Craig Ferguson, the Glasgow-born comedian and former host of the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson, returns to the stage with Pants on Fire, mixing memory, humour and honesty
Craig Ferguson, the Scottish-born comedian, author and broadcaster, is taking his live act back to his hometown as part of the Pants on Fire world tour. Born in Glasgow in 1962, he grew up in Cumbernauld and later built a varied career that spans stand-up, television and writing.
His profile rose internationally when he fronted the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson on CBS from 2005-14, and he remains active on stage and in audio with Joy: A Podcast with Craig Ferguson. The tour includes a Glasgow homecoming at the O2 Academy on Sunday 25 April, and Ferguson pairs recollections with a candid comic eye in a show he describes as largely truthful.
Roots and early influences
Ferguson’s childhood in the new town of Cumbernauld shaped much of his early view of the world and his later material. He remembers city visits to Glasgow—where grandparents lived—as sensory awakenings that contrasted with the perceived bleakness of suburbia.
The trajectory from drummer in punk bands to actor and then comedian is part of the narrative he weaves on stage, and that journey informs his voice. In conversation he credits the atmosphere of Glasgow and the wider Scottish cultural scene for giving him a particular perspective, one that he still supplies in occasional local references when he performs back in Scotland.
Cumbernauld, Glasgow and the sense of return
There is a shorthand when Ferguson performs for Scottish audiences that does not exist elsewhere; familiar streets and haunts like Byres Road and Ashton Lane act as anchors. He is frank about mixed memories of Cumbernauld yet affectionate about Glasgow’s draw, calling the West End a place where he still feels at home. That geographic intimacy is part of the reason he insisted on a Glasgow date when the European leg was planned: family, roots and a sense of belonging that persists despite years of living overseas and a bi-continental life.
Pants on Fire: the show and its style
Pants on Fire is presented as a largely anecdotal evening—stories he insists are about 80% true—with the deliberate choice to avoid political material. Ferguson explains that avoiding politics is a conscious stylistic discipline that forces him toward personal tales and observational comedy. The format is flexible: no two nights are exactly identical, and he adapts elements for each crowd. The tour brings him to the UK and Europe after a long gap in which he did not play Britain regularly, and it highlights his preference for the immediacy and intimacy of stand-up.
What audiences can expect
Audiences will hear accounts of career milestones, family life and the odd uncertain memory, all delivered with Ferguson’s trademark blend of warmth and mischief. He has spoken about sobriety—he has been sober for 34 years—and those personal truths appear alongside lighter anecdotes. The show aims to offer a respite: two hours where the audience can laugh without being lectured, a promise he feels is central to the live comedy experience. He also tailors some content to the city he’s in, so Glasgow nights will feel especially local.
Books, television and projects ahead
Outside the stage, Ferguson’s creative output includes fiction and memoir. His first novel, Between the Bridge and the River, and the Grammy-nominated memoir American on Purpose—which was inspired by his becoming a US citizen in 2008—sit alongside Riding the Elephant – A Memoir of Altercations, Humiliations, Hallucinations & Observations (2019), a linked collection charting sobriety and career. He also returns to television: his new CNN series, American On Purpose, is scheduled to begin on May 22 and will explore aspects of American identity through conversations and location visits.
Ferguson splits his time between New York and New England with his wife, art dealer Megan Wallace Cunningham, and their family, retaining strong ties to Scotland and holding dual citizenship. He credits sobriety as the pivotal decision that allowed his professional and personal life to flourish, and he remains candid about the choices that followed his tenure on late-night television. For those keen to see him live at his Glasgow homecoming, tickets for Pants on Fire at the O2 Academy on Sunday 25 April are listed at thecraigfergusonshow.com, where tour dates and ticket details are available.
