Meet Al the Pub Landlord

Improvisation is an art every good comedian masters. In the case of Al Murray, one stroke of impromptu genius spawned a career that has lasted two decades and counting. And it was born out of a crisis.

The English funnyman was struggling for inspiration after a character he'd developed as part of an ensemble show at the Edinburgh Festival wasn't working out. Performing in a pub, Murray had an epiphany and conjured an alter ego who has served him well ever since: Al the Pub Landlord.

"The character was an accident," says Murray. "To be honest, it was a moment of expediency and panic. The night we were opening, we had a gap in the show and I had to fill it. Because we were playing in a bar, I said, how about I say, 'The compère's not turned up but the manager of the bar has offered to fill in'?"

The landlord he improvised was a stereotypical xenophobic Brit; someone who has an issue with all foreigners and thinks every woman who works has to be a secretary. The audience loved him.

"I went on and did 10 minutes and that was that," he says. "I came off stage and said, 'Well, that worked,' and started writing more bits and pieces."

The character catapulted him to stardom, transforming his stage shows and leading to television series and stints as a radio show host. He leaped from being one of several acts in a comedy line-up to a sold-out solo star, including shows at London's Hammersmith Apollo theatre and the Palladium.