Alan Davies on trauma, tumours, and the comedy circuit

At 60, Alan Davies is a great deal happier, though he admits he is less of a hell-raiser than he once was. The comedian is currently promoting his second memoir, White Male Stand-Up, published by Octopus, which details his childhood sexual abuse, the excesses of the 1990s comedy circuit, and a recent bladder cancer diagnosis. Davies is also preparing for his stand-up tour, The Alan Davies: Think Ahead, which commences on 21 September in Truro, aiming to weave his personal history into a performance he describes as his funniest yet.

The memoir follows his 2020 autobiography, Just Ignore Him, which revealed that his father sexually abused him as a child. Davies sought to have his father prosecuted but was unable to do so due to the man’s age and subsequent Alzheimer’s diagnosis; his father has since died. Davies notes that revealing this long-hidden trauma was necessary work, helping him process the latent anxiety and behavioural issues that stemmed from his father’s actions and his mother’s death from leukaemia when he was six.

White Male Stand-Up turns its attention to the 1990s, a period Davies describes as brilliant but dangerous. He recalls the camaraderie and adrenaline of the comedy circuit, alongside the ego that comes with success in shows like Jonathan Creek and QI. While he avoided the heavy drug use of some contemporaries, he acknowledges that alcohol was a destructive force, leading to bad behaviour and violent incidents. He admits to injuring his own hand punching a friend, resetting his own nose after a pub altercation, and locking his wife, writer Katie Maskell, out of their house during a drunken row.

Therapy, first suggested by fellow comedian Jo Brand in the 1990s, has been central to Davies’ recovery. The new book includes transcripts of his sessions, particularly with Maskell, to illustrate the process of confronting his past. Davies reflects on the societal impact of childhood trauma, noting how it can lead to addiction, relationship breakdowns, and a cycle of negative behaviour. He credits reading Bessel van der Kolk’s The Body Keeps the Score and ongoing therapy with helping him understand the damage inflicted by his fractured family life.

A recent health scare added urgency to the memoir’s narrative. Davies was diagnosed with bladder cancer after noticing blood in his urine, undergoing surgery to remove a single tumour. The experience reinforced his desire to remain present for his young family, comprising a 14-year-old son, a 16-year-old daughter, and a 10-year-old son. Davies insists the book is not a misery memoir but an honest, funny account of how terrible events do not define a person’s entire life. The paperback edition is priced at £10.99.