DOMINIC HOLLAND

I WAS driving to Cambridge to do a gig when I got a phone call from Tom. He said ‘Dad, I’ve got the role.’ [Holland's son Tom is the new Spider-Man.] And then my phone exploded with tweets. I was in disbelief. 

The whole thing happened by fluke. There were no drama lessons, there was no stage school. Tom hadn’t even been in a school play.

I remember watching him in the West End as Billy Elliott and I was really struck by his work ethic. But I never expected him to have a career. I imagined he’d be a little child star in the West End for a few years and that would be it.

I tell you what he hasn’t inherited from me. My lack of confidence.Tom has this abundance of confidence.

I am not a natural show-off. Some of the monster comedians are terrifyingly assured and I don’t have that and that’s held me back. I can rock a room. I’m a confident person next to the guy in the street, but if you go into the showbiz world it seems the guys who are most successful are the most confident and I don’t think I fit into that category.

It’s been over ten years since I did Edinburgh. I thought I’d be terrified coming to Edinburgh again but here we are and I’m absolutely delighted I’m doing it. 

Edinburgh is where I got all my breaks.I’ve been brilliantly reviewed and I’ve been panned and I’ve always found it arduous and so even though I’ve won awards I’ve always felt vulnerable up there.

But I'm 50 now. I don’t worry about whether I’m reviewed or whether I’m up for awards because I know all those things are in my past and I just feel this Edinburgh is going to my best yet.

I don’t feel at all jealous of my son. I just think it’s an amazing achievement and I’m loving what he is doing. I’m loving seeing him having the impact on people who  I was always trying to get to. The Hollywood producers.

I was writing films and never got to those meetings and never got to those yeses that he has.

There’s no rancour. If there was I’d be a lot less of a person. And there’s no disgrace being eclipsed by Spider-Man, right?

I love what I do. I don’t always love getting up stage, but for the last 28 years I’ve made my entire income from making people laugh out loud. Because in stand-up comedy there’s no money in smiles.

The house I’ve bought in London, the holidays, everything has been bought from making people laugh and if you’d said to me when I was 14 that’s how I was going to make my living I would have smiled from ear to ear.

I haven’t given up. I’m still writing books and I’m still hoping to get back on the telly. I like endeavour and I like the hope that it provides. So who knows? I might get a break again and I might get back on telly. If I don’t I’ll just keep doing stand-up and doing the best gigs I can.

Dominic Holland Eclipsed is on at The Voodoo Rooms at 4.40pm until August 27.