Entertainment

Scots Squad funnyman on being crowned prom king during time in US as schoolkid


The high school quarterback and the head cheerleader were no doubt shocked when the smiling kilted young Scot was crowned prom king.

But no one in the room, never mind the triumphant 16-year-old from Renfrewshire, would have thought they were witnessing the early days of one of Scotland’s hottest comedy talents.

Stand-up star Chris Forbes, 36, has been a Scot Squad regular since the cop spoof started five years ago. And he is just about to launch the second series of his own sitcom The Farm.

In his final year at school, Chris took part in an exchange programme to Washington State in the US.

There, he became immersed in the teen movie-style school lifestyle and developed a love of comedy and drama that has inspired his performing career since.

Chris said: “I was always interested in performing but I was a sports person and those two things never go hand in hand in Scotland.

“In America, there was a more open culture and you could say you enjoy a band or drama or choir without getting a slagging.

“When I arrived, I had to give a talk, so I spoke about the differences between Scotland and America.

“I wore a See You Jimmy hat and my kilt and it was eventually a five-minute routine – my first stand-up gig, which I loved.

A kilted Chris Forbes during his time at a high school in America

 

“The experience was incredible. It seemed like every stereotype was there – the jocks, the cheerleaders, all that. The quarterback was called Luke Chase and his girlfriend was the head cheerleader who drove her dad’s BMW to school.

“I was voted the prom king, which at the time, seemed like the biggest thing in the world after seeing it in so many movies. I wore my crown with my kilt.

“I absolutely loved it and developed an American twang my mates gave me pelters for. I said the word faucet once and had to sit watching Billy Connolly videos for three weeks.”

Chris didn’t make it as a sports star in the States. But varsity basketball’s loss was Scottish comedy’s gain. He came home and started pursuing his stand-up and TV career.

His credits so far have included Mountain Goats and Jonathan Creek. But, of course, he is best known as puppy dog PC Charlie McIntosh in Scot Squad.

The fifth series of the acclaimed show draws to a close on BBC Scotland this week, just as the second run of Chris’s short sitcom series The Farm hits BBC iPlayer.

He came up with the idea for the rural comedy five years ago when he met farming pal Jim Smith shooting an episode of Scot Squad in the countryside.

It occurred to Chris that he’d never seen a farm-set sitcom and he teamed up with Jim to create a pilot and a story idea.

The pair worked closely together to make it as authentic as possible and with Jim in the lead role, the first episodes were launched last year.

Three follow-up episodes are back on screens this week as part of a run of new Scots comedy being put out online.

Chris was born in Stirling and brought up in Bridge of Weir. His parents are from the Highlands and his dad’s family still have crofting
land in Gairloch, which is now run as a campsite.

Chris said: “I’ve always tried to come up with new ideas but one of the hardest things is to come up with a unique location.

“I met Jim when he did a guest appearance on Scot Squad and it just hit me and I couldn’t believe it hadn’t been done before.

“I realised this was a huge world –people love Countryfile, they love Lambing Live, schools go on trips to farms, people know them but we have never really explored that.

“Jim is a real farmer 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and we filmed it on his farm in Stralochy, just north of Perth.”

Working on a real farm with real livestock brought exactly the kind of problems you can imagine.

Chris added: “It sounds clichéd but the biggest challenge is the animals. We tried to keep it very realistic. Between takes, Jim had to go to feed the cattle or change a tractor and there are scenes with bulls, cows and sheep.

“Sometimes with sheep, you are trying to get them to run one way but as soon as they hear a bucket of feed rattle, they head right for it.

“We spent hours working with them trying to get the shot. In another, we needed a dog to give a single bark and it took ages of him giving us head tilts before he eventually did it.”

Chris Forbes has been a Scots Squad regular and stars in his own farm sitcom

 

Creating a show outside the central belt was a key aspect for Chris: “I’ve been campaigning for years to hear other voices and it’s wonderful to have different types of voice and language.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but there’s more to Scottish humour than bawbags, bams and Buckfast.”

Chris is well-qualified to comment on the latter, having spent the last few years on the beat with Scot Squad, which continues to go from strength to strength.

He loves life on the show, which is about to get two spin-offs, although it has opened his eyes to the real-life hassles that police officers suffer every day on the beat.

Chris said: “I love playing Charlie. He is impossible to hate. I often get told I’m a very believable policeman – I think it’s because I’m tall and when I have the uniform on, I blend in as a policeman.

“Sometimes, we get abuse shouted at us when we are filming. People will just jump out and say, ‘You’re a pig’ or ‘F*** the polis.’

“If someone tells them we are actors, they then say, ‘Oh, you’re all right then.’ It’s really eye-opening to see how people can be judged by their profession.

“Of my group of friends from school, five have become police officers and I’ve heard their stories. I’ve always respected what they do and I know how hard they all work.”

● The Farm launches on BBC iPlayer at 9.30pm tomorrow. The final episode of Scot Squad series five is on BBC Scotland at 10pm tomorrow.

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