Interview: Liverpool Comedy Festival star Jake Mills

The last time MADEUP spoke to Jake Mills, before the last Liverpool Comedy Festival, he was just about to graduate from Liverpool Hope Uni and was starting to ponder a full time comedy career. Flash forward 18 months and it's still as much of a thrill -- and a challenge -- as ever. "A lot's happened since the last festival, but comedy is one thing that has always been there. That's what I like about it, it'll never go away. It'll grow and develop with you along the way," he says. "As you change and grow up, so does the comedy. I was gigging at the Comedy Store in London a couple of months ago and I was talking to the owner, who told me, 'you're not a boy any more, you're a man now'. And I thought: 'Brilliant! I can't wait to tell my mum'. So that's what I'm doing, I'm growing up, I have to one day, and that's kind of what I want to tell everybody about on Friday." He will be taking to the stage at the Myrtle Street Baa Bar on Friday evening (October 5) for his regular Comedy Festival show with his friend, ex-Hollyoaks and Casualty star James Redmond. Starting out at around the same time, as the pair built up their stand up routines over the last few years, they decided to split the usual hour long show between them. It has become a regular slot at the festival and tends to sell out. "I would feel weird doing the festival without him, he's my big lanky rock," Jake says. Aw.  "The shows have been such a big success over the last two years, we were looking forward to this year's as soon as the last one finished. It's been nice to help each other along the way, and to see the way James has blossomed on the circuit in such a short time has made me both proud and dangerously bitter." With comedy commitments around the country, Jake is still passionate about stand up, and the future looks bright. He says: "Comedy is the new rock and roll apparently, although when performing in St Helens to four people, it's sometimes hard to remember that. That said, it's the best thing I've ever done. I fell in love with it from the first time I got on stage and I still get the same feeling now." For tickets and more info about Jake and James's show, visit the Liverpool Comedy Festival website.