Jason Manford feels "embarrassed" he doesn\'t have a "proper job".
The 38-year-old comedian has had a successful career touring across the country, but his family sometimes tease him about his job, because they don\'t see his stand-up gigs as real work.
He told The Sun newspaper: "My uncles and brothers don\'t see it as work. I can see them seething about it like, \'Yeah, you must be tired talking for two hours a night\'. To them, what I do is not a proper job - and I do project that a little bit.
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"I\'m slightly embarrassed sometimes about what I do. I\'m very lucky I\'m in a job that pays well and I love it - and that\'s so rare, that\'s like two per cent of the population."
Jason is honoured people are paying their hard-earned money to watch him perform stand-up, but he knows show business is not as strenuous as other jobs people take on.
He continued: "So it\'s a privilege to do that job and for people to do whatever job they do and earn money to pay to come and see you do your job. So I feel bad about it.
"I take my family on holidays and give them what they need, and part of that comes down to a bit of guilt that showbiz does pay well. But my mum spent 20 years working her ass off as a nurse and that\'s a proper job."
The \'First & Last\' host is hoping the BBC One game show will be renewed for a second series.
After his latest show \'What Would Your Kids Do?\' was axed, Jason joked he might give up on game shows all together.
He quipped: "I\'ve got to a point where if this doesn\'t get a second series, I might knock game shows on the head.
"I\'ve had a good go at them now and I can safely say I have not got a clue want people want."
Instead, he might turn his hand to writing sitcoms after watching Peter Kay\'s \'Phoenix Nights\' and seeing the successful comedian rise to fame.
Jason added: "I\'m friends with Peter Kay and, as much as he\'s a fabulous stand-up comic, the thing that sets him apart from other comics was doing sitcom \'Phoenix Nights\', and letting people fall in love with the characters he created.
"It\'s certainly something I\'ll explore at some point."
2 December 2025 - 4:31 AM
