Michael McIntyre has become the highest-earning comedian in the world today since his rapid rise from obscurity to prominence after appearing on his first Royal Variety Performance in 2006. Micheal’s 2012 UK Tour covered 71 arena venues performing to over 700,000 people including a record-breaking 10 nights at London’s 02 which elevated him to the world’s biggest selling standup comedian, grossing an estimated £21 million.

Before all the fame and fortune he remembers the tough years spent on the circuit and returns to his roots, with ‘work in progress’ shows to try out new material. He often appears at smaller venues like the Soho Theatre, a place I myself frequent as frequent readers of my blog will testify. Michael’s back there this month for a few practice gigs. However he slips in and out unnoticed and nobody seems to have any info on his movements.

The staff are always helpful, but the bigger names tend to prefer a bit more obscurity at the intimate venue for obvious reasons. I did hang around a couple of times to see if I could catch Michael in person, but that proved fruitless, so left this sketch with the Soho team. For some reason I thought, given Michael’s status, his entourage may forget to pass it on or it would get lost amongst the mountain of fan mail. I expected a long wait for it’s return, if in fact it was ever returned at all or the usual 5×7 pre-printed photo with the standard letter.

But to my surprise and delight, it came back signed, complete with additional comic calligraphy within two days!