SCOTTISH comedy legend Fred MacAulay can’t wait to get back on stage in Greenock having spent many a happy night performing in the town.

The stand-up, TV and radio star will take to the stage at the Beacon Arts Centre on Saturday warming up for his 29th appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe next month.

It will be his first time on stage at the waterfront venue but he’s no stranger to the theatre and is very familiar with the area.

Fred remembers teaming up with Greenock’s own Parrot, aka William O’Hara, at the comedy club in Rico’s over the years.

He arrives in town this weekend on the back of some sold-out shows, including in Elgin and Blairgowrie, during his extensive Scottish tour.

Fred said: “I did a corporate event in the Beacon and it was a nice atmosphere the day I was down doing that but I’ve not played it as a venue of my own.

“I used to come down and do Rico’s Comedy Church on a Thursday night.

“Greenock’s always been a happy place for me and I used to do that with Parrot.

“I haven’t seen Willie for a year but I love him to bits.

“It’s good that I can still pull a crowd and the Edinburgh show is selling well as well so it’s all good.

“It’ll be my 29th Fringe and everybody says it’s a big one next year but I might give it a miss.

“I don’t like anniversaries and birthdays now.

“I’ve been telling my wife for years that anniversaries aren’t important so I’ll need to back that up with some actions!”

With so much happening in the world of politics in recent years the topic features quite prominently in his new show, particularly President Trump.

Fred joked: “For a brief period I worried because everybody knows his mum came from Stornoway and his grandmother was a MacAulay from the same village as my great-grandfather so I had to go through to the registrar of Scotland and just put that one to bed.

“Thankfully there’s no direct relationship but you can imagine the worry.

“I’m also from a family of very proud, bald men so there’s nothing we’ve got in common with that fruitcake.”

Back home, the comic is stunned by the number of elections and referendums in recent years and says one in particular caused him some real bother.

He said: “At my age I look back with fondness to the days when I went into the polling booth once every five years.

“The last time there was an election I was in three times — first time I forgot my reading glasses, second time I made the vote and the third time I went back in for my reading glasses because I left them in the polling booth.

“I think they thought I was committing electoral fraud!”

For tickets and more information visit www.beaconartscentre.co.uk or call the box office on 723723.