CHRIS McGlade fell apart when police told him his father had been murdered - strangled and then set alight in an attempt to hide the evidence.

"I cried," he said. "Then I went to the conservatory window and just stared out of it.

"And then came up with a joke.

"I think the police were quite shocked but my partner explained that this was how I dealt with things. That was the moment I forgave my father's friend for the murder."

Forgiveness can be hard to find in such traumatic and horrific incidents. Still, comedian McGlade has not only claimed it but is taking the message on the road in a 28-night tour that includes Carlisle and the Edinburgh Fringe.

While he will talk about Terry, his father, and the concept of forgiveness, this promises to be as far from a holier-than-thou talk than you could imagine.

In fact, it could have some audience members glancing sideways at their neighbours to see if it is acceptable to laugh.

Chris McGlade is a rough, tough north eastern man. He has been a comedian for more than 30 years as a 'stag' comedian which meant working strip clubs and the like. He also toured the working men's clubs with the old-time comedians like Frank Carson.

"I am from a working-class family," he said. "Down at this level the people were hard and the jokes were hard.. There was no PC. I think within a couple of generations we will have no free speech left."

But at the same time, he adds there was also no 'cancel culture', where people were hounded like prey because of something they said.

"I had a gig canceled at the Soho there in 2020 because I was branded as anti-semitic. When the show was moved to another club, two Jewish guys came representing an anti-Semitism group."

Neither was offended and he has become friends with one. But one person takes offence gets it onto social media or the press and a life can be destroyed. That, he says, is cancel culture.

"I have friends on the left and the right. I have black friends and white friends, Christians, atheists and Jews and I joke about them all. It's humour!"

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He has been to the depths himself: a couple of years ago, during lockdown, he found himself with nothing - no money, and living in a flat with a bed and a chair. He was unkempt and could see nothing ahead of himself.

"I put a belt around my neck, pulled it as tight as  I could without actually cutting off my breath and then looked around to see where I could hang from.

"I told a friend that it was just to see. The friend told me the next step would be doing it."

But it was when he heard his daughter explaining to her partner's grandmother - who had not even recognised him - that 'dad is just going through a bad patch at the moment' that he realised the effect he was having on everyone else.

And his first step into the light: "I got a haircut, dyed my hair and shaved."

McGlad's show will be hysterically funny in parts, will move the audience to tears in parts and will shock those who go along to be shocked.

It is only happening, however, because of a five-figure donation sent by someone who had heard his Forgiveness show and said it needed to tour the county.

All in all, he is not to be missed when he appears at The Old Fire Station in Carlisle on June 24 and the Beggar's Theatre in Millom on June 18.

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