Interview Marcus Brigstocke
Simon O'Hare chats to the comic ahead of his Spamalot appearance at the Grand on 12th-17th July
Interview: Marcus Brigstocke
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How does performing in Spamalot compare with stand-up?
It’s great, it’s awesome. I’ve never done anything like this before. Obviously I toured as a stand-up but it’s a very different experience – you turn up one, maybe two nights, you do your thing on your own and off you go. This is like summer camp! I’ve spent yesterday and this morning ice skating with Hayley Tamaddon who won ‘Dancing on Ice’, so that’s just been fantastic. And last night the cast organised their own pub quiz which we all took part in. And the show itself, it’s just a romp. I mean, what’s not to like? I couldn’t be happier.
It’s the first time you’ve done musical theatre – is it out of your comfort zone?
It’s just so far out of my comfort zone I can’t even begin to tell you, it’s just absolutely amazing. The first time I tried to sing in front of everybody, I’ve never experienced anything like it. My throat just went ‘no, I’m sorry’. It was really weird, your body conspiring against you. So it’s a very, very different experience. I’ve ended up doing quite a lot outside of my comfort zone, you know, like I learnt French. I still do some stand-up in French.
How difficult is that?
C’est tres difficile. Yeah, it is difficult. But the thing is when I do it I’m not playing exclusively to French audiences, I’m playing to English-speaking French and French-speaking English, so if maybe one-fifth of the words I use end up being in English then nobody minds. It doesn’t tend to be as bad an average as that, but it can be. Again I like the challenge, I loved being a club comic, I got really good at it and it was very familiar and a lot of fun, but it’s not until you stop doing it that you realise in a lot of ways it’s quite safe, you know, you can develop your set and you go round the clubs… I mean it’s all good, not taking anything away from that, it’s the best training I could’ve possibly asked for, but things are just more interesting in my life these days.
How would you say your upbringing affected your humour and your outlook?
Well I suppose quite a strong effect, in terms of I was very middle class and now a lot of the comedy I do is very resistant to the sort of latent middle class values. And whilst acknowledging all the time that I am posh, with plenty of money and, you know, my life is extremely comfortable and the only things that cause me discomfort are my mental turmoil with the world. So that had its effect. And, you know, I was in rehab by the time I was 17, so I’ve been drug and alcohol free for 20 years, so all those things have quite a profound effect on the way you see the world. But it’s always hard to assess, isn’t it, what in your own past has made you funny or not funny.
You’re a well-known environmentalist. Do you believe the likes of David Cameron when they talk about green issues?
I think it’s very difficult. I mean in terms of dealing with climate change, it’s anathema to democracy, because who the fuck’s gonna vote for less? Buy less, use less, eat less, consume less, drive less, throw away less. Spend your time instead growing things, recycling, blah blah blah. It’s not a saleable voting commodity; that’s difficult. But I think a lot of the problem with it lies in the language that’s used, which is often ‘don’t do this, don’t do that’ and wagging fingers, rather than ‘actually, holidaying in the UK or in France where you can get to on the train is a wonderful thing, and growing your own stuff is fabulous and eating local fruit and vegetables in season gives you pleasure, saving money by insulating your house will allow you to spend more time with your family because you don’t have to work as many hours’. I don’t know, I think David Cameron means it when he says he cares about the environment. Cameron, and Nick Clegg certainly, they’ve read all the stuff and so I think that they are sincere, but I think it’s a very hard sell for them. I’m in a slightly odd position as an innately cynical comedian – I really want the coalition to succeed. I’ll be critical certainly, when I think they’re making mistakes, but I think most people support it, with a feeling that everything is compromise. You know, you work with people who you have to compromise with, you compromise when you get on the bus, you compromise when you buy an album and half the tracks are shit and the other tracks are good, everything is compromise, and there’s no reason why politics should be any different from that.
If things get grim due to the spending cuts, will it be good for artistic creativity like in the 80s?
Yeah, there is that, although I think you have to be careful about pointing out that silver lining too much. Hey listen cheer up everyone, this’ll be really good for comedy and music!
Back to Spamalot – have you always been a Monty Python fan?
Yes. You kind of can’t not be if you’re a comedian. I don’t know any comics that I respect that don’t think Monty Python was very special. And to have that material to play with and to have Eric Idle’s support on little tiny rewrites and stuff like that is an amazing privilege.
Finally, is it true you once worked as a podium dancer?
It is true. Although you wouldn’t know it when you see me dance in Spamalot. It was many, many years ago.
12-17 July, Grand Theatre & Opera House, 46 New Briggate, LS1 6NZ, 0844 848 2706, www.leedsgrandtheatre.com
Posted on Friday 25th June 2010
Grand Theatre & Opera House
46 New Briggate, Leeds, LS1 6NZ
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