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Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Comedian and impressionist known for television series including 'Three of a Kind' and 'Look, Mike Yarwood', and for impersonating public figures such as Edward
On the island
Eight records
The keepsakes
The book
The luxury
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:00As a youngster, what did you want to be?
Just before I left school I wanted to be a journalist … the headmaster said you can't be a journalist because you don't have a GCE in English … I particularly wanted to write about sport
Presenter asks
0:40This imitative facility that you have, when did it start? Very early on?
It started with me, like every child, from sort of learning to talk. I think we all learn by mimicry, and I suppose I never stopped doing it really.
Presenter asks
1:00What did you do, having left school?
I worked for a mail order firm … I left there and then went to another firm, a clothing firm … but unfortunately I failed my driving test four times, so that never came about.
Presenter asks
2:01What was the semi-pro work you'd done?
It was clubs and pubs and things … I was so lacking in confidence about myself, I knocked him down to a quid. You offered to do it for less?
Presenter asks
4:24What do you look back on as your first big break?
I would say in 1968 … the television series, which was called Will the Real Mike Yarwood Stand Up … and in the same year I was asked to appear in the Royal Variety Performance, which was a great thrill as well.
Presenter asks
6:35How do your victims feel about it? Do they never feel they're being held up to ridicule?
I've never had any reaction from the people that I do … they have remarked about it, but never taken offence.
“Just before I left school I wanted to be a journalist and I was told that this couldn't be. The headmaster said you can't be a journalist because you don't have a GCE in English”
“I earned more in the first two weeks as a semi pro than I could possibly earn at the clothing firm … I thought, well, there isn't much hope for me in the other job, so I'll take a chance. I had nothing to lose really, because I wasn't getting anywhere in the other job because I kept failing my driving test.”
“It can take ages. I'm still trying to do Sir Alec Douglas-Home and it really can take a long time … I just keep watching television until it comes.”
“The people I do actually exist, and I find that easier than acting.”