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tough times. Now it is time for a Five Minutes | :00:05. | :00:15. | |
:00:15. | :00:16. | ||
With... Special and a selection of interviews timed against the clock. | :00:16. | :00:24. | |
In a nutshell, how did you become a comedian? It is very hard to | :00:24. | :00:34. | |
:00:34. | :00:37. | ||
perform, the in a nutshell. I started by running a comedy club. | :00:37. | :00:45. | |
D'you think you're stale has changed over the years? Yes, I | :00:45. | :00:55. | |
:00:55. | :00:56. | ||
think it has become more anecdotal. How do you get ideas? Do you sit | :00:56. | :01:04. | |
down and think, right I have to be funny. Nor, ideas just come to you. | :01:04. | :01:08. | |
Or maybe you might get any money back from something which happened | :01:08. | :01:17. | |
10 or eleven years ago. Do you change your routine as relates to | :01:17. | :01:25. | |
what audience are in front of you? No, if you maybe feel that one | :01:25. | :01:29. | |
audiences particularly smarter than another, your mates Jane some of | :01:29. | :01:34. | |
the material. But you're only relieve the pain it a few minutes | :01:34. | :01:44. | |
:01:44. | :01:48. | ||
here or there. How many inmates are you doing on tour? I can do up to | :01:48. | :01:58. | |
about 140, including the Edinburgh Festival. Is that not exhausting? | :01:58. | :02:01. | |
Yes, but as there is hardly something I go on about. The | :02:01. | :02:05. | |
audience do not want to hear about some guide that the thing on my | :02:05. | :02:09. | |
works to our words are made up on stage morning about his work | :02:09. | :02:19. | |
:02:19. | :02:32. | ||
schedule. Do you do any offence of comedy? I do not really do a lot of | :02:32. | :02:35. | |
that stuff. I cannot really be bothered with the hassle of then | :02:35. | :02:45. | |
:02:45. | :02:47. | ||
having to justify myself afterwards. Do you move about the stage a lot? | :02:47. | :02:56. | |
Goodness, you are getting desperate for questions now it! No, I am not | :02:56. | :03:03. | |
really into that style of comedy. A I have seen you marching up and | :03:03. | :03:13. | |
:03:13. | :03:17. | ||
down. For the most part, I am more of the talking person. Sometimes, I | :03:17. | :03:22. | |
must admit, I'd find myself actively thinking that I have not | :03:22. | :03:27. | |
moved from the one spot for quite a while and that that point I will do | :03:27. | :03:37. | |
:03:37. | :03:37. | ||
something. What is the biggest venue that you have played in? | :03:37. | :03:42. | |
lot of the venues are maybe 1,500 people and some of these a bit | :03:42. | :03:52. | |
:03:52. | :03:57. | ||
bigger. But anything more than the 1,500 is a bit daunting. How do you | :03:57. | :04:07. | |
:04:07. | :04:08. | ||
feel when you are about to go on stage? I think it is quite a bit of, | :04:08. | :04:17. | |
let's call, let's do this. Where you a performer of when you were | :04:17. | :04:25. | |
growing up? To be honest, I was not even the funniest person in my | :04:25. | :04:35. | |
:04:35. | :04:39. | ||
family. Who was? My brother was, and still is. Did you go to | :04:39. | :04:46. | |
university? Yes, I studied horticulture at Strathclyde | :04:46. | :04:56. | |
:04:56. | :04:58. | ||
University in Glasgow. Tell me about you're outdoor pursuits. | :04:58. | :05:05. | |
People who are really into claiming, such as the 19 years, I would not | :05:06. | :05:15. | |
:05:16. | :05:18. | ||
put myself in that bracket. many Munro's have you it claimed? | :05:18. | :05:28. | |
:05:28. | :05:29. | ||
have been up 75 of them and also been up Mont Blanc. Do you have a | :05:29. | :05:39. | |
:05:39. | :05:50. | ||
favourite pop star? Madonna. Favourite film? Sexy beast. Did you | :05:50. | :05:59. | |
enjoy being on a strictly come Dancing? Yes, it was great. It is | :05:59. | :06:09. | |
very hard work but I was prepared for that. Do you dance in your | :06:09. | :06:17. | |
spare time? Occasionally, Icy wind, just to make sure that I was | :06:18. | :06:27. | |
:06:28. | :06:30. | ||
getting it right for a Friday night Appearance. Is a very hard doing | :06:30. | :06:38. | |
your job? Yes, I think I have when it my way through it for the last | :06:38. | :06:45. | |
15 years and hopefully there are a few years left. You have lived in | :06:45. | :06:55. | |
Los Angeles for about seven years? What is that like? Fantastic. I | :06:55. | :07:02. | |
would call it Disneyland for adults. I out of London compare to Los | :07:02. | :07:09. | |
Angeles? It is chaos. I love the fact that there are always people | :07:09. | :07:19. | |
:07:19. | :07:21. | ||
coming in and out. You were brought up in Melbourne? Yes, I left when I | :07:21. | :07:24. | |
was 18 and moved here for a couple of years before going out to Los | :07:24. | :07:31. | |
Angeles. My mum has from Southampton and we have Spanish | :07:31. | :07:41. | |
:07:41. | :07:42. | ||
grandparents. For was a like growing up in Melbourne? It was a | :07:42. | :07:49. | |
big mixture of Greek, Italian, Turkish, Chinese. It was the | :07:49. | :07:56. | |
melting pot, which I loved. I miss the people, but I do not think I | :07:56. | :08:03. | |
would live there again. He you have got British citizenship, so what | :08:03. | :08:10. | |
would you consider yourself? would say everything. My mother | :08:10. | :08:18. | |
calls me a citizen of the world. Her do you look back on your time | :08:18. | :08:28. | |
:08:28. | :08:33. | ||
It was amazing. You do not do so many hours with all these people | :08:33. | :08:40. | |
week after week without having good memories. Were age where mate when | :08:40. | :08:48. | |
you started on the programme? 15. It was amazing, but I had a few | :08:48. | :08:55. | |
months where they do not think I would survive. Q get used to being | :08:55. | :09:04. | |
famous? I am still uncomfortable with that. I have learned to hide | :09:04. | :09:14. | |
:09:14. | :09:15. | ||
it and manage it better. Are you very ambitious? I would not say | :09:15. | :09:20. | |
ambitious, but from a very young age, I was always in a rush to do | :09:20. | :09:30. | |
:09:30. | :09:31. | ||
things. Do you still do it any music? I have not released any of | :09:31. | :09:38. | |
my own records, but occasionally I work on other people's records. | :09:38. | :09:46. | |
did you stop? I was simply not having fun. Life is not a dress | :09:46. | :09:51. | |
rehearsal, so if I am not having fun, then I decided is time to move | :09:51. | :10:01. | |
:10:01. | :10:14. | ||
on. Is it nerve-racking working in Los Angeles? It's is very hard work. | :10:14. | :10:20. | |
You simply have to get one programme on and then get on to the | :10:20. | :10:26. | |
next one. You do not have time to think about it. What are your | :10:26. | :10:33. | |
favourite things? I like racing cars and other boys' stuff like | :10:33. | :10:43. | |
:10:43. | :10:48. | ||
You have not said I am going to pit a battery in. Could she counters | :10:48. | :10:58. | |
:10:58. | :11:02. | ||
down to the start of the five minutes? Yes, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. What | :11:02. | :11:10. | |
is the best bit about being a musician. The I think he gives me | :11:10. | :11:19. | |
the opportunity to campaign. What is you're strongest point in that | :11:19. | :11:26. | |
respect? Mythic love songs are actually the best, because they are | :11:26. | :11:34. | |
very personal and you can draw other people in. What is it like | :11:34. | :11:41. | |
being on stage? It is fantastic. It is the best buys and I get paid for | :11:42. | :11:51. | |
:11:52. | :11:53. | ||
it. And you get that lot of feedback from the audience? Yes, I | :11:53. | :12:03. | |
:12:03. | :12:06. | ||
talk to them throughout the concert. I do a bit of Max Miller. | :12:06. | :12:10. | |
Afterwards, it is interesting to talk to other people and that is | :12:10. | :12:18. | |
how you meet other activists and things like that. Do you have a | :12:19. | :12:25. | |
musical hero? I have several of them. I was very influenced by | :12:25. | :12:32. | |
Smokey Robinson and Bob Dylan when I was younger, Johnny Cash. And of | :12:32. | :12:40. | |
course, Woody Guthrie. Where do you get ideas from songs, from | :12:40. | :12:48. | |
observing people? I think the idea for a song comes from something | :12:48. | :12:55. | |
when you think you have something to say. What you want to do it is | :12:55. | :13:05. | |
:13:05. | :13:07. | ||
tell something which people do not know. Do you feel you still have | :13:07. | :13:13. | |
development to goal as the musician? I would never have said | :13:13. | :13:19. | |
they was a great musician. I have been very fortunate to be able to | :13:20. | :13:27. | |
use the small tools that I have been given to forge a career. | :13:27. | :13:34. | |
did you first start playing? about 16 I picked up the guitar | :13:34. | :13:39. | |
because a neighbour played 1. But I have been writing poor young and | :13:39. | :13:49. | |
:13:49. | :13:55. | ||
things like that from the age of 12. When did you want to be a musician? | :13:55. | :14:01. | |
I seem to be heading for a career in the car factory in Dagenham and | :14:01. | :14:06. | |
I did not want to do that. And I was no good at boxing or football, | :14:06. | :14:16. | |
:14:16. | :14:17. | ||
soul music seemed the next thing. What do you think you're music says | :14:17. | :14:27. | |
:14:27. | :14:28. | ||
to people? It is about being English. But the thing is, that | :14:28. | :14:34. | |
that means different things to different people. It is about | :14:34. | :14:41. | |
belonging more than blood and soil. Do you think in the United system | :14:41. | :14:49. | |
there is a class system in this country? Yes, there is a class | :14:49. | :14:59. | |
:14:59. | :15:07. | ||
I think people would try to ignore it. The language of Marxism, I do | :15:07. | :15:10. | |
not think it is much help in trying to describe the world, but the | :15:10. | :15:14. | |
things that Marx was talking about have not been resolved and we have | :15:14. | :15:19. | |
to find a way to resolve those things, and class plays into that. | :15:19. | :15:29. | |
:15:29. | :15:30. | ||
What are your interests outside of music and politics? Reading, | :15:30. | :15:36. | |
walking, my family trees. I have been doing that since I was 15. | :15:36. | :15:40. | |
Where were you brought up? Barking in east London. Do you have a | :15:40. | :15:44. | |
favourite author? George Orwell, both for his fiction and political | :15:44. | :15:50. | |
writing. Do you listen to classical music as much yes, I am a big fan | :15:50. | :15:56. | |
of Vaughan Williams. Life philosophy - do you have one? | :15:56. | :16:03. | |
do it yourself. Thanks very much. Didn't feel a | :16:03. | :16:09. | |
thing. 4, 3, 2, 1. | :16:09. | :16:15. | |
Do you listen to lots of music? do. I go through phases when I | :16:15. | :16:20. | |
listen to more. Sometimes more than others. Since becoming a mother, my | :16:20. | :16:24. | |
life has changed so much that I do not listen to it as much as I did. | :16:24. | :16:28. | |
The you have a favourite singer of all time? That is a very difficult | :16:28. | :16:32. | |
question. I do not think I could see one particular. Can I name a | :16:32. | :16:42. | |
:16:42. | :16:53. | ||
few? Of very quickly. Dusty Springfield, Annie Lennox, Jessie J. | :16:53. | :16:57. | |
What was it like embarking on a solo career after the Spice Girls | :16:57. | :17:07. | |
:17:07. | :17:11. | ||
prop up? It was scary and exhilarating. | :17:11. | :17:14. | |
I laughed at being part of the Spice Girls and that is an | :17:14. | :17:17. | |
incredible part of my history, but being a solo artist is my real | :17:17. | :17:22. | |
passion. You have finished your fifth solo while bomb - how would | :17:22. | :17:27. | |
you describe the sound? I would say that this album is quite eclectic- | :17:27. | :17:33. | |
sounding. It is a pop record but it is beautifully produced. I love so | :17:33. | :17:36. | |
many different styles and you will find it all on there. It is | :17:36. | :17:41. | |
inspired with some rock, some dance, there is an acoustic number. It is | :17:41. | :17:44. | |
quite atmospheric and dramatic, there are some beautiful string | :17:44. | :17:49. | |
arrangements. Do you think the lyrics in the | :17:49. | :17:54. | |
songs using influence people? think they can. I really think they | :17:54. | :17:59. | |
can. And I have sat -- I have had some really positive, lovely | :17:59. | :18:05. | |
feedback over the years from fans, saying how 0, often, lyrics and | :18:05. | :18:09. | |
songs can help them through difficult times. What was it like | :18:09. | :18:17. | |
becoming so famous so young? It was insane, exciting, scary. It was | :18:17. | :18:21. | |
exhilarating and it was very interesting. Was it difficult to | :18:21. | :18:27. | |
handle? Yes, very difficult. I do not think anyone can prepare you | :18:27. | :18:32. | |
for something like that, probably a bit like having a child. You can | :18:32. | :18:35. | |
read the books and speak to experienced people but, until it | :18:35. | :18:40. | |
happens to you, you do not know how you will be affected. Tell me about | :18:40. | :18:48. | |
live performance? Does that give you a thrill? Yes. For me, the live | :18:48. | :18:53. | |
performances the end goal. Being in the studio, promoting, it is all | :18:53. | :18:58. | |
about getting up on stage and performing live. This is why I | :18:58. | :19:04. | |
wanted to do this. I love to perform. Do you enjoy going on | :19:04. | :19:11. | |
tour? Yes, but there are negatives. Travelling Sandy can -- travelling | :19:11. | :19:21. | |
:19:21. | :19:21. | ||
can be so tedious. But it is the best part of what I do. | :19:21. | :19:24. | |
Keeping some of your fans from the Spice Girls days have stayed with | :19:25. | :19:34. | |
you? Yes, definitely. I would love to know if there are any fans of me | :19:34. | :19:40. | |
who were not Spice Girls fans. Growing up, did you have any idea | :19:40. | :19:44. | |
of what she wanted to be in life? Yes, I did. From quite a young age | :19:44. | :19:50. | |
I wanted to be a pop star and work in music. Either that or an Olympic | :19:50. | :19:54. | |
gymnast. Do you still do gymnastics? The occasional back- | :19:54. | :20:02. | |
flip. I was quite young when I had to make the decision to continue | :20:02. | :20:06. | |
with my dance training or gymnastics. They were not really | :20:06. | :20:16. | |
complementing each other. No late bid for 2012? I am hoping | :20:16. | :20:20. | |
there might be a little place for me somewhere! Do you play lots of | :20:20. | :20:25. | |
different sports? I don't, you know. I have not really played sports | :20:25. | :20:31. | |
since I was at school. A lot of guys continue to play football in | :20:31. | :20:35. | |
pub teams and so forth, but, for girls, maybe I need to find a | :20:35. | :20:40. | |
netball team or something. Is it right that you did a duet with your | :20:40. | :20:50. | |
:20:50. | :20:50. | ||
mum or your music GCSE? Yes, I did. It was the practical part of the | :20:50. | :20:55. | |
music GCSE. It has probably changed by now. I have performed with her | :20:55. | :20:59. | |
on a few occasions. She is a singer and she still sings. Do you think | :20:59. | :21:07. | |
you'll have a normal life? There are lots of normal aspects to | :21:07. | :21:11. | |
it but it would be unrealistic to say it is really normal. | :21:11. | :21:21. | |
:21:21. | :21:23. | ||
That is five minutes. That was a bit pathetic, that rain! -- ring. | :21:23. | :21:29. | |
Are you a big reader? Yes, omnivorous. I read every type of | :21:29. | :21:37. | |
book. I do not read him strictly or according to our religious schedule | :21:37. | :21:43. | |
a stop if a book loses my interest I lose interest in the book. Do you | :21:43. | :21:48. | |
have a favourite book? A favourite? Yes, I think my favourite is called | :21:48. | :21:54. | |
The Magic Pudding. It is the funniest children's book ever | :21:54. | :21:58. | |
written. I grew to love it when I was about eight years old. It is | :21:58. | :22:05. | |
wonderful. Do you have a favourite film? Yes, The Magnificent 7. | :22:05. | :22:12. | |
favourite composer? That is much more difficult. Sometimes it is | :22:12. | :22:22. | |
:22:22. | :22:24. | ||
Mendelssohn sometimes it is Beethoven. Metner Is a wonderful | :22:24. | :22:29. | |
Russian composer. Do you listen to pop music? I have | :22:29. | :22:35. | |
a soft spot for pop music that was there when I was a child. Did you | :22:35. | :22:42. | |
want to be on offer when you were growing up? I think I did. I always | :22:42. | :22:45. | |
wanted to write stories. When I realised that the person whose name | :22:45. | :22:49. | |
was on the front of the book got paid as well, I thought that was | :22:49. | :22:59. | |
amazing. Did you have a big imagination as a child? I do not | :22:59. | :23:03. | |
think it was compared to other children. I liked playing with it | :23:03. | :23:07. | |
and telling stories and getting lost in it. Do you think that | :23:07. | :23:11. | |
storytelling is important? Well, it is something that we all do, even | :23:12. | :23:15. | |
if we do not think we are doing it. The difference, I think, between | :23:15. | :23:22. | |
someone who does a professionally and someone who doesn't is that we | :23:22. | :23:26. | |
recognise when a story has possibilities, we know what to do | :23:26. | :23:31. | |
with it. Many people think they have no ideas and which they could. | :23:31. | :23:36. | |
The do, they just called in daydreams. Do you see yourself as | :23:37. | :23:40. | |
more of a story teller than a writer? Do you see what I mean? | :23:40. | :23:44. | |
I see what you mean. There is a difference. For a story teller it | :23:44. | :23:47. | |
is the events that are more important than anything else, how | :23:47. | :23:51. | |
they fit together, how the unfold and turn back on themselves, that | :23:51. | :23:57. | |
sort of things. Plot is important for me. But, for a writer, I | :23:57. | :24:02. | |
suppose words and sentences are the important things and plot is less | :24:02. | :24:05. | |
important. They should be of the same importance. | :24:05. | :24:10. | |
Do you target as special audience a rage group or does that look after | :24:10. | :24:15. | |
itself later on? No, I never do that. It is my own business what I | :24:15. | :24:19. | |
write. They can come into the transection -- transaction much | :24:19. | :24:23. | |
later on when I have finished. I do not want them looking over my | :24:23. | :24:31. | |
shoulder. You were a teacher for years - did it have an impact? | :24:31. | :24:40. | |
it did, in two ways, I think. I grew to know what children were | :24:40. | :24:44. | |
reading and it gave me a chance to practise story telling. I did that | :24:44. | :24:50. | |
because I was allowed to. There was no national curriculum to tell me | :24:50. | :24:57. | |
what to do. So I told them stories, all sorts of stories. That was a | :24:57. | :25:01. | |
great apprenticeship that I had. Very few people have the chance to | :25:01. | :25:06. | |
do that now. I was able, for example, to tell the Ailey at 30 | :25:06. | :25:16. | |
:25:16. | :25:22. | ||
times in ten years. -- Iliad. you set out to tell moral tales? | :25:22. | :25:27. | |
Every type of voice is moral, whether we wanted to be or not. If | :25:27. | :25:30. | |
you do something seriously with all your mind and strength, as you do | :25:30. | :25:35. | |
when you're writing a book, your moral values will come through. You | :25:35. | :25:38. | |
cannot help in coming through. Inevitably they will be there. | :25:38. | :25:44. | |
you see yourself as an agnostic or an atheist? In the strictest sense | :25:44. | :25:49. | |
I would say agnostic, because I do not know. The world, the universe | :25:49. | :25:55. | |
is much bigger than my understanding of it. I have been | :25:55. | :25:59. | |
persuaded by no rational argument that we have to have a God, so, on | :25:59. | :26:03. | |
a small scale, I am an atheist. would it take you to come but -- | :26:03. | :26:08. | |
what would it take to convince you that there was a god? And direct | :26:08. | :26:13. |