A drink with Wil Hodgson
First comedian: Wil Hodgson, Chippenham, Wiltshire - 27/01/2012
I had first seen Wil Hodgson many years ago in Edinburgh, during the festival, admittedly I was fairly drunk, but I distinctly remember being blown-away by him, he was amazing. I had heard his name online, but had never seen his act before, it was most definitely a highlight of the festival that year. For those of you who are not aware of Mr Hodgson, (shame on you), he is an amazing story-teller, a brilliant stand-up, specialising in material involving such subjects as his collecting of My Little Pony, Care Bears & Rainbow Brite toys, Chippenham and various other anecdotes, etc, his act is hard to describe really, it's a "must see" act, genuinely. I had been a fan of his for many years, in fact, that year, when I got back from Edinburgh, I e-mailed him asking for his autograph, and he very kindly obliged. Now, I knew he was obviously nice, (he did send me a signed pic), but I couldnt help being a bit nervous, after all, this is a strange event for all concerned, I'm essentially stalking him, in his hometown, having informed him I'm a massive fan of his, so I was beginning to worry....a lot. But too late, it was the morning of the "meet", so I packed my bag and left for the station.
So, the train on the way to Ipswich, (my first stop obviously, as Felixstowe has one destination, that being it), smelt like a giant, sweaty trainer, a cheesy one in fact. I only mention this as this was a theme of the day, as the next train I caught to London liverpool street smelt also, and the same aroma, I began to get paranoid.....but I checked, it was all good, (I had bathed and got clean clothes on, but hey, paranoia is paranoia). When I got to London, I was scared of the subway, yes, that's right, 29 year old married father of two me, scared of the subway, I figurd I'd get lost, so I grabbed a black cab to take me to Paddington station. the cabbie opened up our "conversation", (although it was more like him talking at me), with the line "what's in Paddington", whereupon I informed him I was going to catch a train to chippenham, the rest of the conversation bears repeating, really, here it is, verbatim;
Cabbie: I took a fare to Chippenham once, do you follow football?
Me: Nope
Cabbie: Oh, he's a football pundit, he was ok
Me: Cool....I'm going to Chippenham to meet a comedian
Cabbie: Which one?
Me: Wil Hodgs...
Cabbie: I tell you what comedy I cant stand?
Me:....on
Cabbie: Female ones
Me: Oh, really? That's a bit of a generalisat....
Cabbie: nah, I can't stand them, they're all rubbish....except Joan Rivers, she's ok
Me:...ion
Cabbie: Here, I tell you who was good.........Bob Monkhouse, amazing he was. All comedians now are rubbish, they haven't a clue.
Me: Oh, well, again, I think there are a lot of very go....
Cabbie: Hey, this will interest you, I was in a film once, Cliff Richards first one, I played a cabbie in it, I was an extra, it was so boring, just sat around all day. Have you seen that film?
Me:.....um, no, I don't think so, sorry.
Cabbie: So, you're off to see a comedian, here, tell him this one, he can have this one for free.......a man is walking through a forest when he spots an urn, so he gives it a rub, a genie appears and says "you can have one wish, what will it be?", the man thinks for a while and says "I'd like a prick that touches the floor", the genie says "WALLAH" and the mans legs disappear...
Now, first of all, I'm glad he didn't want Wil to pay for this joke, because he didnt give me an address for him to pass on cash for it, (I know sarcasm is the lowest form of wit and all that, but I feel it's needed here), and secondly, he also spouted a bit of racism, which I just don't like, and wanted to get out the cab a.s.a.p. Luckily by the time he'd told me; "I had Shirley Bassey in here too, she was ok, but a bit chatty", I had reached my destination, the last train to Chippenham was lovely, but bizarre too.....
I was seated next to a man who I recognised, but I couldn't place him at all, I kept glancing at him, then it hit me, I asked him "is your name Derek?", he said yes, then I said my boys are fans of his, to which he replied "Ah, Milkshake fans then", it was Derek off of channel 5's "Milkshake" show. After this exchange of words, we sat in an embarassed silence.
After getting completely and hopelessly lost, I got a taxi to the guest house I was staying at, (luckily this time, the taxi driver was nice), the guest house was amazing, the couple who run it, Mike & Jean are two of the nicest people I've ever met, and I can honestly say their guest house, (London Road Guest House, Chippenham - stay there if you get the chance, it's a genuinely brilliant place, perfect), was the best one I've ever stayed at, making my visit even nicer. Now here's the weird part....in the front room of the annex I had rented, was a stereo with a stack of cds on top of it, I thought I'd flick through them, but imagine my surprise when I found the following two dvds, (the only two there I hasten to add); Serious Charge & Bingo Bongo...
That's right, two of Cliff Richards first films!!!!! I flicked through them both and it's true, the cab driver was in one of them, as a cabbie, for about 30 seconds! I took this as a good omen, laughed for ages about it, then got ready and headed out to the Three Crowns pub, Chippenham to meet Wil Hodgson.....
When I got to the pub, Wil was already there, standing at the bar, so I approached the bar first, figuring I should look professional, so ordered a pint of ale, which even now, I couldnt tell you what it was, it was Very, very strong however, then I introduced myself to Wil, he said hi, then suggested we go to a quieter part of the pub so as to do the interview, etc. I was a lot more relaxed by now as he was really friendly, which was good, considering the bizarre situation we were in. I did notice he was survey my chest wuit e bit when we first met, which I thought was odd, luckily this was explained later on, when he asked me what t-shirt I was wearing, wnd when I showed him it was a Miles davis- on the corner one, he was impressed, then made me show all of his friends, which was odd, but I felt like I'd been "included", which was nice, in fact, every single person Wil introduced me to that night, (Wil is a much-liked individual in his local, everyone was glad to see him, in fact one person sumed it up to me with the sentence "I've never seen him do comedy, as I dont come here on comedy nights, however, we all love Wil, he's a lovely chap"), was interesting, friendly and warm. We spoke for ages, I went well over my designated half hour, I stayed until about midnight, so four hours in total, and it was a really good night. The interview was really interesting, I enjoyed it immensely. I also found out over the course of the night that nearly all of the comedians I've asked to meet up with are personal friends of Wil's, notably Ian Cognito, Brian Damage & Krystal, all of whom Wil holds in extremely high regard, in fact he even said had he have known I'd arranged to meet Ian Cognito as well, he would have asked him to be there last night as well.
Oh, as Wil didn't pick a scavenger item in time, I picked one for him, it was a "wrestlemania album cassette", which he seemed to like, he has a good sense of humour, so I figured he may like it, it is a classic album, in a severely tongue-in-cheek way.
Wil made me feel welcome in his local, introduced me to his lovely girlfriend Gemma, his brilliant friends, and also informed me that I was drinking 8.5% ale, which was good really, as I switched to a milder ale after that, he is a truly talented, funny, intelligent, friendly individual, and I'm really happy how the night well, here's to you Mr Hodgson, I salute you!
Here's the interview:
Me: What made you decide to become a comedian?
Wil: I was trying different things at the time, I'd come out of university, and, when I was still at uni I did media performance and I was basically script writing, acting, alexander tecnique and that sort of stuff. I got into the theatre society, we did productions of "West Side Story" and "Cabaret", and I kind of liked the buzz of it all, the rush of adrenaline, being on stage, so I was trying to think of ways to do that after uni. But it's a double-edged sword really, because firstly around here, in Chippenham, if you want to be a writer there's no way you're going to get your work seen at all. You have to get your foot in the door somehow, and there was that, wanting to perform my own scripts and what have you. I tried lots of different things, I was on the dole for a bit, I wound up doing wrestling for a bit, that was when I became aware of Andy Kaufman, I'd watched "Man on the Moon" and learnt a bit about him and his wrestling career, and so decided that would be a way of doing that myself, playing a character, it was good. I'd never really thought much of stand-up really, I'd only gone to see, (with my dad, when I was on holiday in Las Vegas when I was 16), a guy called Jimmie Walker. He was the guy who used to be on that tv show and used to go "Dy-no-mite", it was pretty f*cking awful really, so yeah I never really thought much to stand-up comedy at all.But then when I'd seen man on the moon I realised there were different things you could do with it, so I started from there. I phoned up Jesters in Bristol, which is a horrible club, run by an horrible bloke, did some spots there, died on me arse for a bit, then I met Mark at the "Bunch of Grapes" club and started doing gigs for him and it was a more laid-back environment, so it took me a while to figure out what I was doing comedically, I was doing it for about 3 years before I was doing the act that I'm now more commonly identified with.
Me: If you hadn't have become a stand-up comedian, what do you think you'd have done instead?
Wil: Probably, I'd be sat at home, smoking dope, watching the tv, drinking a lot, I'd probably be a complete f*cking wanker to be honest.
Me: Who were your favourite comedians growing up?
Wil: Growing up, erm, favourite comedians, Laurel & Hardy, Ronnie Barker, Russ Abbott, the Krankies, Freddie Starr, Jimmy Crickett, some Ben Elton stuff, Alexei Sayle stuff. There was a lot of comedy that was on, when there was a boom, passed me by that I wasn't really that arsed about, that I didn't really know anything about, that would be Vic & Bob, Lee Evans, Eddie Izzard, Harry Hill, that sort of stuff completely passed me by, I still watch Laurel & Hardy films now, but that sort of stuff I was never really that into it. Newman & Baddiel were the big ones when I was still at school and I always thought they were wankers, but I worked with Rob Newman years later and I really liked him, I think he's different now, he's doing a different type of act now, which I think is a lot better. I've never met David Baddiel, but I've got no reason to think that he isn't as much of a tool as I thought he was back then.
Me: A lot of your material is very personal to you, about your life and experiences, how much is fact and how much is fiction?
Wil: I think there's a lot of embellishment in there, you see it's like the wrestling thing, the whole suspension of disbelief, which used to apply to wrestling anyway, until they did all of this "stone cold Steve Austen" stuff, where they basically ruined it by chucking all of that aspect away and just having guys in pants. People presume that I'm a big wrestling fan because I used to wrestle, and I was a fan as a kid, but I'm not a fan of what it is now, it's been spoiled. People asked why I wasn't doing support on Mick Foleys stand-up gigs and what have you, but I wouldnt want to, I quite liked him when he was "Cactus Jack", but to be honest I couldn't give a f*ck about Mick Foley. What wrestlings become, actually they've achieved an amazing thing - having a sport full of men in their pants, that women wont watch, there's literally no appeal whatsoever, although there's a guy wearing almost nothing at all, women would sooner f*cking kill themselves than watch it. The reason I mention this is because like how wrestling used to be, I wouldnt want to go through what is and isnt factual, it would ruin it embellishments good, it's what makes a story entertaining. I learnt from my grandad, he was a tremendous embellisher, a really fantastic spinner of bullsh*t, so I learnt from a great master. I mean I wouldnt say I was a character act, but I did learn things from being a wrestler about character.
Me: Your new show, entitled "Kidnapped by Catwoman", how's that coming along?
Wil: It's in the very early stages at the moment, I think what it's going to be about is fetish, it's going to be about sexuality, the crux of it is its about the fetishes and crushes you have growing up, translate and shape you as an adult. The title is fairly self-explanatory, it's what I think is quite a common, early fantasy, it's about that kind of thing. It'll be in some ways a nostalgia show and in some ways not, I'm going to be using powerpoint, which I've always tried to avoid using, but I don't see how I can do this show without using it. I'm also working with other people on this show, it's going to be different set-up to what I've done before, it's being directed by Kate Copstick, who is a good friend of mine, I know some people aren't gonna like that, but I personally, don't give a f*ck about that, I know some people don't like her because they've got the arsehole about some bad review she gave them about 8 years ago or something, or they don't like something she said on "Show me the funny", but there's no-one else I'd work with as a director, she's got a specialist knowledge of, and I'm sure she'd tell you herself, she's worked in a wide range of things, not only a director. I'm also working with Miss Vamp Kin, who is a fetish model who I've sort of known for some years, and who has a lot of the similar views and ideas to me in terms of fetish, and we're gonna be working on some stuff on the show, and also some stuff in her work as well. At the minute, which I think is an interesting project, Miss Vamp Kin uses different personas, and at the moment, she's using one which is essentially a female version of myself, well, my previous look, with the pink mohican and what have you. but this is all going to be up online soon, but yeah, this is a very interesting thing, it's a very exciting thing and this isn't really going to change the minds of people who didn't really like me before, in fact, it's going to reiterate what they might have already thought about me.
Me: I notice that you're a fan of "older style" comedy, like the "Carry ons", etc, do you think there will ever be a return to gentler comedy?
Wil: No, that's it now, it's all over, it's like that "Mrs Browns Boys" thing, which I'm not a fan of, but I think it's f*cking hilarious how it's got peoples backs up, the BBC are ashamed of it, but they have to keep repeating it otherwise they'll be strung up. It's a prime example of when people bang on about the working classes and what they want, they don't have a f*cking clue, I mean, someone who comes home from a long shift at the dog biscuit factory doesn't want to sit and watch Richard Dawkins, or whatever. it appears the majority of the working class actually want is a man dressed up as a woman, swearing, whilst saying "ah beejesus, me tits are on fire" or something, that's as close as you're gonna get.
Me: In regards to comedy, is there anything that you class as taboo?
Wil: Well, I personally don't like chav jokes, they do my head in, I was doing a gig in London, Fulgate I think it was, there was some little tw*t doing about ten minutes of material about people at his workplace, saying they were a bunch of retards, I hate that sort of stuff. You get a lot of comedians that wont do anything racial, but will quite happily take the piss out of poor people, fat people, they'd quite happily call people spastics, they'd quite happily do something like that, and it makes you think what would they do if they were allowed to? Would they take the piss out of black or asian people because they think they think it's wrong or because they'd get into sh*t if they did, if it was acceptable, they'd do it. I think they are the same people who would have been doing black or pakistani jokes in the seventies, they were doing it because that kind of humour appealed more to comedy audiences at the time. That's the unfortunate thing about comedy, is a lot of the kind of people who watch it aren't very nice people, a lot of the people who like stand-up are complete f*cking dicks, you get every office joker, overgrown school bully, they all f*cking love Frankie Boyle, you get some f*cking horrible people coming to comedy really, I prefer doing burlesque, you get nice couples coming to watch it, nice people. Don't get me wrong, you get some brilliant people who watch comedy, some of the best people I've met are people who like comedy, but I've also met some of the biggest tw*ts at comedy shows as well.
Me: What advice would you give to someone considering pursuing a career in comedy?
Wil: Don't watch any other comedy if you've not watched any so far, would be advisable. I think the less you know about comedy the better, because otherwise you end up being derivative. I never watch comedy, I hadn't even seen the epsiode of "Russell Howards Good News" that I was on, until a mate made me sit through it because he wanted me to realise how fast I was talking and how much I f*cked it up, through talking that fast. I've seen bits of "QI" because my girlfriend likes it, I've never seen "Mock the Week", I've never seen the "Mighty Boosh", I used to watch "Never mind the Buzzcocks" when Mark Lamaar hosted it, but not since he left, Phill Jupitus is good though, they should give him a program about music, that would be good, oh and I watch "Peep Show", I like that. The problem is everythings a panel show, even "Room 101" is a panel show now, it's just stupid. So, yeah, my advice is not to watch comedy, don't start out in London, if you're based in London, do gigs elsewhere, go further afield, don't get in that battery thing, I cant remember who came up with the phrase "battery of free-range comics", but it's a good analogy, it was James Cook I think. Don't do pay-for-play gigs, if someone asks you for money to do a gig, tell them to give you money or tell them to go f*ck themselves, if they tell you bring a mate with you, go tell them to go f*ck themselves, don't bring a friend until you know full well what you're doing. Don't put stuff up on youtube, in fact I wouldn't put anything up on youtube, all the stuff of me on there are stuff that was on tv and someone else uploaded it, it's never a good idea. Also, whenever we do gigs in here, we get open spots obviously, and people who apply for them, and the one thing I say when applying for gigs, is don't bullsh*t, you'll be found out. if you did ten minutes in a club once, and Frank Skinner went on after you, it doesnt mean you opened for Frank Skinner, you were just in the same room as him, oh and quotes mean f*ck all, quotes are for posters in Edinburgh. There's Gary Delany , everyones got a quote from him, I know Gary well and I know most of those quotes are made-up or tweaked to suit that person. Don't oversell yourself, if you've been an open-spot for eight years, then that doesnt look good, no-ones given you a paid gig for eight years! Seriously! Just be honest when applying for open spots, the less impressive the better honestly. If you've been going 6 months and only done one gig, that's better than saying you "exploded onto the scene", everybody f*cking explodes onto the circuit now, nobody just goes and does gigs. I dont know how people write about themselves like that, I hate writing about myself, and I have to sometimes, like writing the Edinburgh blurbs, whatever, it does my head in, so I don't know how people can concoct such lies about themselves really.
Me: Ok, now some random questions, here goes, who are your favourite band?
Wil: My favourite band is....could be the Cockney Rejects, especially in the context of reading Jeff Turners book about them, just the honesty of that book, they got given a rough ride, even when they had charting singles, etc. They are the great lost british band in a lot of ways, because they were very much in the same vein as the Small Faces and other groups like that. They were just too real, they were actual east London football hooligans, general mentalists, and no-one knew how to deal with them or what to do with them, especially when they started to move away from punk, they could deal with that, but they werent really punk, they wore sort of Adidas t-shirts, they were just football hooligans. Then they started doing metal and more sort of eccleptic soft rock, and this is a transition over about 2 years, from about 1978 to 1980, it's incredible, a phenomenal transition, I think Jeff Turner is generally seen as being a bit suspect, being a nutter, a bit ignorant and that, but I believe he is actually an unsung genius in a lot of ways, so yeah, I'm going to say the Cockney Rejects. A lot of the music I like is by single artists, because I like reggae and northern soul, so in terms of favoruite band I'm going with the Rejects, I like some Black Sabbath, Sex Pistols, Bad Manners.
Me: Who is your favourite solo artist then?
Wil: Judge Dread the reggae singer, or possibly Burl Ives, Pete Seeger, actually I'm going to go with Pete Seeger, purely for the fact that he's like 90 years old, he never sold out and he's still performing, in fact I think he's 92. His career, as a protest singer, pre-dates not only Bob Dylan, but also the second world war, and Woody Guthrie. There's an amazing amount of people who don't know of him, he's an amazing artist, I'd say he was my favourite if I had to pick just one, especially as hopefully people will go check him out, he's one of my great heroes.
Me: What's your favoruite film?
Wil: Big Fish
Me: What's your favourite comic/ magazine?
Wil: American or british? British - Oink, American - dead heat between Spiderman and Batman.
Me: Ok, the last question, what's your favourite cartoon/ animation?
Wil: I'm going to have to sub-section this one, full-length film would be Pinnochio, cartoon series would be Batfink or the 1967 series of Spiderman. Short cartoon - definitely Bottles, which is a short cartoon by looney toons or someone like that, it's a strange little cartoon about essentially bottles, in a weird dream-like sequence, you've got to watch it.
I had first seen Wil Hodgson many years ago in Edinburgh, during the festival, admittedly I was fairly drunk, but I distinctly remember being blown-away by him, he was amazing. I had heard his name online, but had never seen his act before, it was most definitely a highlight of the festival that year. For those of you who are not aware of Mr Hodgson, (shame on you), he is an amazing story-teller, a brilliant stand-up, specialising in material involving such subjects as his collecting of My Little Pony, Care Bears & Rainbow Brite toys, Chippenham and various other anecdotes, etc, his act is hard to describe really, it's a "must see" act, genuinely. I had been a fan of his for many years, in fact, that year, when I got back from Edinburgh, I e-mailed him asking for his autograph, and he very kindly obliged. Now, I knew he was obviously nice, (he did send me a signed pic), but I couldnt help being a bit nervous, after all, this is a strange event for all concerned, I'm essentially stalking him, in his hometown, having informed him I'm a massive fan of his, so I was beginning to worry....a lot. But too late, it was the morning of the "meet", so I packed my bag and left for the station.
So, the train on the way to Ipswich, (my first stop obviously, as Felixstowe has one destination, that being it), smelt like a giant, sweaty trainer, a cheesy one in fact. I only mention this as this was a theme of the day, as the next train I caught to London liverpool street smelt also, and the same aroma, I began to get paranoid.....but I checked, it was all good, (I had bathed and got clean clothes on, but hey, paranoia is paranoia). When I got to London, I was scared of the subway, yes, that's right, 29 year old married father of two me, scared of the subway, I figurd I'd get lost, so I grabbed a black cab to take me to Paddington station. the cabbie opened up our "conversation", (although it was more like him talking at me), with the line "what's in Paddington", whereupon I informed him I was going to catch a train to chippenham, the rest of the conversation bears repeating, really, here it is, verbatim;
Cabbie: I took a fare to Chippenham once, do you follow football?
Me: Nope
Cabbie: Oh, he's a football pundit, he was ok
Me: Cool....I'm going to Chippenham to meet a comedian
Cabbie: Which one?
Me: Wil Hodgs...
Cabbie: I tell you what comedy I cant stand?
Me:....on
Cabbie: Female ones
Me: Oh, really? That's a bit of a generalisat....
Cabbie: nah, I can't stand them, they're all rubbish....except Joan Rivers, she's ok
Me:...ion
Cabbie: Here, I tell you who was good.........Bob Monkhouse, amazing he was. All comedians now are rubbish, they haven't a clue.
Me: Oh, well, again, I think there are a lot of very go....
Cabbie: Hey, this will interest you, I was in a film once, Cliff Richards first one, I played a cabbie in it, I was an extra, it was so boring, just sat around all day. Have you seen that film?
Me:.....um, no, I don't think so, sorry.
Cabbie: So, you're off to see a comedian, here, tell him this one, he can have this one for free.......a man is walking through a forest when he spots an urn, so he gives it a rub, a genie appears and says "you can have one wish, what will it be?", the man thinks for a while and says "I'd like a prick that touches the floor", the genie says "WALLAH" and the mans legs disappear...
Now, first of all, I'm glad he didn't want Wil to pay for this joke, because he didnt give me an address for him to pass on cash for it, (I know sarcasm is the lowest form of wit and all that, but I feel it's needed here), and secondly, he also spouted a bit of racism, which I just don't like, and wanted to get out the cab a.s.a.p. Luckily by the time he'd told me; "I had Shirley Bassey in here too, she was ok, but a bit chatty", I had reached my destination, the last train to Chippenham was lovely, but bizarre too.....
I was seated next to a man who I recognised, but I couldn't place him at all, I kept glancing at him, then it hit me, I asked him "is your name Derek?", he said yes, then I said my boys are fans of his, to which he replied "Ah, Milkshake fans then", it was Derek off of channel 5's "Milkshake" show. After this exchange of words, we sat in an embarassed silence.
After getting completely and hopelessly lost, I got a taxi to the guest house I was staying at, (luckily this time, the taxi driver was nice), the guest house was amazing, the couple who run it, Mike & Jean are two of the nicest people I've ever met, and I can honestly say their guest house, (London Road Guest House, Chippenham - stay there if you get the chance, it's a genuinely brilliant place, perfect), was the best one I've ever stayed at, making my visit even nicer. Now here's the weird part....in the front room of the annex I had rented, was a stereo with a stack of cds on top of it, I thought I'd flick through them, but imagine my surprise when I found the following two dvds, (the only two there I hasten to add); Serious Charge & Bingo Bongo...
That's right, two of Cliff Richards first films!!!!! I flicked through them both and it's true, the cab driver was in one of them, as a cabbie, for about 30 seconds! I took this as a good omen, laughed for ages about it, then got ready and headed out to the Three Crowns pub, Chippenham to meet Wil Hodgson.....
Oh, as Wil didn't pick a scavenger item in time, I picked one for him, it was a "wrestlemania album cassette", which he seemed to like, he has a good sense of humour, so I figured he may like it, it is a classic album, in a severely tongue-in-cheek way.
Wil made me feel welcome in his local, introduced me to his lovely girlfriend Gemma, his brilliant friends, and also informed me that I was drinking 8.5% ale, which was good really, as I switched to a milder ale after that, he is a truly talented, funny, intelligent, friendly individual, and I'm really happy how the night well, here's to you Mr Hodgson, I salute you!
Here's the interview:
Me: What made you decide to become a comedian?
Wil: I was trying different things at the time, I'd come out of university, and, when I was still at uni I did media performance and I was basically script writing, acting, alexander tecnique and that sort of stuff. I got into the theatre society, we did productions of "West Side Story" and "Cabaret", and I kind of liked the buzz of it all, the rush of adrenaline, being on stage, so I was trying to think of ways to do that after uni. But it's a double-edged sword really, because firstly around here, in Chippenham, if you want to be a writer there's no way you're going to get your work seen at all. You have to get your foot in the door somehow, and there was that, wanting to perform my own scripts and what have you. I tried lots of different things, I was on the dole for a bit, I wound up doing wrestling for a bit, that was when I became aware of Andy Kaufman, I'd watched "Man on the Moon" and learnt a bit about him and his wrestling career, and so decided that would be a way of doing that myself, playing a character, it was good. I'd never really thought much of stand-up really, I'd only gone to see, (with my dad, when I was on holiday in Las Vegas when I was 16), a guy called Jimmie Walker. He was the guy who used to be on that tv show and used to go "Dy-no-mite", it was pretty f*cking awful really, so yeah I never really thought much to stand-up comedy at all.But then when I'd seen man on the moon I realised there were different things you could do with it, so I started from there. I phoned up Jesters in Bristol, which is a horrible club, run by an horrible bloke, did some spots there, died on me arse for a bit, then I met Mark at the "Bunch of Grapes" club and started doing gigs for him and it was a more laid-back environment, so it took me a while to figure out what I was doing comedically, I was doing it for about 3 years before I was doing the act that I'm now more commonly identified with.
Me: If you hadn't have become a stand-up comedian, what do you think you'd have done instead?
Wil: Probably, I'd be sat at home, smoking dope, watching the tv, drinking a lot, I'd probably be a complete f*cking wanker to be honest.
Me: Who were your favourite comedians growing up?
Wil: Growing up, erm, favourite comedians, Laurel & Hardy, Ronnie Barker, Russ Abbott, the Krankies, Freddie Starr, Jimmy Crickett, some Ben Elton stuff, Alexei Sayle stuff. There was a lot of comedy that was on, when there was a boom, passed me by that I wasn't really that arsed about, that I didn't really know anything about, that would be Vic & Bob, Lee Evans, Eddie Izzard, Harry Hill, that sort of stuff completely passed me by, I still watch Laurel & Hardy films now, but that sort of stuff I was never really that into it. Newman & Baddiel were the big ones when I was still at school and I always thought they were wankers, but I worked with Rob Newman years later and I really liked him, I think he's different now, he's doing a different type of act now, which I think is a lot better. I've never met David Baddiel, but I've got no reason to think that he isn't as much of a tool as I thought he was back then.
Me: A lot of your material is very personal to you, about your life and experiences, how much is fact and how much is fiction?
Wil: I think there's a lot of embellishment in there, you see it's like the wrestling thing, the whole suspension of disbelief, which used to apply to wrestling anyway, until they did all of this "stone cold Steve Austen" stuff, where they basically ruined it by chucking all of that aspect away and just having guys in pants. People presume that I'm a big wrestling fan because I used to wrestle, and I was a fan as a kid, but I'm not a fan of what it is now, it's been spoiled. People asked why I wasn't doing support on Mick Foleys stand-up gigs and what have you, but I wouldnt want to, I quite liked him when he was "Cactus Jack", but to be honest I couldn't give a f*ck about Mick Foley. What wrestlings become, actually they've achieved an amazing thing - having a sport full of men in their pants, that women wont watch, there's literally no appeal whatsoever, although there's a guy wearing almost nothing at all, women would sooner f*cking kill themselves than watch it. The reason I mention this is because like how wrestling used to be, I wouldnt want to go through what is and isnt factual, it would ruin it embellishments good, it's what makes a story entertaining. I learnt from my grandad, he was a tremendous embellisher, a really fantastic spinner of bullsh*t, so I learnt from a great master. I mean I wouldnt say I was a character act, but I did learn things from being a wrestler about character.
Me: Your new show, entitled "Kidnapped by Catwoman", how's that coming along?
Wil: It's in the very early stages at the moment, I think what it's going to be about is fetish, it's going to be about sexuality, the crux of it is its about the fetishes and crushes you have growing up, translate and shape you as an adult. The title is fairly self-explanatory, it's what I think is quite a common, early fantasy, it's about that kind of thing. It'll be in some ways a nostalgia show and in some ways not, I'm going to be using powerpoint, which I've always tried to avoid using, but I don't see how I can do this show without using it. I'm also working with other people on this show, it's going to be different set-up to what I've done before, it's being directed by Kate Copstick, who is a good friend of mine, I know some people aren't gonna like that, but I personally, don't give a f*ck about that, I know some people don't like her because they've got the arsehole about some bad review she gave them about 8 years ago or something, or they don't like something she said on "Show me the funny", but there's no-one else I'd work with as a director, she's got a specialist knowledge of, and I'm sure she'd tell you herself, she's worked in a wide range of things, not only a director. I'm also working with Miss Vamp Kin, who is a fetish model who I've sort of known for some years, and who has a lot of the similar views and ideas to me in terms of fetish, and we're gonna be working on some stuff on the show, and also some stuff in her work as well. At the minute, which I think is an interesting project, Miss Vamp Kin uses different personas, and at the moment, she's using one which is essentially a female version of myself, well, my previous look, with the pink mohican and what have you. but this is all going to be up online soon, but yeah, this is a very interesting thing, it's a very exciting thing and this isn't really going to change the minds of people who didn't really like me before, in fact, it's going to reiterate what they might have already thought about me.
Me: I notice that you're a fan of "older style" comedy, like the "Carry ons", etc, do you think there will ever be a return to gentler comedy?
Wil: No, that's it now, it's all over, it's like that "Mrs Browns Boys" thing, which I'm not a fan of, but I think it's f*cking hilarious how it's got peoples backs up, the BBC are ashamed of it, but they have to keep repeating it otherwise they'll be strung up. It's a prime example of when people bang on about the working classes and what they want, they don't have a f*cking clue, I mean, someone who comes home from a long shift at the dog biscuit factory doesn't want to sit and watch Richard Dawkins, or whatever. it appears the majority of the working class actually want is a man dressed up as a woman, swearing, whilst saying "ah beejesus, me tits are on fire" or something, that's as close as you're gonna get.
Me: In regards to comedy, is there anything that you class as taboo?
Wil: Well, I personally don't like chav jokes, they do my head in, I was doing a gig in London, Fulgate I think it was, there was some little tw*t doing about ten minutes of material about people at his workplace, saying they were a bunch of retards, I hate that sort of stuff. You get a lot of comedians that wont do anything racial, but will quite happily take the piss out of poor people, fat people, they'd quite happily call people spastics, they'd quite happily do something like that, and it makes you think what would they do if they were allowed to? Would they take the piss out of black or asian people because they think they think it's wrong or because they'd get into sh*t if they did, if it was acceptable, they'd do it. I think they are the same people who would have been doing black or pakistani jokes in the seventies, they were doing it because that kind of humour appealed more to comedy audiences at the time. That's the unfortunate thing about comedy, is a lot of the kind of people who watch it aren't very nice people, a lot of the people who like stand-up are complete f*cking dicks, you get every office joker, overgrown school bully, they all f*cking love Frankie Boyle, you get some f*cking horrible people coming to comedy really, I prefer doing burlesque, you get nice couples coming to watch it, nice people. Don't get me wrong, you get some brilliant people who watch comedy, some of the best people I've met are people who like comedy, but I've also met some of the biggest tw*ts at comedy shows as well.
Me: What advice would you give to someone considering pursuing a career in comedy?
Wil: Don't watch any other comedy if you've not watched any so far, would be advisable. I think the less you know about comedy the better, because otherwise you end up being derivative. I never watch comedy, I hadn't even seen the epsiode of "Russell Howards Good News" that I was on, until a mate made me sit through it because he wanted me to realise how fast I was talking and how much I f*cked it up, through talking that fast. I've seen bits of "QI" because my girlfriend likes it, I've never seen "Mock the Week", I've never seen the "Mighty Boosh", I used to watch "Never mind the Buzzcocks" when Mark Lamaar hosted it, but not since he left, Phill Jupitus is good though, they should give him a program about music, that would be good, oh and I watch "Peep Show", I like that. The problem is everythings a panel show, even "Room 101" is a panel show now, it's just stupid. So, yeah, my advice is not to watch comedy, don't start out in London, if you're based in London, do gigs elsewhere, go further afield, don't get in that battery thing, I cant remember who came up with the phrase "battery of free-range comics", but it's a good analogy, it was James Cook I think. Don't do pay-for-play gigs, if someone asks you for money to do a gig, tell them to give you money or tell them to go f*ck themselves, if they tell you bring a mate with you, go tell them to go f*ck themselves, don't bring a friend until you know full well what you're doing. Don't put stuff up on youtube, in fact I wouldn't put anything up on youtube, all the stuff of me on there are stuff that was on tv and someone else uploaded it, it's never a good idea. Also, whenever we do gigs in here, we get open spots obviously, and people who apply for them, and the one thing I say when applying for gigs, is don't bullsh*t, you'll be found out. if you did ten minutes in a club once, and Frank Skinner went on after you, it doesnt mean you opened for Frank Skinner, you were just in the same room as him, oh and quotes mean f*ck all, quotes are for posters in Edinburgh. There's Gary Delany , everyones got a quote from him, I know Gary well and I know most of those quotes are made-up or tweaked to suit that person. Don't oversell yourself, if you've been an open-spot for eight years, then that doesnt look good, no-ones given you a paid gig for eight years! Seriously! Just be honest when applying for open spots, the less impressive the better honestly. If you've been going 6 months and only done one gig, that's better than saying you "exploded onto the scene", everybody f*cking explodes onto the circuit now, nobody just goes and does gigs. I dont know how people write about themselves like that, I hate writing about myself, and I have to sometimes, like writing the Edinburgh blurbs, whatever, it does my head in, so I don't know how people can concoct such lies about themselves really.
Me: Ok, now some random questions, here goes, who are your favourite band?
Wil: My favourite band is....could be the Cockney Rejects, especially in the context of reading Jeff Turners book about them, just the honesty of that book, they got given a rough ride, even when they had charting singles, etc. They are the great lost british band in a lot of ways, because they were very much in the same vein as the Small Faces and other groups like that. They were just too real, they were actual east London football hooligans, general mentalists, and no-one knew how to deal with them or what to do with them, especially when they started to move away from punk, they could deal with that, but they werent really punk, they wore sort of Adidas t-shirts, they were just football hooligans. Then they started doing metal and more sort of eccleptic soft rock, and this is a transition over about 2 years, from about 1978 to 1980, it's incredible, a phenomenal transition, I think Jeff Turner is generally seen as being a bit suspect, being a nutter, a bit ignorant and that, but I believe he is actually an unsung genius in a lot of ways, so yeah, I'm going to say the Cockney Rejects. A lot of the music I like is by single artists, because I like reggae and northern soul, so in terms of favoruite band I'm going with the Rejects, I like some Black Sabbath, Sex Pistols, Bad Manners.
Me: Who is your favourite solo artist then?
Wil: Judge Dread the reggae singer, or possibly Burl Ives, Pete Seeger, actually I'm going to go with Pete Seeger, purely for the fact that he's like 90 years old, he never sold out and he's still performing, in fact I think he's 92. His career, as a protest singer, pre-dates not only Bob Dylan, but also the second world war, and Woody Guthrie. There's an amazing amount of people who don't know of him, he's an amazing artist, I'd say he was my favourite if I had to pick just one, especially as hopefully people will go check him out, he's one of my great heroes.
Me: What's your favoruite film?
Wil: Big Fish
Me: What's your favourite comic/ magazine?
Wil: American or british? British - Oink, American - dead heat between Spiderman and Batman.
Me: Ok, the last question, what's your favourite cartoon/ animation?
Wil: I'm going to have to sub-section this one, full-length film would be Pinnochio, cartoon series would be Batfink or the 1967 series of Spiderman. Short cartoon - definitely Bottles, which is a short cartoon by looney toons or someone like that, it's a strange little cartoon about essentially bottles, in a weird dream-like sequence, you've got to watch it.
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