Dark and funny night

The Punchline Comedy Club's summer line-up of yuks begins next week with a guy called Carl Donnelly, who was 2007's best newcomer at "the Chortle Awards".

That sounds pretty funny right there.

Joining the chief chortle-maker on April 23 and 24 is Briton Mike Gunn, who's loaded with jokes and frequently goes off with a tremendous bang.

And then there's the stand-up comic who's also a successful novelist, creator of the Tom Thorne crime thrillers, Mark Billingham. We pried him loose from his typewriter long enough to tell us his own story.

You writing a joke or another book?

I'm gearing up for publication of the 10th Tom Thorne novel, "From the Dead", and starting work on the 11th. I'm also very involved in a television series based on the books that's filming at the moment.

When did it first strike you that you're funny?

I'm not sure I've ever discovered I was funny! I used to write funny stories at school and managed to make the other kids laugh. I started doing comedy professionally in the late '80s and have managed to get away with it ever since.

What's funny?

I just try and work off whoever is in the audience, but I'll always talk about relationships - wherever you are in the world, the way people relate to the opposite sex is always a great source of humour.

And I talk about dwarfs a lot.

Who's your own favourite stand-up?

There are so many great ones at the moment that it's tough to choose. I'm a big fan of Bill Bailey and Sean Lock, and I think Mike Gunn - who's on this tour with me - is a fantastic performer.

What's the best thing about being a comedian?

I've been lucky enough to travel a lot, but I suppose the basic buzz of making an audience laugh is the one thing you never tire of. It's a high you can't get anywhere else.

And the worst thing?

Other comedians, and having a bad gig, and other comedians taking the piss when you've had a bad gig!

Does your comedy career help with your crime novel writing, or vice versa?

I see writing a novel as a performance of sorts, so my background as a comic has definitely helped. And there are a few jokes in the books too, because I've always believed that life is a mixture of darkness and light.

The novels are sometimes very dark, but there's humour too, because that's the way the world is. Often, the funniest things can happen at the bleakest moment.

Do you approach your readers the same way as your comedy fans?

As with stand-up, I have to engage the audience very quickly and keep them entertained, and crime writing uses some of the techniques as stand-up. It's all about timing - like the moment when you reveal a key piece of information.

Thankfully, though, people who read my books can't throw things at me!

Do children like your Triskellion thrillers?

I always loved scary books when I was a kid, so in writing the Triskellion series I just wanted to write the same sort of books.

These are spooky supernatural thrillers, fast-paced and exciting, and the story takes the central characters all over the world.

In some ways they're every bit as dark as my adult novels - plenty of people die in very gruesome ways - but kids love that stuff.

Have you got a funny novel in you?

No - as a writer you can't do more than write the kind of book you'd like to read, so for me it's always going to be about murder.

Clearly there's something dark and twisted in my personality, which is probably why I became a comedian.

What's in store for the show in Bangkok?

Well, I'm leaving the dark side of myself at home, so hopefully there'll be a lot of laughter. I'm hoping the audience will actually wet themselves, or be laughing so much they're carried from the room with breathing difficulties.

Oh, and there'll probably be a song!