WEBVTT - Catherine Tate 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:02.360 I mean, I've learned to be very thick skinned about 0:00:02.360 --> 0:00:06.519 what people say. Who don't who mean who don't mean anything? 0:00:06.800 --> 0:00:11.400 But when they say, like, I don't care what anyone says, 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:31.840 I liked you. Oh thank god I'm not on social media. Hello. 0:00:31.920 --> 0:00:40.280 I'm Katherine's Tate and I am Nellie Bertrand from the Office. 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:45.080 Hello everybody, and thank you so much for joining me 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:49.320 once again for another episode of Off the Beat. I 0:00:49.320 --> 0:00:54.200 am your host, Brian Baumgartner. Today's episode, you Office fans 0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:58.880 get excited. We've got her. We've finally got her. Katherine 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:02.960 Tate as a conversation with me in the studio today 0:01:03.000 --> 0:01:08.120 a k A. Nellie Bertram her character so good. Fans 0:01:08.160 --> 0:01:11.240 were so unfair to her. Early on, there was like, 0:01:11.360 --> 0:01:14.280 oh new character, we don't like her. By the end, 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:16.760 she gave us some of the funniest moments in the 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:19.880 later seasons of The Office, Am I right? The infamous 0:01:20.000 --> 0:01:27.319 pyramid tablets, the Packer and shrewd love triangle, jousting with Andy, 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:30.880 adopting Ryan's baby. The list goes on. I love her 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:35.800 so much. But what many of you don't know this Catherine. 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:41.520 She's a legend in the UK across the Pond, as 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:44.360 I call it. She had her own show, the Katherine 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:48.920 Tate Show. Now there's the Nan movie is out dr 0:01:49.120 --> 0:01:52.600 who She is so incredibly talented and she has created 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:55.720 some of the greatest British humor in the history of 0:01:55.760 --> 0:01:59.040 the BBC. And in fact, if you're ever curious just 0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:04.080 about how influential she is, know this. Know that Adele 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:09.760 dressed up as Catherine's Nan character on her twenty nine birthday. 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:14.239 Look at the pictures. It is incredible. But we've waited 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:18.280 long enough. No more talk from me. Let's hear from 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:28.840 the genius herself, Catherine Tate. Everybody, Bubble and Squeak. I 0:02:29.080 --> 0:02:35.800 love it. Bubble and Squeak, Bubble and Squeaker. Cookie every 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:56.519 month left over from the nattypo Catherine, Right, I see you. 0:02:56.680 --> 0:03:00.839 How are you doing all right? How are you? I mean, 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:04.320 you know what I'm hanging in there? How about that 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:09.679 I'm hanging in there? Uh, you're busier than ever. I mean, 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:13.680 it's unbelievable how busy you are. It would appear so, 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:17.880 but it's really just COVID that has made it sound 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:22.400 of scene like I'm very much on the production line. 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:25.800 It's that a couple of projects that I did have 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:28.080 come out very close together, That's what it was. But 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:30.680 they were actually they were actually a couple of years 0:03:30.680 --> 0:03:35.119 apart in making, and then cod just came in and 0:03:35.960 --> 0:03:39.000 one got the movie. That Nan movie got held up 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:43.240 drastically in post production, and then hard sale to be 0:03:43.280 --> 0:03:46.320 fair hard sale. We gosh, we feel that about nine 0:03:46.360 --> 0:03:49.680 months ago. And that was a very turnaround because it's 0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:53.600 Netflix run a tight ship and we there was a 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:57.119 big old a schedule and we didn't get shut down 0:03:57.160 --> 0:03:59.720 from COVID. We were very lucky. But yeah, but they 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:02.360 got released within sort of like about three, three or 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:04.240 four weeks of each other. So it looks like I'm 0:04:05.800 --> 0:04:11.000 list variants. All right, we're going to talk about both 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:13.960 of those projects and everything else that you're doing. I 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:17.719 want to start back at the beginning. Yes, I mean, 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:20.479 it's not just the accent. I did my research. You're 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:25.720 from England, a small town called England, a small town 0:04:25.760 --> 0:04:30.359 called England, and you I understand you went to convent school. 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:36.200 Is this correct? I went to a variety of Catholic 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:41.400 based educational establishments and sort of one by one they 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:44.800 picked me off and said, on your way. Because the 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:48.240 thing is the thing is I knew I think I 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:50.400 need from quite a young age, I wanted to be 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:54.560 an actor. But what the nuns heard. Instead of me 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:57.320 saying I wanted to be an actor or an actress, 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:01.080 what they heard was I want to be a prostitute, 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:08.480 because it seemed to be synonymous with with with loose 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:11.240 moraled people. I think, and they didn't really know what 0:05:11.279 --> 0:05:14.640 to do with me. And it was the in the 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:17.479 nineteen eighties. I hopped around quite a lot of different 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:22.440 high schools in middle school and ended up what did 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:24.880 I end up doing? And I think I ended up 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:28.880 still leaving, still leaving before my final exams. I was 0:05:28.920 --> 0:05:34.880 a terrible example. I'm a terrible example too. Two children, Well, 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:37.159 I also heard, is this right? You went to a 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:41.799 boy's Roman Catholic school? I did? How does that happen? 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:45.760 How is that allowed happens when all the girls schools 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:48.039 have heard about you and go don't let her in? 0:05:48.120 --> 0:05:53.080 She wants to be a buster child? Did you have? Now? 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:56.520 Was this family that you went to a convent school? 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:59.560 Was this I went? I started? I started off in 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:01.960 an element each school. Yeah, and it's not not a 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:06.719 convent school, but but an elementary Catholic school that my 0:06:06.800 --> 0:06:09.440 mom had gone to, and my nan my grandmother had 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:12.760 gone to, and you know, just right down the line. 0:06:13.279 --> 0:06:15.960 And then I then I went to I think I 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:19.960 went to four different schools and then found a place 0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:23.320 in South London that would accept me. But it was 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:27.880 a boys school and it was fantastic, you know, I absolutely, 0:06:28.440 --> 0:06:32.039 I absolutely didn't get a lot of work done, didn't 0:06:32.080 --> 0:06:35.240 come out many times, but it felt like being it 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:38.440 was like being a pop star. They'd allowed four girls 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:42.080 into the high school part of it, and yeah, I 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:45.080 mean it was people. Kids were just like these young boys. 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:46.880 They'd sort of run up, touch you and then run 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:50.200 away again. You know, I mean me two kind of way. 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:53.880 I have to say, just like year old. But you 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:57.240 were like you were just this novelty. Yeah, and I 0:06:57.240 --> 0:06:59.680 absolutely loved my time. They're the only thing I got 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:06.040 from there. I was doing plays and learning French. Yeah 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:08.440 I know French too, probably not as well as you, 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:11.160 but and it's one of my biggest regrets. I have 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:14.600 to say that I don't speak Spanish. I wish I 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:21.280 spoke Spanish, right. I lived in Spain, so I speak Spanish. Yeah. 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:24.760 I lived in Madrid and and Lucia all right, when 0:07:24.800 --> 0:07:28.480 did you decide you wanted to be an actress? Early? Definitely, 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:30.520 by the time I was a teenager, I knew I 0:07:30.560 --> 0:07:33.280 wanted to be an actor. Yeah, was this from your 0:07:33.320 --> 0:07:37.400 family or no? No, there's there's no kind of family 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:43.120 connection with theater, although my mom does still maintain that. 0:07:43.200 --> 0:07:46.600 The reason I can do so many voices is because 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:48.680 when I was little she used to read me my 0:07:48.760 --> 0:07:52.760 bedtime stories and used to all the all the voices. 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:58.400 So so I know all to my mother and I'm 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:04.000 very grateful. And although I didn't come from a family 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:08.960 of actors, I definitely came from funny people. You know. 0:08:09.120 --> 0:08:12.000 I think I knew what funny was very early on, 0:08:12.080 --> 0:08:15.760 and I knew I could I could kind of identify 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:18.440 what was a funny turn of phrase. I came from 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:21.600 people who can tell a story, and that often goes 0:08:21.680 --> 0:08:25.360 hand in hand with making people laugh and writing as well. 0:08:25.400 --> 0:08:28.360 I think because you you you you understand or you're 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:31.880 drawn to narrative and you're drawn to characters and dialogue, 0:08:31.920 --> 0:08:34.319 and that's what I love to do. And listening to 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:37.520 the way people speak as well. Find people speak patterns fascinating. 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:41.440 Right from an early age, would you say that you 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:45.360 were interested in acting in terms of creating a character 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:49.440 or were you Were you more interested early on in comedy. 0:08:50.000 --> 0:08:53.000 I think I was interested. Well, I was an incredibly 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:56.679 shy child, really really shy. So I mean talk about 0:08:56.800 --> 0:09:00.920 you know, least expected to do anything alone, get up 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:03.560 and make people laugh. That was that would have been me, 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:06.600 you know, I mean, I you know, I mean, I 0:09:06.640 --> 0:09:11.559 was painfully shy. So potentially I suppose if I was 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:14.280 thinking about it, maybe I did to find a route 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:18.040 in with sort of making characters and and doing sort 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:24.120 of voices and becoming other than myself. But I definitely 0:09:24.160 --> 0:09:27.720 identified quite early on that a really good way of 0:09:28.440 --> 0:09:31.199 deterring bullies was to be able to make me laugh. 0:09:32.120 --> 0:09:37.439 And and that really emboldened me, really because I've had 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:40.640 a really unhappy stint at school at one of the 0:09:40.720 --> 0:09:44.680 Catholic school one of the convents had really unhappy stint there, 0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:49.360 and I realized one day that actually, if you can 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:52.800 make them laugh, they will leave you alone. And and 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:56.480 that's I think that's kind of where I definitely honed 0:09:56.520 --> 0:10:01.880 it as a defense mechanism. Yeah, so, so so hiding in 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:04.679 a way, still being shy, hiding in a way behind 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:08.280 the characters that you created early on, I guess, although 0:10:08.280 --> 0:10:10.880 I although I I didn't do characters or anything when 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:14.360 I was a kid, but I I learned a way 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:17.640 of making people laugh, you know. I learned to I 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:21.040 suppose to create the character of the of the of 0:10:21.080 --> 0:10:23.280 the of the comedian, of the class clown, you know, 0:10:23.320 --> 0:10:26.320 all of the of the funny one, and and it 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:31.240 protected me, I felt right. So I I came from 0:10:31.559 --> 0:10:34.800 theater myself. I never thought I would, you know, do 0:10:35.080 --> 0:10:38.440 film and television. For me, it was all about theater 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:44.640 and live performance and creating characters on stage. You early 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:51.680 on very prestigious in in Britain. In London. You became 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:54.280 a member of the National Youth Theater. And I heard 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:57.800 you auditioned four times for Drama School. I auditioned for 0:10:57.840 --> 0:11:02.320 four times. Yeah, but no nash to Youth Theater. I yeah, 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:05.040 I was there with Daniel Craig. He was the shining 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:08.240 light when I was when I was at Youth Theater 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:13.360 and I was. I was when he was playing Leonardo, 0:11:13.520 --> 0:11:19.320 the lead in Blood Wedding. I was playing girl one. 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:32.360 So that's uh yeah, and things things blossomed from there. Well. 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:37.080 You must have had experiences though on on stage other 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:40.280 than Girl One through your How long were you there? Well, 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:43.160 the thing is I was there for quite a few years. 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:45.880 But we kept we kept doing, we kept turning out 0:11:45.960 --> 0:11:49.080 this same the same play, because I guess it has 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:51.120 got a little bit of success. But I know, we 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:54.079 took it to Spain, we took it to the West End, 0:11:54.559 --> 0:11:56.320 we did it again in the West End, you know, 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:58.560 and I think at some point, so I wasn't in 0:11:58.559 --> 0:12:01.120 this particular car, but I think it then went we 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:03.240 went to Russia or something, you know. I mean, we 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:06.240 really flogged to this one and I just had a 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:08.760 great time. I had a fantastic time. But I had 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:12.920 also some running concurrently with that, I joined another youth 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:15.880 theater in the East End of London, where I did 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:18.520 get the chance to do lots of fun parts and 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:22.520 you know, had a little bit more to student Girl One. Yeah, 0:12:22.840 --> 0:12:24.640 and then by the time I got to Central, which 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:28.600 was college essentially, we all got our chance at doing 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:33.079 leads and great parts. Yeah. Did you think that theater 0:12:33.240 --> 0:12:35.520 was what you were going to do or did you 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:39.160 always have an idea of something else. No, I absolutely 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:41.720 loved theater. And my my first job out of college 0:12:41.720 --> 0:12:44.200 actually was at the National Theater. So I having graduation 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:46.480 from the Youth Theater, I went to the actual National 0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:49.319 Theater and stayed there about a year, I guess. And 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:54.000 did you know that touring shows, you know, like around 0:12:54.000 --> 0:12:58.160 the theaters doing My first job was Arf Miller was 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:02.000 all my sons? Where did you playing all my sons? 0:13:02.320 --> 0:13:07.160 The girl? The girl in it? You know? They? And yeah, 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:09.840 yeah it was. It was a long time ago. I 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:13.000 did Joe Color twice. By the way, sorry, it's about me. 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:16.920 I did Joe Kelor twice as a much much too 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:21.400 young man. Yes, I did Joel twice, right right, yes, 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:26.280 I would say so, uh so, Yeah, I just didn't 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:28.600 didn't occur to me. Even when we were at school, 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:31.600 you know, drama school. It was theater that we were 0:13:31.640 --> 0:13:35.040 trained in. We you had a couple of a tiny 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:39.280 smattering of film and television, I mean as a novelty. Really, 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:43.560 I mean, this is like or something. It was still 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:46.520 theater was the thing that the school wanted to churn 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:51.040 out theater actors, you know, And I absolutely thought that 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:53.480 would be what what I did, what I wanted to do. 0:13:53.559 --> 0:13:56.760 But by the time I graduated, the idea of repertory 0:13:56.800 --> 0:14:00.920 theater just wasn't in the country anymore, did out all 0:14:00.960 --> 0:14:04.840 the all the regional theaters. All they did was received 0:14:05.080 --> 0:14:09.240 the big touring production on a weekly basic basically, you know, 0:14:09.320 --> 0:14:11.600 I mean that that was all I want to do 0:14:11.679 --> 0:14:13.560 and just thought, oh my god, I'll just go around 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:16.800 doing plays all the time. And and it didn't really 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:20.320 didn't really pan out like that, right, So what did 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:23.920 you So? What did you do? You graduate? And you're like, well, 0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:26.360 that life that I thought that I had, well, I 0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:28.680 graduated and it all started off okay because I got 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:30.840 I was I was at the Nashville for a year 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:33.560 only doing like small parts and I'm studying that. You know, 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:36.760 what do you care? You know, twenty five? Who cares? 0:14:37.040 --> 0:14:39.400 You know, that's what you should be doing. And then 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:44.080 my contract stopped and and I realized, you know what, 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:47.560 I've got a feeling. I just had this inkling that 0:14:47.800 --> 0:14:50.360 I needed to do stand up because I needed to 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:55.360 separate myself from the pack, as it were. If you're 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:58.080 if you've just left drama college, there's plenty of young 0:14:58.120 --> 0:15:02.640 twenty somethings you know, who have who have just graduated 0:15:02.640 --> 0:15:06.640 when you have, you know, I had to do something 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:09.240 that sort of put put me in a different environment, 0:15:09.360 --> 0:15:13.640 and and so I just held my breasting, jumps in 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:16.280 and started doing stand up And that was the best 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:19.920 thing I've ever done, because that from there, that was it. 0:15:19.920 --> 0:15:22.360 It was the difference between waiting for the phone to 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:26.160 ring from your agent going oh, there's this this audition 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:29.320 and picking up the phone and booking your own spots, 0:15:29.680 --> 0:15:32.040 you know. And I had a day job. I was 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:36.920 working in an office ironically, and then and then after 0:15:36.920 --> 0:15:38.840 a few years, I was able to stop the day 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:42.080 job and do do stand up full time. But it 0:15:42.120 --> 0:15:44.680 was having that power. It's taking back that power and 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:48.440 feeling you've got some agency over your career where you know, 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:52.400 as many actors they don't you know, they don't you 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:55.200 are you are at the mercy of of the of 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:59.800 the casting calls, aren't you? Yes? How how was that 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:05.080 experience for you? Terrifying? Was it exhilarating? Obviously it's still 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:07.520 in front of a live audience, so you have experience 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:11.400 with that, but now they have to laugh, right, How 0:16:11.480 --> 0:16:13.840 was that experience for you? It was it was all 0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:17.240 of those things. It was terrifying, exhilarating, It was like 0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:20.320 an out of body experience. I mean, if you analyze it. 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:23.480 The act of doing stand up. It's a preposterous idea, 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:27.320 and you'd never you'd never suggest anyone does it, and 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:29.680 you certainly wouldn't do it for yourself, you know, the 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:32.920 idea of Yes, I definitely had a bit of stagecraft. 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:35.160 So when I when I went out and did my 0:16:35.200 --> 0:16:39.600 first open spot, what would you call them open spots? Yeah, yeah, sure, yeah, 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:43.720 open mic er whatever, yeah yeah, open mic exactly. It 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:45.640 wasn't the first time I've been in front of an audience, 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:48.920 so I had that going for me. But even little 0:16:49.000 --> 0:16:52.880 simple things like I've never held a microphone in my hand. Why, 0:16:52.960 --> 0:16:55.400 how Why would I worked in theater? You didn't need 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:57.600 you didn't use the microphone. It was just like what 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:00.680 you do with this? Oh my god? What's this? And 0:17:00.760 --> 0:17:05.200 it was but it dawned on me, I think halfway 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:07.399 through my sort of my little five minute opens but 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:12.000 was this is ridiculous because not only am I asking people, 0:17:12.600 --> 0:17:16.920 not only are you expecting people to be quiet, you're 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:20.640 asking them to listen and then laugh at what you say. 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:24.280 I mean, it's that the notion is ridiculous. If you, 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:27.879 if you, if you analyze it, But I loved it. 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:31.280 I loved it, and I liked being frightened. I liked 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:34.320 because it did frighten me. But I liked the challenge 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:37.840 of it. I felt a great sense of achievement and 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:41.200 just facing all those demons of being able to shut 0:17:41.240 --> 0:17:44.680 people up and and and that for me, I loved that. 0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:47.720 I just love that, you know, I loved thinking people 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:51.280 could smell blood in the water. Because the thing is, 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:54.560 this was what was this the nine in the nineties. 0:17:54.600 --> 0:17:57.240 This is in the nineties, and it was not uncommon 0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:01.159 for as your name as they introduce used to before 0:18:01.240 --> 0:18:03.520 you've even got to the microphone, people would just shout 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:14.520 out your ship, yes, so it's really really um it was. 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:18.080 But I liked the gladiatorial aspect of it. I did. 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:20.880 I did because most of the time I actually thought, 0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:23.120 it's all right. I know you think I can't take 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:25.640 you on, but I can and I and I can 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:29.040 make you laugh as well. And obviously the thing about 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:32.280 there's two different kinds of feelings. I think. One is 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:34.880 when you've written a joke and you try it out 0:18:34.960 --> 0:18:37.639 and it gets that laugh and it lands and you go, 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:40.199 oh great. And the other one is coming up with 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:43.080 something on you know, on the fly, and there are 0:18:43.080 --> 0:18:46.159 two different kinds of things, but they are both equally beautiful, 0:18:46.280 --> 0:18:50.880 you know too, to absorb. And it's just, honestly, it's feeling. 0:18:51.080 --> 0:18:54.000 It's just feeling king of the world, Queen of the 0:18:54.040 --> 0:18:56.720 person of the world when you walk, when you walk 0:18:56.760 --> 0:18:59.920 off off a gig, and it's gone well as a 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:04.040 posed to walking off a gig, and it hasn't. Yeah, 0:19:04.320 --> 0:19:07.800 that's worth And I remember a much more, much more 0:19:07.800 --> 0:19:12.000 experienced stand up at the time said to me, you 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:15.119 will learn much more from your bad gigs than you 0:19:15.200 --> 0:19:18.399 ever will your good gigs. And it's absolutely true. And 0:19:18.640 --> 0:19:20.480 I didn't have a bad gig till I've been doing 0:19:20.480 --> 0:19:24.080 it about for quite a while, so I was the 0:19:24.200 --> 0:19:27.720 hubris I had was dangerous because you walk in, you 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:30.200 think this is here, here, we are, you know what 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:33.280 I mean, And then suddenly the first time, everything you've 0:19:33.320 --> 0:19:36.439 done before, the alchemy is not there. Suddenly that that 0:19:36.600 --> 0:19:38.760 chemistry or whatever it is, and you know you're saying 0:19:38.800 --> 0:19:40.280 the same thing and you're doing the same thing, and 0:19:40.320 --> 0:19:43.479 you are the same person. They're not having it. And 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:46.840 I remember walking literally walking off stage to the sound 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:53.199 of my own footsteps and just honing my craft on 0:19:53.280 --> 0:19:55.960 that night. I remember, I remember like doing a workshop 0:19:55.960 --> 0:19:58.080 with myself and go, when this happens, You've got to 0:19:58.119 --> 0:20:00.439 do this when this happens, you know, and and it 0:20:00.600 --> 0:20:03.000 rung in my ears what that guy had said, you 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:05.719 will learn more from your bad gigs, because you know, 0:20:06.119 --> 0:20:08.040 six weeks in and I'm thinking, I'm never going to 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:20.520 have a bad gig. You you suckers. Yeah exactly, yeah exactly. 0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:24.560 And then and then when when you do the we 0:20:24.640 --> 0:20:26.720 have it. Well, we did have a thing here and 0:20:26.760 --> 0:20:29.160 it was called the Network, and you go around and 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:34.359 do college campuses and they were brutal and that was 0:20:34.400 --> 0:20:36.720 that that was a learning ground, you know what I mean. 0:20:37.560 --> 0:20:40.920 But the deal was unless you stayed on for your 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:45.440 full five minutes set, you wouldn't get paid. And that 0:20:45.440 --> 0:20:47.720 that taught you many things because you just had to 0:20:47.760 --> 0:20:51.560 find a way of just staying there before they physically 0:20:51.760 --> 0:20:54.600 because you know, the students would want to physically remove you. 0:20:54.640 --> 0:20:57.080 And you're like, no, I'm not not getting plaid unless 0:20:59.520 --> 0:21:03.840 you did that a peri king. Yes, do you And 0:21:03.880 --> 0:21:08.320 this is an ignorant question. Do you think that the 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:12.760 stand up form? Would you say it's similar or the 0:21:12.840 --> 0:21:15.679 same as the United States or do you think in 0:21:15.720 --> 0:21:18.600 Britain there is more theatricality And I don't know. I 0:21:18.680 --> 0:21:23.560 think about Eddie Izard or others that I feel like 0:21:23.600 --> 0:21:26.639 that I've seen British comedians who I feel like there's 0:21:26.760 --> 0:21:30.680 more of a show as opposed to just telling jokes, 0:21:30.760 --> 0:21:35.480 or do you feel like the form is similar. I 0:21:35.760 --> 0:21:38.679 would have to say, now, I have to preface this 0:21:38.720 --> 0:21:40.479 with the fact that it's been a while since I've 0:21:40.520 --> 0:21:42.640 been in a comedy club, It's been a while since 0:21:42.680 --> 0:21:45.840 i've seen life stand up. I kind of feel there's more, 0:21:46.040 --> 0:21:52.040 there's more similarities, partly because I think even though British 0:21:52.080 --> 0:21:56.280 comedians have a very very distinctive style, I think there's 0:21:56.359 --> 0:21:59.840 always We're always looking to what's happening in America and 0:22:00.240 --> 0:22:06.080 most people's influences more Americans stand ups, you know, most 0:22:06.080 --> 0:22:09.399 people's influences or not necessarily influences, but but points of 0:22:09.440 --> 0:22:13.200 reference and memories. And I can remember when I was 0:22:13.320 --> 0:22:20.800 a student going to see Bill Hicks, and um, I've 0:22:20.840 --> 0:22:26.199 just never seen anyone on stage be so irreverent, you know, 0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:30.880 and just so I was open mouthed with with just 0:22:30.920 --> 0:22:34.320 how thrilling it was. And and I just think there's 0:22:34.400 --> 0:22:40.120 a I don't know, there's there's Well, at the time, 0:22:40.160 --> 0:22:42.720 I think there was possibly less self deprecation in the 0:22:42.760 --> 0:22:46.200 American stand ups. I think I think it's all evened 0:22:46.200 --> 0:22:49.040 out now and we all find our common ground of 0:22:49.040 --> 0:22:52.760 of of of speaking about our own failures. Really, I 0:22:52.800 --> 0:23:16.200 think that's funny as failure. Really, when did you start 0:23:17.280 --> 0:23:21.120 developing your own character? So when did you decide that 0:23:21.119 --> 0:23:23.720 that was a direction you wanted to go so that 0:23:23.720 --> 0:23:27.440 that that wasn't through your stand up? Was that separate? Yeah, 0:23:27.480 --> 0:23:30.399 it wasn't. I wasn't. I didn't. I just didn't have 0:23:30.520 --> 0:23:33.960 the stomach to go out with props. I just think 0:23:33.960 --> 0:23:37.480 that's you've got to be pretty fearless, you know. It's 0:23:37.480 --> 0:23:39.880 sort of like it's another level up when you say, 0:23:40.080 --> 0:23:42.040 not only going to be quiet, you're gonna listen, you're 0:23:42.080 --> 0:23:44.280 gonna laugh, You're gonna wait, will I get these hats 0:23:44.280 --> 0:23:49.760 out of my bag? You know what I mean? And 0:23:50.560 --> 0:23:53.439 I was like, for me, it's because I didn't really 0:23:53.560 --> 0:23:59.119 love seeing character comedy too much, you know. And I 0:23:59.160 --> 0:24:03.199 also didn't want that barrier between me and the audience. 0:24:03.280 --> 0:24:05.359 I didn't want to have to filter a heckle through 0:24:05.359 --> 0:24:08.520 the mouth of someone else. Or anything like that, and 0:24:08.560 --> 0:24:10.640 so I didn't I don't think I really had any 0:24:10.680 --> 0:24:15.600 interest in doing characters. It was only that one of 0:24:15.600 --> 0:24:18.960 the real bankers in my set was was the germ 0:24:19.000 --> 0:24:22.080 of what became, bizarrely what is now a film. It's 0:24:22.080 --> 0:24:24.879 called the Nan Movie. And I used to I, I 0:24:24.960 --> 0:24:26.960 kind of like put it in context as if it 0:24:27.000 --> 0:24:28.840 was a conversation I'd had with my Nan, which my 0:24:28.920 --> 0:24:34.720 Nan wasn't like that, you know. It was good shortcuts 0:24:35.320 --> 0:24:38.080 and I just did this voice. All it was, I 0:24:38.080 --> 0:24:40.880 would do this voice, this Nan voice, and it became 0:24:40.920 --> 0:24:44.560 a kind of calling card really, you know, because it 0:24:44.600 --> 0:24:47.080 was at the end of my setting. Uh And and 0:24:47.119 --> 0:24:50.439 it got me noticed because it was I guess you 0:24:50.480 --> 0:24:54.240 know at the time, Um, it was it was strange 0:24:54.280 --> 0:24:58.080 to see this this what essentially was a younger was 0:24:58.200 --> 0:25:01.760 a young girl with with a with a very old 0:25:01.880 --> 0:25:03.960 voice coming out of her and it and it took 0:25:03.960 --> 0:25:07.080 people by surprise and that and it was only it 0:25:07.200 --> 0:25:10.280 was funny enough. It was having said I wasn't mad 0:25:10.320 --> 0:25:13.639 on character comedians. There is a character comedian and I 0:25:13.640 --> 0:25:15.159 don't know if you know him. I don't know if 0:25:15.200 --> 0:25:17.879 he's in America, but he's called it's called Al Murray 0:25:17.960 --> 0:25:21.199 and he does a character called the pub Landlord and 0:25:21.280 --> 0:25:24.879