Camp commander rolls into comic action; GREG McHUGH.

Byline: Jonathan Trew

ACCORDING to Scottish comic Greg McHugh, coming up with opposites is a good way to begin devising a comedy character.

He has successfully managed that mission with the creation of Gary McLintoch, a camp tank commander whose last tour of duty in the Gulf included accidentally shooting kittens and playing Erasure songs at checkpoints.

Already the subject of a short mockumentary shown on E4, McHugh's Tank Commander has also spawned a stage show which got good reviews at the Glasgow Comedy Festival in March.

"Gary grew from a character that I had in my stand-up set," said McHugh. "Will Andrews (who performs stand-up as Tony Carter) and I were mucking about in between shows a couple of years back.

"We ended up driving around in my Mum's car with him filming me improvising as though I was Gary back from a tour of duty in Iraq.

"The Channel 4 commission came off the back of the resulting video."

Tank Commander was good for McHugh but the film also saw Andrews nominated for the Best First Time Director at the Scottish BAFTAs last year.

In the process of developing more TV work with the Comedy Unit and Channel 4, McHugh has come a long way since he first stepped on the stage of an open mic night at The Stand five years ago. Although McHugh has become a popular regular on the stand-up circuit, playing Gary McLintoch is what really floats his boat at the moment.

"As opposed to straight stand-up, where I'm sometimes struggling to get lines, I find it a lot easier with Gary. It's a more rewarding process," he said.

"When you create the world of Gary, you know his family, his life, his successes and failures."

Tank Commander is at Cruz, The Shore, Edinburgh, June 6, part of Leith Festival and Brel in Ashton Lane, Glasgow, June 19, as part of Glasgow's West End Festival.