Comedian James Mullinger spent his formative years having a miserable time at boarding school. Many years later, he cathartically wrote a show about it, inviting strangers to laugh at his school misery. A local lad, Wandsworth-based Mullinger performs a home-town gig at The Exhibit, Balham, and he spoke to Andrew Brassleay about the show.

Andrew Brassleay: What were your schooldays like and why did you decide to do a show about them?

James Mullinger: My schooldays were horrific and hilarious. Most people did crazy things at school but mine were beyond madness. I had a bad time and was bullied so reacted in many mental ways. I use genuine video footage and embarrassing diary entries and audiences cannot believe it is all true.

AB: You went to a boarding school – what are the pros and cons of that sort of education?

JM: There are no pros. Why would you have children then send them away to be raised by people you have never met during the most important period of their life? It is mind-boggling. Why would you want your 13-year-old to be in a boarding house with 80 other boys between the hours of 10pm and 7am? Some people think you get a better education at boarding school but I failed everything because I couldn’t stay awake in class because I had been up all night being thrown in baths of urine.

AB: A show about school has universal appeal - everyone went, after all. It's perhaps easier to ask not who this show will appeal to, but to who it won't?

JM: It won't appeal to people who are easily shocked. I am very frank and honest about things I did at school. It's like a one-man version of The Inbetweeners with more insight into why we are the way we are at school. But if you think The Inbetweeners is a bit rude then you will be horrified by my show.

AB: You're extremely honest when telling anecdotes on-stage. Would you consider anything off-limits?

JM: There is nothing I won't talk about on stage. I have lived a far more embarrassing life than most. Part of the fun of the show is the staggering amount of personal disasters I am willing to reveal.

AB: Your last show was about being a male feminist, having taken Women’s Studies at university. Part of that show documented your time as picture editor of GQ. Did you ever feel conflicted doing that job?

JM: Feminist friends thought I should have been but no, I wasn’t. GQ is a magazine that celebrates greatness and achievement in men and women. It is not like Zoo or Nuts. GQ does feature sexy pictures of beautiful women but it is always a celebration of them. Women are in GQ because they are talented and masters of their craft. Zoo, Nuts and Loaded print pictures of women because they are willing to pose topless.

AB: What are you planning to do when the Schooldays run ends? Are you heading to Edinburgh this year?

JM: I finish performing Schooldays in July and in August start my new show which is called An Hour Of Killer Stand Up and it will be at the Roundhouse in Camden on August 8-9. I have done two themed shows now and I just wanted to go back to my roots and do an hour of straight stand-up. So I thought I’d keep the title nice and simple and somewhat ironic. There's no theme, no underlying message, just an hour of killer stand-up. Hopefully.

James Mullinger’s Schooldays, The Exhibit, 12 Balham Station Road, Balham, May 15, 8pm, £5, 020 8772 6556, theexhibit.co.uk.