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Back in 2000, John Gordillo quit stand-up comedy, and it's fair to say the black armbands weren't exactly out in force.

He went on to direct two Perrier Award-nominated shows and returned to the stage in 2006 as a brilliantly astute, witty comic who could charm the frostiest of crowds.

He headlines the Outside the Box club on Monday.

PF: Which comedians do you like at the moment?

JG: I saw Stewart Lee's first DVD recently and loved it, Michael McIntrye is incredibly funny and sweet and warm and lovely.

Someone not as well known is Smug Roberts. I did a gig with him two weeks ago, he's not just underrated he's unrated!

PF: Which dead comic would you bring back?

JG: All the people who stopped being as funny as they used to be. Woody Allen, maybe there is still some proper comedy left in him - I thought Matchpoint was terrific. Maybe Steve Martin. Actually that's harsh, he's still funny.

PF: Which gag do you wish you had written?

JG: Going back to Smug Roberts again, he does a routine that starts all normal about being the Dad of a 16-year-old girl, it's quite personal and simple, then he grows it and grows it into something hyperreal yet surreal where his dog starts talking to him. His dog is wise, he's kind of cool, the whole thing is breathtakingly funny.

PF: Can you dance?

JG: No, I dance like an English teacher at the staff disco. It's a minefield. It's a male thing and a comedian thing, standing outside and observing groups in action, envying and despising.

PF: Which celebrity do you look like?

JG: I used to get Hugh Grant. Nicholas Cage, Alan Rickman as well, depending on the light. Lighting and angle is key. I went out with woman once who I stopped fancying because I met her father and realised that at certain angles they looked the same.

PF: Whose sex face would you least like to see?

JG: My own. Nothing would kill the passion more than seeing that.

John Gordillo, Outside the Box Comedy Club, The Fighting Cocks, 56 Old London Road, Kingston, Monday, Nov 3, 7.45pm, £8/£7/£4, call 07973 783339, or visit outsidethebox.co.uk

2:42pm Tuesday 27th November 2007

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