David Murphy has spent the first five years of his comedy career in Leicester. In Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival 2015 he’s trying to perform in more shows than he did last year- which is ambitious. Last year he performed in 22 shows over the 18 days of the festival.

David is in his fifth year studying at De Montfort University and started performing stand-up as part of DMU Comedy Society. As this is his fourth Leicester Comedy Festival, I wonder if he feels like a stalwart now. He tells me that it’s down to context; at DMU he says that he feels ‘like an old hand. Too old.’ He says that this is why he’s stepped down from his position as chairman this year – it’s time that both he and the society moved on. By the standards of the comedy circuit, however, David says that ‘I’m not bottom level, but I can’t even see the top.’

Many of the shows David’s performing in are with current and former members of the society. ‘It’s really nice to get to work with your best mates’ David says of the shows he’s doing with Shaun Turner and Sarah Keyworth respectively. Both shows touch on the relationships between them. David does, however, say that his relationship with Shaun is slightly different to his relationship with Sarah; ‘Sarah and I went out a while back. We broke up because she was a lesbian. That’s why the show is called ‘Perkins and Perkouts’ because I look like Sue Perkins and Sarah’s a raging homosexual. We’ve got material about each other and a mutual ex-girlfriend of ours.’

David will soon be an alumnus of the society. Although he laments the amount of time he’s been at university, he says that; ’I wouldn’t have had the opportunities I’ve had and I wouldn’t be doing the things I love if it wasn’t for being at university.’ ‘This year has been my cushioning year of nursing me into the industry. Hopefully that continues next year, at the same time as paying off a lot of debt!’

Go to the Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival website to find out about the shows David will be performing in.