I’ve lived in Glasgow all my life. There’s a unique vein of humour running through the city and a particular ability to find the funny in even the darkest of things and most bizarre circumstances.
In 2001, I got a random phone call asking if I knew anyone who would want to do a tattoo apprenticeship and I replied, “Me!” They were sure it wasn’t for me – it was unpaid, and I had a good job and a young family – but I’d loved tattoos since I was young and I’m quite an obsessive person. Once I get an idea in my head, I go full pelt for it. I turned up at the studio the next day and they had me scrub the toilet and clean all the equipment.
The group made up of myself, Paddy Linton, Eddy McKenzie, Jack Traynor, and Amanda Hursy – have been taking a show to prisons around the country and during GICF it lands at Bar-L. It all started when we were on our way back from the Fringe, talking about a recent gig we’d heard about where half the audience walked out during the show.