Meet our new columnist.. Andy Bollen

Aug 3 2008

HE'S written scripts for Scotland's top comedy shows and played drums in Nirvana legend Kurt Cobain's favourite band. Meet our hilarious, new columnist Andy Bollen.

Andy, 42, has written sketches for TV shows including Chewin' the Fat, the Karen Dunbar Show, and Only an Excuse.

His band Captain America toured with Nirvana in the early 90s.

The indie grunge outfit was one of Cobain's favourites and the legendary rocker was often seen sporting a T-shirt with the Captain America logo.

Andy, from Coatbridge in Lanarkshire, has been obsessed with comedy since he first watched cult TV series Bilko aged four.

He promises his column will be a laugh-a-minute.

Andy said: "It will be quite rock n' roll, quite indie, and my comedy voice will shine through.
"I'll attack anybody in the news who's asking for it so they better watch out!

"Expect tales of music, comedy, hedonism, and general stuff that makes the world go round.

"I'm working on an extensive diary about the days spent hanging out with Nirvana, watching them rehearse and going to the shops to buy Kurt's tobacco, so I'll also inject a few snippets of that."

Andy owes his comedy career to drumming after a chance meeting with Ian Pattinson, the creator of Rab C Nesbitt, in a recording studio in Airdrie.

He was battering away on the skins one afternoon in 1995 when Pattinson's team told him to turn the noise down so they could record their show.

Andy said: "It was bizarre. I went from playing the drums to being told to shut up to writing scripts for top TV shows.

"I showed Ian some of my material after I met him in the studio and he said I should try comedy.

"I started writing for Only an Excuse and Off the Wall and it spiralled from there."

Check out Andy's first column in the entertainment section.