Ian Boldsworth looks over intently and says menacingly, "I've been following Supergirly around all Edinburgh shouting things at them. I swear to God." He's a passionate man with strong opinions, which he stands by, "they came out at Late N Live one night and the tape fucked up and they were lost. If all you can do is sing, then be a singer".

We're in the Rizla Lounge, part of the Gilded Balloon venue in Edinburgh, during the last week of the festival. Ian returns to the Edinburgh festival as one third of Big and Daft, along with Rob Rouse and Jon Williams for the second consecutive year, fresh from a string of successfulpreviews. Throughout the festival they have received four and five star reviews for their 2000 show. Waiting to go into the Studio venue, Ian is more than happy to sit and talk to us about himself. A subject he has a lot to say about.

Ian's roots are in drama and writing. And what he writes is funny. After leaving school Ian chose a good university not venturing too far from his home in the north. Despite both Ian and Jon studying drama at Leeds university, it took two years until they even spoke to one another. Ian developed a symbiotic relationship with Jon towards the end of each term when Jon needed a lift home. "We didn't get on at all, me and Jon at university. We didn't get on until I cast him in a play. A play that I'd written called Toilet Humour." Having written the play, Ian needed a good-looking man to play one of the leads so he cast Jon, "that was one of the first times I really spoke to him."

Having chosen his course, Ian didn't go to university to learn how to perform drama. He hated it because he feels very strongly that "you can't teach it". Not a big fan of the traditional Open Mike competitions in comedy, Ian has a firm belief that drama and performing can't be so easily categorised, "It's subjective (the Perrier), the five chosen aren't the five best performers on the fringe. They're not. They're the five that fit the best into the Perrier category this year. But they're not the best". And true to his word, Ian deliberately avoids the accompanying parties. "The only reason I did drama at university was so that I could have the use of a theatre for three years for free." A commodity that he made the utmost use of, "putting on plays and stuff. It gave me a chance to get my writing skills together and my performing skills to that point". These skills are evident in this year's BAD creation, "Big and Daft in Space".

Things haven't always looked so positive. When Ian took his first steps into comedy, he was writing for a lad called Alan. "Most comics have one set and they use it and then gradually change it, but I was writing a new set for every gig, because I didn't know any better." Exhaustion lead to the ruthless sacking of Alan, which in turn (with Jon's involvment) lead to the birth of BAD, Ian's stand-up club which resided in North London. Enter Rob Rouse to complete the BAD trio, "Rob came down and did an open spot." Contrary to popular belief , there was no GBH involved in the events leading up to Rob's involvement in BAD. "He said that I hit him over the head and kidnapped him, but I didn't. I really didn't. I didn't, I phoned him the next day." It's hard not to believe such an unreserved man.

He has a fairly obsessive nature, more so than most comedians. Who do you know who could spend years of dedication researching and writing a book on the life of just one man? By his own admission Ian is a writer first, comedian second. Despite desribing it as very hard work, Ian cites writing as his "favourite thing in the world. I love writing. I'm the official Les Dawson biographer." This is a fact that Ian is rightly proud of. Not only is he writing the book of Les' life, endorsed by the Dawson estate, he is writing the script for the film, which will have a star-studded cast. "It was my idea to do it, I said I wanted to do a film, they read what I'd written so far, and they said they wanted a definitive book as well."

Along with Les Dawson, the other person having the biggest influence on Ian's life has been Michael Pennington (a.k.a. Johnny Vegas). "Les Dawson is my all time comedy hero. Totally." Not that this is reflected in his writing or comedy. "Johnny just hits it. He puts his heart and soul into it, which is really important. We don't in ours. We're dead into it but I couldn't say hand on heart that every night we go up there and fucking throw ourselves into it." As well as the deep respect that he has for Michael as a performer, they are also great friends, "which is brilliant because you have so many people that you like and you meet them and then they're crap as people." Speaking from a bad experience with an anonymous well-known comedian, Ian concludes, "You should be nice to someone if they make an effort to talk to you". Which brings us round full circle, "if you just meet somebody straight off, with the exception of Supergirly you can't sort of slag them off to their face."

From out of nowhere comes Ray Peacock, a character we've never heard mentioned before, who is Ian's lesser-known alter ego. "He's actually a master butcher, but I never mention that. I've never done it up here". That would explain our ignorance. His talents are not limited to the constraints of his character of the same name in Big and Daft. "I haven't done it for donkey's years. I can't remember any of it, but I do tend to make a lot of it up. It's very rude...what are you looking at me like that for?! Staring me out!"

Having regained composure, we reply, "These are our serious interview faces!" Ian acknowledges the serious nature of the interview so far and suggests something a bit different. "Should I be a bit bizarre and go like Noel and Julian? Say weird things? I do a character and he's born in a ditch and he lives with some pelicans and they make handbags out of their beaks and that's where he keeps all his sweets and all his hard sweets are in that pelican there, and all his chewy sweets are in that one there, and ah, it's great!" He pauses for air, while we contemplate his potential for writing for the Boosh. "See, I told you, I can't do it!"

Ray Peacock is a fairly controversial, antagonistic character, who likes nothing more than a punch-up. "I go on, banter and try to start fights. I love it. I think that sort of comedy is brilliant, where you really jig people up in a funny way, and they think it's funny." Boyish excitement takes over as he continues uncontrollably, "but they still get giddy , and you get them giddy, and you're keeping control on stage, but looking like you are giddy, and you get a really good feeling in the room, and then you can say anything to anyone." Another pause for breath. The performer coming closest to Ian's hopes for Ray Peacock is Scott Capurro. "It's very scripted, and it's brilliantly performed, but it's the same every night. But that thing of saying unsayable things." Ian is thinking of really, really, really bad things. "You can say really naughty things that you don't really mean. But you say them cos they're shocking. Rob and Jon tend to disassociate themselves from these "things". I've set the mark, but I've not got the atmosphere right to do it." Compared to the innocence of the work produced by Big and Daft, Ray Peacock seems to bring out another side to Ian. You can see the thrill in his eyes when he tells us the boundaries he can push when he is in character.

(To Jon): "You're not to be involved in this. They've found interesting things to ask me about...and the charity work"

The character first appeared in a Big and Daft sketch written not by Ian, but by Jon when Big and Daft started out three years ago performing broken sketches rather than the more seamless story they achieved this year. The first performance of Ray Peacock set the stage for Ian to continue him on his own. "It went down really well. I got a lot of heckling, and I really twatted them".

One night, an audience member took a strong dislike to Ray Peacock and wouldn't stop shouting heckles. He was soon to realise he had provoked the wrong person, "I eventually said something about his mother. I carried on, but I saw something glistening coming through the lights and he'd chucked a glass at me." After a momentary pause in time and some quick thinking, "I went to knock it away and I caught it in my hand. The room went silent and this one guy started clapping, and it erupted". This episode in Ray Peacocks career served only to encourage him. "I try to start fights a lot, but I don't fight a lot, and I battered him. It's not very clever or big, but." But. We can draw a useful moral from this story. Don't throwing glasses at Ian, he'll only go and catch them.

At this point, Jon comes across which doesn't impress Ian. "This is my interview, this is. You're not to be involved in this. They've found interesting things to ask me about." At which point, Ian starts lying. Something you won't find hi doing often. "Yeah, and the charity work. We'll talk about that.

Even though Ian is sitting here talking openly about his past and his path into the industry in which he finds himself now, neither Ian nor those who know him describe him as the particularly sociable type, "I had no friends in university. I had girlfriends, that was all. I can't sit in a room with people and talk bollocks, I can only do small talk for so long". Which may explain why we are tucked away in the far corner of the lounge. " I hate this part of the festival now, you've had all the conversations you can have and caught up with everyone you've not seen for a year."

Having said that, Ian starts recalling the antics of Lee Mack's birthday during the festival. Having never really crossed paths in London with many other acts in the festival, "I had no choice but to sit and talk to them, and they're lovely. Lee's lovely when he's drunk. Him and Rob had a fight last night!" This seems to fill him with glee and we can tell he is desperate to spill the beans. "Lee bit Rob's face! Lee jumped up and bit his face and he threw him to the ground. They do it every now and again."

There's so much more to tell about Ian Boldsworth. Keep your eyes peeled for a special issue of the magazine full of things that Ian has told us that we're not allowed to tell anyone. Like we say, he's far too trusting!

Review of Big And Daft in Space
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