyone looking to emulate Mo’s path, his top tip is to “find your local comedy club, and if they have an open mic night, just go in and have a go.”

“There’s literally nothing to lose,” he emphasised. “You’re going to have a show where they don’t laugh anyway; if you get it on your first one, at least by your second one you’re like ‘ah, this is working out for me.’” 

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Featured image via Youtube and Pangolin PR