Comedian Chris McCausland has described parenting as a blind person as 'a lottery', in a candid interview with Emma Barnett on the Ready to Talk podcast. The 48-year-old, who lost his sight gradually from childhood and was fully blind by 25, discussed fatherhood, his Strictly Come Dancing triumph, and letting go of perfectionism.
McCausland, who first picked up a microphone at 26, said he fiercely resisted being defined by his disability. 'I knew that if I was sat in an audience and I came out on stage, I would think, "Oh, God, this is going to be 20 minutes of blind jokes" – and I knew that other people would think the same thing,' he explained. He always addressed 'the elephant in the room' with a joke at the start of his set, then moved on to regular stand-up, which he believes was key to his success.
On Strictly, McCausland initially turned down the offer, fearing it would be a 'disaster'. 'It does nobody any good, if the blind guy goes on Strictly and has a disaster... it doesn't do me any good, it doesn't do blind people any good, it doesn't do disability any good,' he said. However, after the show 'kept on asking', he relented and went on to win the Glitterball trophy, moving many to tears.
McCausland also spoke about the 'game changer' of letting go of perfectionism. He recalled worrying about entrances onto stage 'in case it looked incompetent' or 'clumsy', but realised that if he didn't care, the audience wouldn't either. 'To stop caring about the faults and the perception and any little flaws that occur was the biggest game changer,' he said.
