Ireland. He stayed there with relatives on a farm called "Butlersgift", a place that he later described as emerging "straight from a story book". This time spent in Ireland proved influential in inspiring his later fascination with the country, which exhibited itself in his travel writing. In his teenage years, he considered becoming a member of the Roman Catholic clergy, but was convinced otherwise by his local priest. After reading James Joyce's Portrait of the Artist at the age of 14, he instead decided to become a writer. He attended Leicester University, where he earned a first-class degree in English literature, before studying at a teacher training college. Qualified to become a teacher, he obtained a job teaching English and Drama at a comprehensive school on the coast of Suffolk. Comedy and television: 1975–1997 In 1975, McCarthy moved to the town of Brighton in East Sussex, working on a community arts project in the nearby Shoreham-by-Sea; this led to his first television appearance, on Tommy Tractor's Triffic Toyshop Show (1977), a show for primary school children. Striving for a career in comedy, he co-founded Cliff Hanger Theatre with his friends Robin Driscoll, Steve McNicholas, Tony Haase and Rebecca Stevens, who toured the country appearing in pubs. Their first show, The Featherstone Flyer (1978), was pioneered in the Hope and Anchor pub in Islington, North London, and would be followed up by a series of other shows in ensuing years; Dig for Victory (1980–81),Captive Audience (1981–82), They Came From Somewhere Else! (1982–83) and Gymslip Vicar (1984-85), the latter being nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award. The success of the stage shows led to the creation of two television series They Came From Somewhere Else (1984) for Channel 4 and Mornin' Sarge (1989) on BBC Two. In 1987, McCarthy began to perform solo standup, adopting his mother's surname as his stage name after learning of another actor using the name of Peter Robinson. For the 1987 Brighton Festival, he created Boredom and Black Magic in Hove, a three-hour coach tour and pub crawl. McCarthy acted as guide, inventing surreal explanations for the sights of Brighton's then more stuffy neighbour. Audiences 'had to jump across the border from Brighton to Hove, where they were handed a glass of sweet sherry. Pete then took them on a tour around Hove, making up the sights as he went along.' The show won the best cabaret