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Speaker 1: Quest.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, welcome friends to the Christian O'Connell Show podcast.

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Speaker 1: Hey, this is Christian O'Connell and this is a very

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Speaker 1: special podcast chatting to the great Ben Elton. I've been

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Speaker 1: a fan of Ben's from Blackcotta days to his stand

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Speaker 1: up days. He is in his mid sixties and he's

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Speaker 1: still touring and doing great stand up. One of the

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Speaker 1: best stand ups you can ever go and see. Always interesting,

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Speaker 1: always original. He's coming here to Australia's currently on the

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Speaker 1: big megator of the UK in his mid sixties. So

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Speaker 1: I caught up with Ben, who's coming here in March

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Speaker 1: and touring all over Australia. You can find out more

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Speaker 1: at Live nation dot com dot au. Have you enjoyed

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Speaker 1: my chat with the one and only Ben Elton.

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Speaker 2: The Christian O'Connell Show Podcast.

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Speaker 3: Ben.

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Speaker 1: Before we get into this, I have to say right, so,

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Speaker 1: I'm from the UK. I moved here six years ago.

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Speaker 1: I have interviewed you a couple of times. I used

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Speaker 1: to do the Breakfast Show for twenty years on Absolute

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Speaker 1: Radio in Golden Square where I used to come on

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Speaker 1: the show quite a few times, and then years ago

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Speaker 1: in the early two thousands on XFM as well, so

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Speaker 1: before we get into I just want to it is

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Speaker 1: a joy to speak to you again as well. And

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Speaker 1: now you're in the UK and now I'm here in Australia.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely you are. I remember that that very very jolly

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Speaker 2: Dorman is still there.

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Speaker 3: Yes, Martin, Yes it's still there anyway. Look yeah, well

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Speaker 3: look it's great.

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Speaker 2: I'm coming to Australia, but I'm currently midway through one

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Speaker 2: hundred date tour in the UK warming up.

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Speaker 1: How are you finding it now doing a stand up tour?

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Speaker 1: You know, obviously one hundred odd dates in the UK

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Speaker 1: and then coming over here. What's it like doing you know,

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Speaker 1: stand up tours like this a lot of dates. I

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Speaker 1: don't want to say at your age, but your vintage.

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Speaker 1: I'm fifty one, so you know I'm in the second

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Speaker 1: half of life like you.

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Speaker 3: Ben, No, I still feel I'm just in the first third.

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Speaker 2: Look, it's it's hard work, but I find, strangely enough,

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Speaker 2: I find it easier than I do. I won't say it,

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Speaker 2: but easy is the wrong word, because it's easy isn't

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Speaker 2: really applicable. It's quite you know, it's quite a difficult job.

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Speaker 2: It's not it's not coal mining or fighting in a war,

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Speaker 2: but it is you know, as far as peace, as

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Speaker 2: far as peaceful middle class observation goes and comedies, it's

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Speaker 2: quite it's quite demanding, particularly when you're doing one night stands.

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Speaker 3: But because I have to take a bit more care

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Speaker 3: of myself now.

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Speaker 2: I mean, you know, when me and the late great

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Speaker 2: Rick Mail were on tour together, which is the only

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Speaker 2: other time I've toured with anyone, me and him always

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Speaker 2: used to do a double bill in the in the

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Speaker 2: in the eighties. We you know, we'd have a you know,

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Speaker 2: we'd have eight pints of beer of eight every night,

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Speaker 2: but we certainly have four or five after a show.

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Speaker 2: And you know, but we only did three week tours

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Speaker 2: and we were young. Now I now do many month

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Speaker 2: long tours and I'm not young. So although I still

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Speaker 2: love a drink, I don't drink after shows and more

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Speaker 2: on show nights. I have a fd's alcohol three days

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Speaker 2: and I just have a drink on my nights off,

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Speaker 2: which are pretty rare, just one a week or whatever.

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Speaker 2: So that's that's a big thing. So that makes it

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Speaker 2: easier because you know, I'm not you know, I'm keeping

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Speaker 2: a better shake. But I think the thing that helps

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Speaker 2: mean more is that I'm actually, you know, I shout.

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Speaker 2: I mean I'm a more controlled commed I think I'm

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Speaker 2: a better comedian. I mean, you'd think one would hope

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Speaker 2: one would be after forty three years.

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Speaker 1: You're a black belt. You know, you're you're like a

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Speaker 1: black belt. Stand up you should be you should be peaking.

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Speaker 1: I'd love to know what you think of the state

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Speaker 1: of stand up now. And I don't mean the sort

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Speaker 1: of scale of it. I mean actually, because you're getting

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Speaker 1: so many, so many people now take what comedians say

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Speaker 1: in the context of a comedy club or on a stage,

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Speaker 1: and then it becomes a news article and then they're

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Speaker 1: they're criticized for what they what they've said. And I

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Speaker 1: really quote the other day, I think it was Jim

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Speaker 1: Carey was saying that stand up comedians, we've got to

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Speaker 1: be careful that standard commedians are the last truth says

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Speaker 1: because now obviously media and news media has been so

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Speaker 1: heavily compromised. Where does that leave stand up You've been

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Speaker 1: going to stand up for so long, how do you

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Speaker 1: look at it now?

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Speaker 2: Well, I think Jim Carey is taking a fairly benign view.

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Speaker 2: I mean, I think I don't know if stand ups

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Speaker 2: are any more likely to the truth of anyone else.

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Speaker 3: I mean, and many. One of the absolute.

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Speaker 2: One of the saddest things about standup is how easy

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Speaker 2: it is to get a laugh with a.

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Speaker 3: Lie if you massage your prejudice.

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Speaker 2: She says a certain group of people are stupid, or

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Speaker 2: a certain group of people a workshy. You know, actually,

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Speaker 2: you know, it's so boring, the idea that shock shock

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Speaker 2: stand ups like shock jocks. They think they're being brave

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Speaker 2: and so subversive by saying the unsaid. It's the easiest

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Speaker 2: thing on earth to say the answer. To find a

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Speaker 2: way of saying something helpful and useful and still get

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Speaker 2: a laugh, that's very different. I've plowed my own farah.

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Speaker 2: I don't comment on other acts. I certainly don't agree

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Speaker 2: with Jim Garry that they're all angels telling truth and power.

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Speaker 2: And there are also some great, great, great comic muses.

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Speaker 2: It's not something I take a great interest in because

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Speaker 2: I'm only in it for my own gear. I'm a

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Speaker 2: very selfish comedian. I write my own material, I deliver

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Speaker 2: my own material. I don't write gear for other people,

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Speaker 2: and I certainly have no interest in doing other people's gear.

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Speaker 3: Because I wouldn't be able to make it funny.

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Speaker 2: Because all I'm doing, I mean, I'm doing what young

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Speaker 2: people have a phrase, standing in standing. I'm standing in

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Speaker 2: my truth. Here's what I know and actually do a

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Speaker 2: certain set. And that's what I've been doing all my

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Speaker 2: life as a comedian.

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Speaker 3: You've always been that.

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Speaker 1: I've always come to see you to see your your

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Speaker 1: take on life and what we do as humans. And yeah,

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Speaker 1: I've always come to see what's Ben's take on it?

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Speaker 1: And that's what I'm looking forward to seeing when you

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Speaker 1: come here.

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Speaker 3: I think you're playing at the.

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Speaker 1: Palais and killed us, Like, what's Ben's take on the world?

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Speaker 3: Now, well, there's.

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Speaker 2: A lot of it. It's quite a long show. I

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Speaker 2: do about an hour and fifteen in the first half,

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Speaker 2: an hour and ten in the second. It's not getting longer.

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Speaker 2: I've nailed at My wife is very, very concerned. She

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Speaker 2: is no longer. She says that your audience are old.

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Speaker 2: They need to read God's sake a break.

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Speaker 1: Maybe need to hand out that piece those sort of

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Speaker 1: middle aged You can have middle aged merch and tell

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Speaker 1: me this, Ben, right, are you optimistic about the future,

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Speaker 1: because it's very very with the diet we fed. These days,

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Speaker 1: it's very easy to feel depressed about the future for

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Speaker 1: obvious and understandable reasons. And it's hard making comedy out

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Speaker 1: of positivity. And you know, because I won't see Jerry

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Speaker 1: Seinfeld a couple months ago. And he's a master of

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Speaker 1: the art like you are. And a lot of his

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Speaker 1: act is enthusiastic moaning, you know, if you look at

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Speaker 1: it on paper, he's moaning about stuff, you know, but

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Speaker 1: it's a romantic at the heart there. He wants it

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Speaker 1: to be better. Do you think actually it's hard to

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Speaker 1: be positive about the future.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm optimistic, but I still have to be I've

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Speaker 2: got three kids. If I didn't have three kids, I

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Speaker 2: think I've got it. I've got an Australian call and

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Speaker 2: I don't know why I wish we're having our injur

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Speaker 2: I'm going to ignore it. Probably my public is saying

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Speaker 2: and banging on, don't you don't get canceled. I got

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Speaker 2: three kids. I have to be optimistic.

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Speaker 3: You know that.

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Speaker 2: Once I was moaning about how much I hated the Internet,

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Speaker 2: and my daughter said, Dad, you know, don't moan about

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Speaker 2: the world so much.

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Speaker 3: You know, it's all right, we have to do it.

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Speaker 3: All right for you, you'll be dead soon. I try. I

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Speaker 3: try and stay optimistic

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Speaker 1: For my Christian Connell Show podcast