Comedian Russell Kane closed out the first day of Hay Festival Winter Weekend on Thursday with stories from his hilarious and searingly honest book, Son of a Silverback.
Covering his early life lived under the rule of his alpha male father, Dave, the book offers a treasure trove of stories of his early years.
"When I was born he was a shaven-headed, 15st, steroid-injecting, weightlifting, semi-professional bodybuilder, played rugby for Essex and was a doorman, asbestos remover, lifeguard and welder — and he got me for a son, skipping around with a glittery question mark above my head," explained Kane. "It was a clash of cultures, like sending Ann Widdecombe into Nando's."
"When I told my dad I had become a vegetarian, he asked: 'Who did it to you?' It was like I had been radicalised," he recounted. "For him, meat, Sunday roasts, represented everything he worked for. He couldn’t get his head round it."
Kane is now a multi-award winning comedian, presenter, actor, author and scriptwriter best known as the host of three series of Live At The Electric, regular appearances on Live At Apollo, Unzipped, Celebrity Juice and I Am Celebrity Get Me Out of Here Now.
He was nominated four times for the prestigious Edinburgh Comedy Awards before winning Best Show in 2010. He then went onto make history as the first comedian to win both the Edinburgh Award and Melbourne Comedy Festival’s Barry Award in one year.
Find out more about Russell Kane here. Explore the full Hay Festival Winter Weekend programme here.