Impressionist, stand-up comedian & actor Alistair McGowan added another string to his bow - or key to his piano - when he returned to his love of tinkling the ivories at the age of 49. He’s since released two albums, performed shows that combine piano playing with his trademark impressions, and started a successful piano festival in Ludlow, the Shropshire town where he now lives. It’s all inspired by his heartfelt desire to share a genuine love of the music, he tells What’s On...

Comedian and impressionist Alistair McGowan is probably best known for appearing on TV’s The Big Impression and providing voices on the original series of Spitting Image, but his 40-year career extends to roles as writer, actor, poet, and now, pianist.

The latter is arguably the most surprising, not least because the 60-year-old only returned to the instrument a decade ago, having given it up at the age of eight.

“I got to grade 2 of the eight grades but then stopped because it clashed with football practice and that was it,” he says. “I’d always wanted to go back to playing, because I loved the music, but never had the time. I bought a piano in my mid-30s and always meant to play it but never did.”

In the end, his return to the instrument was inspired by something far more unlikely: revenge.

“I was living in London, and some very noisy Dutch neighbours moved in. We banged on the walls to show they were really thin and we could hear everything, but they wouldn’t go quiet. So I started playing the piano, as I thought ‘That’ll show them!’”

The more he played, the more he enjoyed it, and the better he got, eventually deciding he was competent enough to realise a long-held ambition to put on a show about his favourite composer, Erik Satie. The Frenchman is best known for short piano pieces such as Gymnopédies No.1 (“one of those pieces that’s used in adverts and films all the time - absolutely beautiful, very simple, very short”). He also had a sideline in comic writing and lived a fascinatingly bizarre life that included a penchant for dressing in unusual outfits.

“I looked into his life and always wanted to do a show about him. I took it to Edinburgh in 2016, when I could barely play, really. It’s the show I’ll be doing at [this year’s] Piano Festival - only now I can play better!”

Alistair must’ve played pretty well at the time, as the show prompted a record deal with Sony Classical that culminated in The Piano Album, a collection of short pieces that reached number one in the classical charts. So, had there been any resentment from professional musicians, wondering why a comedian was getting a record deal when they couldn’t?

“I’m sure there was. And of course I’m aware now, particularly doing the festival, that you want to do things that will sell. There are so many talented pianists and so much wonderful music, but what do you do that will make people interested? What do you put on that will get people to come? I think that’s what Sony were doing when they offered me the deal. They were thinking, here’s somebody we don’t associate with piano music - maybe we can get a new audience through him.”

Alistair hired a tutor and practised for four hours a day for six months in preparation for the recording (“I knew it had to be as good as it could be”). He admits the choice of shorter pieces was designed to make it more palatable to a wider audience.

“That’s been my ethos, and certainly in my live shows. To me, the more interesting pieces are the shorter pieces. But it’s also good for my brain and good for my fingers.”

On the back of the album’s success, he began performing shows that mixed stand-up comedy and impressions with piano music, partly to prove a point to MP-turned-raconteur Gyles Brandreth.

“Gyles was a neighbour when I lived in London, and he’s an inspirational man. I told him about the piano thing and he said [adopts note-perfect Brandreth impersonation] ‘You should combine it with your comedy; it would be wonderful - people will get two shows for the price of one.’ In the end, I did it to prove it wouldn’t work… but it did!”

The shows don’t sit very well in listings and can be difficult to market (“is it music or is it comedy?”), but their popularity means it’s a style of performance (“not necessarily comedy, just variety”) that Alistair is keen to incorporate into the Ludlow Piano Festival, an event he launched in 2023 a couple of years after moving to the town.

“I did my piano show as part of the Ludlow Fringe in 2021 at St Laurence’s Church; loved the piano and the place to play. Then I did it again at the Assembly Rooms, and that had a wonderful piano, too.

“It’s very rare to have two such fantastic pianos in the same town, 100 yards apart. I just thought that if we could get a third venue - because there’s something attractive about a triangle shape - maybe we could do a festival.”

With the “beautiful, medieval, wood-panelled room” of Palmers Hall at Ludlow College providing the final piece of the puzzle, even though it contained no piano (“we hire one there”), the festival was up and running. This year’s edition will be the biggest yet, with 16 events taking place across five days. Alistair is keen to highlight the variety of entertainment on offer.

“It’s not just recitals; there’s always something different. It’s not all sitting down watching a pianist or pianists playing one thing after another. There’s words and music with me, there’s an interview with Sheila Hancock that also goes into pieces of music she’s chosen - like Desert Island Discs but with live piano – and we’ve also got music from Wolf Hall, played by the composer, with one of the actors reading bits of it.

“I try to give a good cross-section of music with as wide a variety of composers and eras as possible, just to show people it’s not all one particular sound.”

Alistair is also keen to attract audiences of all ages and interests. He has been surprised and delighted by how his return to playing a musical instrument has given others the impetus to do the same.

“People often come up to me to say I’ve inspired them to start playing again, and that’s one of the things I hope will happen with the festival. You’re encouraging people to hear music that’s new, or to go back and listen to it again.”

The same goes for younger audiences. Alistair loves the fact that a schools’ concert taking place the week before the festival gives talented kids the opportunity to show off their chops.

“Younger pianists from the schools, some only seven or eight years old, get a chance to play the wonderful Steinway at the Assembly Rooms in front of their peers, and they love it. It’s great to hear that enthusiasm, and to hear them playing this amazing piano, which isn’t something they’d normally do. It’s great to see, and also to show children that there’s more to music than Stormzy.”

The Ludlow Piano Festival takes place at various locations across the south Shropshire town from Wednesday 21 to Sunday 25 May

For information on individual concerts and events visit ludlowpianofestival.com

By Steve Adams