Vic Reeves reveals he's quit TV for good as he shares major career change

was a comedy sensation when he burst on to our TV screens in the 1990s. Alongside his equally funny sidekick, Bob Mortimer, his ­surrealist humour had the nation howling. But after a career spanning nearly 30 years, he has quit showbiz to devote his life to countryside walks and painting.

It may seem like a dramatic career move, but Vic, 66 – who now uses his real name, Jim Moir – says stage show Vic Reeves Big Night Out was intended to be a work of art. He says: “I stopped doing comedy years ago now. Me and Bob don’t have to go on TV to enjoy that chemistry together. When I started doing Big Night Out, I considered it an art project really, not a comedy. It ended up being that.

“All the work that goes around the production, being famous. I just never really liked being on TV that much.

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“The last Vic and Bob was 2017, so that was the last time we did a comedy show.”

But despite turning his back on celebrity, he is never idle. Jim, who lives in Kent with his wife Nancy, 50, says: “I get up every morning very early, go into the studio, paint, and go out for a walk in the afternoon. I like that a lot better.”

He credits his early ­childhood experiences in Hurworth, near Darlington, Co Durham, for inspiring his love of nature. And his ­fascination with the countryside bleeds into his artwork, which often features ­paintings of birds.

Speaking ahead of his latest exhibition, called Knot Twister Prologue, he recalls: “There were no laptops when I was a kid. I was outdoors, out in nature all the time.”

“When I was out walking with Nancy 20 years ago, I kept saying ‘there is that bird’, and I would describe it in detail, and so she wanted to learn about it.

“It gives you a reason to go out, but it is more random than train spotting because you do not know what you are going to see. It is a great excuse to be out there in nature. I never get sick of it. I love it.

Knot Twister Prologue launches on May 16 at the Biscuit Factory as part of The Late Shows, Newcastle and Gateshead’s celebration of after-hours culture, with special evening access from 6pm to 10.30pm. All works are for sale. It runs until July 16.

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