Rum joke
He may have shovelled shit for the most famous racehorse in Grand National history, but LEE MACK is far from being a potty-mouth comic. Jay Richardson chats to a man who loves seeing Germans perform his sketches.
ondon. Paris and Milan. I.ee Mack has played them all successfully and could soon he taking Manhattan too. This spring he stars alongside l'i'tisi't'r‘s Kelsey (irammer in The Sketch .S'lioii'. rcmadc l'or I'S teleyision. in the prestigious hut precarious post-Siiii/iwiis slot on liox. 'I‘he modest Bal‘ta winner will also he inheriting si/eahle audiences for his new Radio 3 show following .lonathan Ross on Saturday s. with Tony Iladley. Stiggs and Stiplllc IiIIls-chttil' amongst the guests. .-\nd he‘ll conlirm his international reputation when he finishes his current tour on the Isle of Mull. ‘It‘s the smallest theatre in Britain.‘ he explains. ‘l‘ye always said I‘d play it since I \‘isited on holiday. years hel‘ore I started staiid-tip.' Depicting a rise to fame as the country's top seyen—yeai'-old comic 'chceky. hut neyer Iiltlc. Mack’s li\‘e act l‘cltllL‘s Ills descent into shcrhet addiction. In reality though. he was l5 hcl‘oi'e he considered comedy as a career. And it took him another lull decade to get on stage. only to depart moments later. ‘I was ruhhish and got hooed ol‘f' straight away. But the second I walked out. I felt at home.~ It‘s a long way from giying
Viewers. But then Mack is Used to working heneath a hig name: 'I really wanted to he a jockey and so I mticked otit Red Rum.‘
Alter hi'inging a lot of material to the collectiye table and presuming it would ney er he aired. he l'eels no \tll‘\'l\'t)l".\ guilt ahout heing the only memher ol‘ the I'K's Sketch S/ioii' team to he asked across the pond. ‘I'ye done enough pilot episodes to think no one will ey er see this programme. Yet there I was in New Zealand and I heard. "You‘re on primetime American 'I'V." 'I'hey‘ye sold the format to so many countries France. (iermany. Israel — and eyeryone remakes it with their own actors. It‘s surreal seeing your own sketches in (ierman because you can‘t speak the language hut you know exactly what they're saying. Iispecially' with the (iermans. If they think the audience isn't getting it. they stick canned laughter on anywayf
Planning a third consecutiye solo show for the Iiringe. developing a sitcom for himsell and (‘atherine 'I‘ate. finishing his tour and looking alter a new baby. this endlessly collaborative. yet sell'-proclaimed control-freak comic is frankly knackered. 'I'ye neyer been so busy as these last six months. I'd like to think I could haye a mansion and swimming pool next year. But there was neyer a master plan. I'm not that cley‘er.‘
The Stand, Fri 11 Mar. 18 THE LIST 3 ~
Kelsey (irammer a hed hath hel‘oi'e millions of
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Top of the poppers
Stewart Lee caused a right old stramash when his first foray into musical theatre made its TV debut in January. Now that the furore over Jerry Springer: The Opera has died down, Brian Donaldson finds a comedian at peace with himself.
'Your life becomes a constant struggle to avoid having to meet Cherie Blair.' You can imagine this coming from the mouth of some criminal who may have to lace the First Lady across a courtroom floor. or from some of the more raucous Blair offspring. But this is. in fact. the abiding memory of Stewart Lee from his last five years' work as co—writer and stage director of Jerry Springer: The Opera.
This funny, fOtll-mouthed slice of musical theatre first stormed the Edinburgh Fringe in 2002 and had the Christians revolting at the start of this year when it finally made its transition from the stage to the BBC. Lee is disappointed in the fuss surrounding the broadcast. but Richard Herring's former partner in comedy crime now has more pressing concerns about the side effects of working on such a project: ‘How can a stand-up who has spent several years working in musical theatre stop himself turning into Ben Elton?’
Well, what Lee can do is simply continue the rich vein of form he showed last August when his stand-up set at the Underbelly led one critic to claim it was among the best shows he'd witnessed in 20 years. Certainly. few performers can get away With arrivrng on stage to a Jazz mess soundtrack, having the front row explode party poppers over his head.
‘I love the idea that you can develop an idea over more than an hour without anyone telling you how it should be done. I also love silences and tension and that feeling that things might not work out.‘ For Stewart Lee. things are beginning to work out very handsomely indeed. (Interview by James Hampton)
I The Stand, Thu 70 Mar.
l The Miller Glasgow International Comedy Festival runs from Thu 10—Sat
26 Mar with all details on the website, www.9lasgowcomedyfestival.com. The ticket hotline is 0870 013 5464.