TV fame made me want to live underground like a mole

Comedy favourite Alan Davies talks to MARION McMULLEN about getting recognised and his return to stand-up

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How are you feeling about turning 60 next year?

Someone said to me the other day ‘has it crept up on you?’ and I think that is about right. Sixty when I was a kid was actually old. Old people were 60 and people would retire at 65 and then they'd live for about half an hour. (Laughs) That's how it used to be.

My grandfather lived to be 77 and he was ancient. Nowadays people, like my wife Katie's parents, are in their 80s and thriving. The world has changed.

Have you ever been tempted by plastic surgery or Botox?

(Laughs) You mean do the Jimmy Carr? No thanks. Even when men dye their hair it is noticeable. Women are more used to colouring their hair and Katie colours hers all the time. God, knows what she looks like naturally without it ...

In the Nineties, people used to shout ‘perm’ at me. I remember being in a hotel on tour in 1999 and there were some women in the restaurant and I could hear them talking about me and one was saying ‘it definitely is, I've worked in salons for 20 years and I know a perm when I see one:

I was really, really tempted to go over but I knew if I said ‘I've never had a perm in my life, why would I do that?’ she would have still said I was lying, so I wisely said nothing.

Do you get recognised a lot?