Special, Part One Five Minutes With...


Special, Part One

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tough times. Now it is time for a Five Minutes

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With... Special and a selection of interviews timed against the clock.

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In a nutshell, how did you become a comedian? It is very hard to

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perform, the in a nutshell. I started by running a comedy club.

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D'you think you're stale has changed over the years? Yes, I

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think it has become more anecdotal. How do you get ideas? Do you sit

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down and think, right I have to be funny. Nor, ideas just come to you.

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Or maybe you might get any money back from something which happened

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10 or eleven years ago. Do you change your routine as relates to

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what audience are in front of you? No, if you maybe feel that one

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audiences particularly smarter than another, your mates Jane some of

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the material. But you're only relieve the pain it a few minutes

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here or there. How many inmates are you doing on tour? I can do up to

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about 140, including the Edinburgh Festival. Is that not exhausting?

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Yes, but as there is hardly something I go on about. The

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audience do not want to hear about some guide that the thing on my

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works to our words are made up on stage morning about his work

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schedule. Do you do any offence of comedy? I do not really do a lot of

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that stuff. I cannot really be bothered with the hassle of then

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having to justify myself afterwards. Do you move about the stage a lot?

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Goodness, you are getting desperate for questions now it! No, I am not

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really into that style of comedy. A I have seen you marching up and

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down. For the most part, I am more of the talking person. Sometimes, I

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must admit, I'd find myself actively thinking that I have not

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moved from the one spot for quite a while and that that point I will do

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something. What is the biggest venue that you have played in?

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lot of the venues are maybe 1,500 people and some of these a bit

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bigger. But anything more than the 1,500 is a bit daunting. How do you

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feel when you are about to go on stage? I think it is quite a bit of,

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let's call, let's do this. Where you a performer of when you were

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growing up? To be honest, I was not even the funniest person in my

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family. Who was? My brother was, and still is. Did you go to

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university? Yes, I studied horticulture at Strathclyde

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University in Glasgow. Tell me about you're outdoor pursuits.

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People who are really into claiming, such as the 19 years, I would not

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put myself in that bracket. many Munro's have you it claimed?

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have been up 75 of them and also been up Mont Blanc. Do you have a

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favourite pop star? Madonna. Favourite film? Sexy beast. Did you

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enjoy being on a strictly come Dancing? Yes, it was great. It is

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very hard work but I was prepared for that. Do you dance in your

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spare time? Occasionally, Icy wind, just to make sure that I was

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getting it right for a Friday night Appearance. Is a very hard doing

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your job? Yes, I think I have when it my way through it for the last

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15 years and hopefully there are a few years left. You have lived in

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Los Angeles for about seven years? What is that like? Fantastic. I

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would call it Disneyland for adults. I out of London compare to Los

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Angeles? It is chaos. I love the fact that there are always people

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coming in and out. You were brought up in Melbourne? Yes, I left when I

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was 18 and moved here for a couple of years before going out to Los

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Angeles. My mum has from Southampton and we have Spanish

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grandparents. For was a like growing up in Melbourne? It was a

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big mixture of Greek, Italian, Turkish, Chinese. It was the

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melting pot, which I loved. I miss the people, but I do not think I

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would live there again. He you have got British citizenship, so what

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would you consider yourself? would say everything. My mother

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calls me a citizen of the world. Her do you look back on your time

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It was amazing. You do not do so many hours with all these people

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week after week without having good memories. Were age where mate when

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you started on the programme? 15. It was amazing, but I had a few

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months where they do not think I would survive. Q get used to being

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famous? I am still uncomfortable with that. I have learned to hide

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it and manage it better. Are you very ambitious? I would not say

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ambitious, but from a very young age, I was always in a rush to do

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things. Do you still do it any music? I have not released any of

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my own records, but occasionally I work on other people's records.

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did you stop? I was simply not having fun. Life is not a dress

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rehearsal, so if I am not having fun, then I decided is time to move

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on. Is it nerve-racking working in Los Angeles? It's is very hard work.

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You simply have to get one programme on and then get on to the

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next one. You do not have time to think about it. What are your

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favourite things? I like racing cars and other boys' stuff like

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You have not said I am going to pit a battery in. Could she counters

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down to the start of the five minutes? Yes, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. What

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is the best bit about being a musician. The I think he gives me

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the opportunity to campaign. What is you're strongest point in that

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respect? Mythic love songs are actually the best, because they are

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very personal and you can draw other people in. What is it like

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being on stage? It is fantastic. It is the best buys and I get paid for

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it. And you get that lot of feedback from the audience? Yes, I

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talk to them throughout the concert. I do a bit of Max Miller.

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Afterwards, it is interesting to talk to other people and that is

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how you meet other activists and things like that. Do you have a

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musical hero? I have several of them. I was very influenced by

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Smokey Robinson and Bob Dylan when I was younger, Johnny Cash. And of

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course, Woody Guthrie. Where do you get ideas from songs, from

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observing people? I think the idea for a song comes from something

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when you think you have something to say. What you want to do it is

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tell something which people do not know. Do you feel you still have

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development to goal as the musician? I would never have said

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they was a great musician. I have been very fortunate to be able to

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use the small tools that I have been given to forge a career.

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did you first start playing? about 16 I picked up the guitar

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because a neighbour played 1. But I have been writing poor young and

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things like that from the age of 12. When did you want to be a musician?

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I seem to be heading for a career in the car factory in Dagenham and

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I did not want to do that. And I was no good at boxing or football,

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soul music seemed the next thing. What do you think you're music says

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to people? It is about being English. But the thing is, that

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that means different things to different people. It is about

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belonging more than blood and soil. Do you think in the United system

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there is a class system in this country? Yes, there is a class

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I think people would try to ignore it. The language of Marxism, I do

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not think it is much help in trying to describe the world, but the

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things that Marx was talking about have not been resolved and we have

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to find a way to resolve those things, and class plays into that.

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What are your interests outside of music and politics? Reading,

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walking, my family trees. I have been doing that since I was 15.

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Where were you brought up? Barking in east London. Do you have a

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favourite author? George Orwell, both for his fiction and political

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writing. Do you listen to classical music as much yes, I am a big fan

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of Vaughan Williams. Life philosophy - do you have one?

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do it yourself. Thanks very much. Didn't feel a

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thing. 4, 3, 2, 1.

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Do you listen to lots of music? do. I go through phases when I

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listen to more. Sometimes more than others. Since becoming a mother, my

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life has changed so much that I do not listen to it as much as I did.

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The you have a favourite singer of all time? That is a very difficult

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question. I do not think I could see one particular. Can I name a

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few? Of very quickly. Dusty Springfield, Annie Lennox, Jessie J.

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What was it like embarking on a solo career after the Spice Girls

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prop up? It was scary and exhilarating.

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I laughed at being part of the Spice Girls and that is an

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incredible part of my history, but being a solo artist is my real

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passion. You have finished your fifth solo while bomb - how would

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you describe the sound? I would say that this album is quite eclectic-

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sounding. It is a pop record but it is beautifully produced. I love so

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many different styles and you will find it all on there. It is

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inspired with some rock, some dance, there is an acoustic number. It is

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quite atmospheric and dramatic, there are some beautiful string

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arrangements. Do you think the lyrics in the

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songs using influence people? think they can. I really think they

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can. And I have sat -- I have had some really positive, lovely

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feedback over the years from fans, saying how 0, often, lyrics and

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songs can help them through difficult times. What was it like

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becoming so famous so young? It was insane, exciting, scary. It was

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exhilarating and it was very interesting. Was it difficult to

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handle? Yes, very difficult. I do not think anyone can prepare you

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for something like that, probably a bit like having a child. You can

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read the books and speak to experienced people but, until it

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happens to you, you do not know how you will be affected. Tell me about

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live performance? Does that give you a thrill? Yes. For me, the live

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performances the end goal. Being in the studio, promoting, it is all

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about getting up on stage and performing live. This is why I

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wanted to do this. I love to perform. Do you enjoy going on

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tour? Yes, but there are negatives. Travelling Sandy can -- travelling

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can be so tedious. But it is the best part of what I do.

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Keeping some of your fans from the Spice Girls days have stayed with

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you? Yes, definitely. I would love to know if there are any fans of me

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who were not Spice Girls fans. Growing up, did you have any idea

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of what she wanted to be in life? Yes, I did. From quite a young age

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I wanted to be a pop star and work in music. Either that or an Olympic

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gymnast. Do you still do gymnastics? The occasional back-

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flip. I was quite young when I had to make the decision to continue

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with my dance training or gymnastics. They were not really

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complementing each other. No late bid for 2012? I am hoping

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there might be a little place for me somewhere! Do you play lots of

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different sports? I don't, you know. I have not really played sports

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since I was at school. A lot of guys continue to play football in

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pub teams and so forth, but, for girls, maybe I need to find a

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netball team or something. Is it right that you did a duet with your

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mum or your music GCSE? Yes, I did. It was the practical part of the

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music GCSE. It has probably changed by now. I have performed with her

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on a few occasions. She is a singer and she still sings. Do you think

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you'll have a normal life? There are lots of normal aspects to

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it but it would be unrealistic to say it is really normal.

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That is five minutes. That was a bit pathetic, that rain! -- ring.

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Are you a big reader? Yes, omnivorous. I read every type of

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book. I do not read him strictly or according to our religious schedule

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a stop if a book loses my interest I lose interest in the book. Do you

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have a favourite book? A favourite? Yes, I think my favourite is called

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The Magic Pudding. It is the funniest children's book ever

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written. I grew to love it when I was about eight years old. It is

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wonderful. Do you have a favourite film? Yes, The Magnificent 7.

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favourite composer? That is much more difficult. Sometimes it is

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Mendelssohn sometimes it is Beethoven. Metner Is a wonderful

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Russian composer. Do you listen to pop music? I have

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a soft spot for pop music that was there when I was a child. Did you

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want to be on offer when you were growing up? I think I did. I always

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wanted to write stories. When I realised that the person whose name

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was on the front of the book got paid as well, I thought that was

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amazing. Did you have a big imagination as a child? I do not

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think it was compared to other children. I liked playing with it

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and telling stories and getting lost in it. Do you think that

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storytelling is important? Well, it is something that we all do, even

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if we do not think we are doing it. The difference, I think, between

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someone who does a professionally and someone who doesn't is that we

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recognise when a story has possibilities, we know what to do

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with it. Many people think they have no ideas and which they could.

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The do, they just called in daydreams. Do you see yourself as

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more of a story teller than a writer? Do you see what I mean?

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I see what you mean. There is a difference. For a story teller it

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is the events that are more important than anything else, how

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they fit together, how the unfold and turn back on themselves, that

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sort of things. Plot is important for me. But, for a writer, I

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suppose words and sentences are the important things and plot is less

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important. They should be of the same importance.

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Do you target as special audience a rage group or does that look after

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itself later on? No, I never do that. It is my own business what I

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write. They can come into the transection -- transaction much

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later on when I have finished. I do not want them looking over my

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shoulder. You were a teacher for years - did it have an impact?

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it did, in two ways, I think. I grew to know what children were

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reading and it gave me a chance to practise story telling. I did that

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because I was allowed to. There was no national curriculum to tell me

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what to do. So I told them stories, all sorts of stories. That was a

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great apprenticeship that I had. Very few people have the chance to

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do that now. I was able, for example, to tell the Ailey at 30

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times in ten years. -- Iliad. you set out to tell moral tales?

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Every type of voice is moral, whether we wanted to be or not. If

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you do something seriously with all your mind and strength, as you do

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when you're writing a book, your moral values will come through. You

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cannot help in coming through. Inevitably they will be there.

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you see yourself as an agnostic or an atheist? In the strictest sense

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I would say agnostic, because I do not know. The world, the universe

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is much bigger than my understanding of it. I have been

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persuaded by no rational argument that we have to have a God, so, on

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a small scale, I am an atheist. would it take you to come but --

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what would it take to convince you that there was a god? And direct

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