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Two really enjoyable chats tonight at the Leicester Square Theatre with Milton Jones and Victoria Coren Mitchell. Milton’s hair was down and his shirt relatively sober, so I was chatting with him rather than the character he is when he’s on stage. He is a very different kind of comedian to me, but now rightly a big star, appearing on panel shows and at the Hammersmith Apollo. To many he’s a relatively new face, but he’s been working hard since the early 90s (he won Perrier best newcomer in 1996) and is a lesson for all the new comics complaining about not being able to get on TV. And to the old comics who just want to be on telly.
I worried I’d got off on the wrong foot with Victoria in our exclusive backstage interview (you can get access to these by becoming a monthly subscriber at gofasterstripe) when I attempted to prove my feminist credentials by suggesting that family trees should go through the maternal line, as we can all be sure who our mother is, but less sure about our father. She took this to mean that I was suggesting that women are so untrustworthy that they are all lying about who they are having sex with. So we had a lively discussion about that - I think, in my defence, that all I am saying is that people are untrustworthy and a significant minority of men and women are cheaters, so when you’re dealing with something that involves as many people as a family tree then go back a few generations and you’re bound to be linked with some people that you have no genetic connection with at some point. Of course there’s another question about whether our family ties are genetic or about who brings us up. I enjoyed having my attempt to be on side with the sisterhood thrown back in my face though. There I was smugly thinking I was being right-on, but was just being a sophisticated Dapper Laughs, subtly saying that all women are whores! I had never thought of it in that way and that’s the joy of discussion and chatting with clever and vehement people. Makes for great podcasts for sure.
And in the podcast proper I was able to remind Victoria of the first time we’d met, at a party in the mid-90s when the first thing she ever said to me was “What’s it like being the unattractive one in Lee and Herring?” (it might possibly have been “less attractive”, but that’s the gist). Subsequently I realised that I should have replied “You’ll have to ask Stewart himself about that,” and it took me about 20 years to realise that this was probably actually a flirtatious rather than cruel remark. But at the time I was very sensitive and insecure and awful at being at parties at the best of times and I think I just blushed and got flustered and then left the party (possibly crying - that’s the kind of idiot I was back then). Victoria didn’t remember this at all and couldn’t believe that was the kind of thing she’d say. But it became a fun little runner throughout the show.
As we’re recording two podcasts a week but only releasing one, these two won’t be out until early 2015, which makes them feel impossibly futuristic. Milton and I speculated about what changes in the world there may be by the time that people hear our conversations and which celebrities will be dead, or assassinated. The brief discussions we had about Dapper Laughs will certainly feel like ancient history even in a month and a half.
But both interviews were lots of fun and there lots of laughs as well as some more serious moments. I think that this has been the best series of the podcast overall with a good mixture of personalities and hopefully enough to keep it fresh, whilst also including enough of the familiar to please long-term fans. Only two more to go. Next week it’s Sue Perkins and another as yet unbooked guest. Do come along and support us if you can. As with so much of my stuff its future totally relies on the audience.
And with that in mind, my London dates of Lord of the Dance Settee are also approaching fast. I am at the Leicester Square Theatre from the 1st-6th December and I really need these to sell well to make my tour viable, which in turn will have a huge bearing on whether I can tour again. So please do spread the word about the shows (and the rest of the tour) to anyone you think might enjoy it. Or come along and bring a newbie. It might make or break your friendship, but do you really want a friend who doesn't think I am great? ... Hmmm.
