The Hour

Actor David Hayman recently performed a one-off stand-up routine in a comedy extravaganza at the O2 Academy in Glasgow to raise money for his charity, Spirit Aid.

A Summer Comedy Gala included 20 of Scotland’s best comedians, and in preparation for his performance, David took part in a masterclass lesson with three top comedians and performed at an open mic night.

The actor had never done stand-up before and had been terrified of what to expect, but his performance at the open mic night was very well received and it helped him to worry less about the O2 gig: “It’s probably given me a little bit more confidence to perform,” he said.

1400 people attended A Summer Comedy Gala and a lot of money was raised for Spirit Aid. The charity is a completely volunteer organisation which was set up to support children and young people around the world by running humanitarian projects in places like Kosovo, Guinea Bissau, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa and Scotland.

David had a five minute slot to fill in the comedy extravaganza. He wrote all of his material himself and his performance went down well, but he has no intentions of repeating the experience any time soon. He said:

“That was seriously, seriously scary. I would much rather go to a war zone in Afghanistan than stand up in front of an audience as a stand-up comic. Never again!”

MORE ON DAVID HAYMAN

• For more on Spirit Aid, take a look at the website
• See David's performance at the open mic night 
• Watch David taking part in a comedy masterclass lesson
• Read about David searching for Sherlock Holmes