David Baddiel interviewed for 'Talking Comedy' David Baddiel interviewed by John Pidgeon at The Sound Company, London, for 'Talking Comedy', a BBC Radio 2 programme in which comedians talk about the people that make them laugh. This is the unedited interview, not the programme as broadcast. Summary: [00:01] Recording starts, general chat between John Pidgeon [JP] and David Baddiel [DB] [00:44] JP begins by asking DB who the first people he can remember influencing him were. DB says the first comics to have an impact on him were Monty Python. [01:18] DB says he can’t specifically remember if it was Python or actually Derek & Clive. [01:27] DB said he was laughing at The Goodies before both of those, as well as other things that have not made a lasting impact on him. [01:48] Many years later DB became aware of the notion that there were different types of comedy to sketch comedy, with his introduction to stand-up being Jasper Carrott. [02:52] DB talks about Morecambe & Wise, and how he likes it more now than he did at the time, because Python and Derek & Clive turned him against mainstream comedy during his adolescence, such as Morecambe & Wise or Les Dawson. [04:13] DB says Monty Python could be seen as an example of something that was less funny in hindsight, and says that about 70% of Monty Python’s Flying Circus is rubbish, describing the rest as a triple album of greatest hits. [05:31] JP talks about how much he likes the opening of the Spanish Inquisition sketch with Graham Chapman and Carol Cleveland. [06:47] DB talks about the way actors Michael Palin and Terry Jones lose control of the sketch. [07:41] DB says that the character John Cleese plays in the Parrot Sketch is a recurring character throughout the episode. [08:30] DB talks about how he thinks Terry Gilliam’s animations are visually great but hardly ever funny. [09:48] DB says that Python (and to an extent The Goons) were the first people to realise that there is an innate comedy in certain things, such as cheese. [10:20] DB says that The Goons were more intense and unpalatable than Python, who made that kind of humour more digestible and arguably watered down for general audiences. [11:00] DB wants to listen to the Cheese Shop Sketch. [14:34] DB talks about the formula of high vs low, such as “Kenneth Clark who made Civilisation fighting Jack Bodell in the ring”, or “Chairman Mao & Trotsky on a quiz”, and philosophers playing football. [15:53] DB says that he was not a big fan of The Day Today, because he thinks comedy about TV has been overdone, and more comedy should be about real life. [16:17] DB’s problem with French & Saunders is their over-reliance on parody. [16:57] JP says Stanley Baxter, who he never found funny at all, did the same thing. [17:15] JP goes back to Peter Cook & Dudley Moore, specifically Derek & Clive, which DB goes on to talk about in length. [23:42] JP brings up Sam Kinison and Bill Hicks, and says that he trusts them with certain kinds of subject matters. [24:23] DB talks about how he didn’t like Sam Kinison initially when Denis Leary introduced him to his stand-up. [25:39] DB can’t stand Andrew Dice Clay, because unlike Sam Kinison, he never showed his vulnerability, which DB suspects that Sam Kinison sometimes probably didn’t realise set him apart from other “hate comedians”. [26:51] DB says Kinison’s material about marriage could’ve been like Bernard Manning but actually shows an element of pain. [28:15] JP plays a clip of Sam Kinison. [33:26] DB talks about Bill Hicks. [35:30] DB says that what both Bill Hicks and Denis Leary did with Sam Kinison was make it more liberal and PC for a more mainstream audience. [36:17] JP brings up Alexei Sayle in the context of people as perfomers. [36:45] DB says that comedians should be allowed to say the unsayable, which Alexei Sayle did at the time. [37:30] DB says that Alexei Sayle established the tone of alternative comedy as it is generally understood. [37:44] Ivor Dembina had a similar vocal inflection. [40:58-41:35] Clip of Alexei Sayle [43:02] JP brings up Woody Allen, DB says that Woody Allen connects with Eric Morecambe, in that they are both inherently funny. Jack Benny Bob Hope [46:44] Mort Sahl record, Woody Allen started doing stand-up when he saw Mort Sahl [50:50-51:15] Clip of Woody Allen DB was interviewed by the Jewish Chronicle, talking about how much Jewish comedy influences him. [52:25] Nick Hancock, Bobby Charlton, Gary Davis [56:50] JP brings up Alan Davies saying he used to rant, Jo Brand has a metronomic way of speaking, and DB used to [57:53-58:42] Neil Malarkey and Nick Hancock audio clip [01:01:30] DB used to discuss with both Rob Newman and Frank Skinner clichés and tropes that have been done before. [01:03:42] DB talks about his old comedy partner Rob Newman. [01:06:46] They were never a double act like Reeves & Mortimer, they were two performers who worked together. [01:08:35] DB talks about Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer. [02:09:35] DB thinks that Bob Mortimer has the funnier comedy mind, but that Jim [Moir] has naturally funny bones. [01:10:30] DB talks about the sitcom Friends, which he says is massively underrated by critics despite being popular. [01:10:41] When DB appeared on a chat show in America and praised Friends, the host John Stewart was very negative about it. DB says it’s the best American sitcom, better than Seinfeld and Frasier. [01:11:19] DB says Matthew Perry is one of the best comedy actors in the world. [01:13:06] He likes the soap opera element too, and says that some sitcoms do focus on that too much, specifically the sitcoms of Carla Lane. [01:13:44] DB also admits that he’s a bit in love with Jennifer Aniston. [01:13:56] JP gets DB to record the links. [01:18:30] Recording ends 10/06/1997