Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Comedian, actor and writer known for his laconic misery persona and hit sitcom 'Lead Balloon', and for hosting 'I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'.
On the island
Eight records
I'm cheating a bit because it's got a lot of my favourite musicians in. It's got George Harrison, Tom Petty and Neil Young and Eric Clapton and Roger McGuinn. This is a song that I often listen to after a gig, especially in the car. It uplifts me and it just makes me feel brilliant every time.
Introducing Tobacco to Civilization
And my parents had several wonderful albums of comedy. There was a Peter Sellers one and there were Goons. But I loved Bob Newhart. And it was one of those things where you think, oh, hearing the audience, it really struck a chord with me.
DowntownFavourite
it's genuinely it's the first piece of music that I'm uh I was ever aware of. My sister, Jo, played it constantly in her bedroom.
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads
This is another kind of comedy memory really for me, which is just sitting at home with the family and watching sitcoms, Dad's Army and Step Turnsome are big favourites. But another one that sometimes I think gets overlooked and the theme tune for it brings back huge memories for me and I particularly loved this sitcom was Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads.
This actually reminds me of the very early days on the comedy circuit in the eighties. And it's true to say there was a lot more variety in those days. But John Hegley was a a firm favourite for me, and I loved this song that he he does called Eddie Don't Like Furniture.
This is a song that I listen to a lot when I'm preparing for shows because it's got this brilliant sense of defiance about it and wit.
Welcome Song (Mandia Basic School)
Well, you know, this is I've done a lot of things. I've been, you know, very privileged to be asked to do things for comic relief over the years and been to Africa on a couple of occasions. … On the last trip I went to Zambia and saw these kids that had to do a two-hour march to school … a school has now been built in their village … And it's only a matter of time before we start meeting those people who've grown up and said, I went to a school that was built by Comic Relief …
This is a song that is always playing in my mind because when I've been away on tour and I come back in the middle of the night and the house is all dark and I come indoors, this song is going on in my mind. It's called Good to See You.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:47Where do you put the nervousness when you perform stand-up?
It's a good question because side of stage, I just wait for that moment where the nerves subside. Sometimes it doesn't happen until seconds before I go on and I think it's not going to happen, it's not going to happen. I've got better and better at learning how to get into that zone. There's a huge amount of concentration to the extent that the day after I often don't understand why I feel so ghastly. It's like a hangover from that amount of concentration. But at the time, hopefully, I'm enjoying it. And if the audience are thrilled with what you're doing, it's as if you've stood on stage and were able to hover ten inches above the stage and they're that thrilled with it. It feels like being able to fly. And when it goes badly, it feels like you've said you can fly and you can't.
Presenter asks
2:50Was it nerve-wracking to take over I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue after Humphrey Lyttelton?
It was, but I think the trick with anything like that is not to overthink it. You can't you can't go on thinking, I've got to be as good as Humph, the mamma's a a legend and and brilliant. All I can do is bring what what I have to the show and um it's been one of the greatest things in my career. And uh sometimes I actually have to pinch myself and I think I'm doing a show with the goodies.
Presenter asks
3:29The keepsakes
The luxury
I play the guitar, you know, whenever I can and I feel very deprived if I haven't got a guitar, so it would have to be an acoustic guitar.
What was your criteria for choosing these eight discs?
Often, when I've heard this show, of course, I think most people have a mental list in the back of their mind of what they would take on Desert Island discs. But I was surprised when I actually had to come up with a list. The stuff that I listen to all the time isn't necessarily what I wanted to take away with me. What it ended up being was a list of things that I actually genuinely can't imagine never hearing again. So they're all very important pieces to me.
Presenter asks
5:58What is it like living with a comedian? How would you sum it up?
Well, if you were to ask my wife, I think she would say that, you know, when I'm working, it is very difficult to contact me, you know, emotionally, I'm afraid to say. I think that that's she's always saying, Oh, you're on a different planet, so I'm not going to talk to you today. You know, we would we'll just leave this and we'll discuss it when you're back back on earth. It's one of those jobs where you can't ever stop thinking about what you're doing and it takes quite a lot of change in your emotions and what you're thinking about to get into that to get to that point where you can perform on stage. So it's almost easier to stay like that for a bit rather than switch it off.
Presenter asks
13:00You hated school so much. Specifically what was the problem?
From a very early stage, from about age eight or nine, I just didn't understand what it was for, any of it. I just didn't understand. I was interested in things, but I didn't want to sit down and actually have to write essays about butterflies and open up frogs and look at them. And part of it was that a lot of the teachers thought I was thick and went to great lengths to tell me I was thick in front of the school on one occasion, the entire school. I got into some trouble, and the headmaster addressed me in school assembly in front of the entire school and said that it's very unlikely that he's going to get into a public school because he's too thick.
Presenter asks
20:09How did the thought of becoming a priest come about?
I was becoming increasingly turned in on myself, I suppose as a way, and depressed, and had turned to religion as a place to kind of hide away from what I was feeling. I felt massively conflicted in what I was doing in my life. I knew I was going hopelessly wrong. It was never going to get anywhere. What age were you then? 21 or two. Still quite young. Still quite young. But I always I had a very strong sense of destiny that was always kind of speaking to me, always saying, what are you doing here? You're in the wrong place. What are you playing at?
“I still think that comedy is a lens through which I see everything.”
“It feels like being able to fly. And when it goes badly, it feels like you've said you can fly and you can't.”
“I still I still uh I I find that one of the most hurtful things that could be said of anyone.”
“that's it, that's what's wrong with me. I'm a comedian.”
“if you're creative, you can't ignore that, and it's a pain.”