4:36pm Friday 24th April 2009
By Sally Churchward
You mention on your website that you have trouble recognising faces – does that get you into any scrapes? “It does really. Sometimes I have no idea who people are – famous people as well.
I’ve been in a dressing room and thought whose that nice friendly lady and it’s been Jo Brand. I just can’t recognise who she is.
I’ve put that on my website mainly so people know then I hope they don’t get so offended when I can’t remember who they are. It happens more often if it’s people I don’t know so well but it can also happen with friends and family if I seem them when I’m not expecting it and I don’t have any idea who they are. I’ve been fully checked – there’s nothing wrong with me, it’s just an idiosyncrasy of my brain.”
You’ve been described as being like Kenneth Williams on acid – does he or any other comedians particularly inspire you? “I liked Frankie Howard but I didn’t really have any comedic inspirations when I started – I’d never really seen any comedy. In fact, when I did my first show I didn’t realise comedians are supposed to write jokes. I thought they just made things up so that’s what I used to do. It was quite scary. When I did my first show I was so nervous I almost just ran out and when I went on stage I was so nervous that even though I had a microphone, my voice was so quiet that no one could hear it. For two minutes no one could hear anything I said! They knew I was new to comedy so they made allowances for it.
But everyone was very tense waiting for me to say something they could hear.”
You were studying mathematics when you started in comedy. What do you think your life would be like now if you’d stuck to that path? “I thought I’d be an accountant or maybe an actuary – go down the exciting route.
Then I decided to go into show business. I thought it would be more interesting. I can’t even imagine what my life would have been like if I’d stuck to maths. For a start I’d have to get up in the morning and go to work. I did work nine to five 12 years ago for six weeks at a recruitment firm. My boss said he only took me on because I said I wanted to be a comedian. When I went for the interview he looked really bored and I was going on a lot of rubbish about how I was really interested in admin. You could see his eyes glazing over. Then I said ‘actually, I’ve no interest in your job at all. I want to be a comedian.’ And he said he’d take me on.”
You’ve got a fan club – the Paul Foot Connoisseurs. Have any of them particularly impressed you by the lengths they’ve gone to in their fandom? “Some follow me all round the country and come hundreds of miles to see me. It says on my website that according to the Guild of Connoisseurs, if you see me you should bow to me and I bow back. Some of them do that when I’m not expecting it, in an airport or something. Sometimes I think ‘why are they bowing to me?’ then I think, ‘oh yes, I’m the Life President of the Guild of Connoisseurs and I bow back.”
Do you know automatically what will make people laugh? “I think I know in my head if it’s funny and I go on stage and say it. The enthusiasm in my head translates to the audience and they laugh – unless they get it wrong and don’t and then I regret it. I just notice things and keep all these thoughts in my head going round. When I go on stage the thoughts come out in some order.
Sometimes I just make things up on stage.
I never sit at a computer and write because I think it’s boring. I find as soon as you put a computer on it destroys any creative thoughts. When you’re writing it’s always more creative if you write on scraps of envelopes.”
What was the last thing that made you really laugh? “I laugh at really stupid things. I was at a wedding and after the vicar had made a long speech he slightly stumbled and that was enough to make me laugh for about three hours. I actually slightly ruined the wedding. I often laugh at times when you’re not supposed to laugh.”
■ Paul Foot is in the Comedy Bar at The Nuffield theatre on Sunday with support from Gerry Howell, Vikki Stone and MC Chris Mayo. Tickets: £9. Box office: 023 8067 1771. Paul also has a monthly slot at Hamptons in Southampton. The next one takes place on May 20.
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