He may be better known as Never Mind the Buzzcocks team captain, Six Music radio DJ and once closeted Star Wars fanatic, but Phil Jupitus takes to the stage under a different guise this fortnight, as part of legendary 60s loons The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.
You’ve been a busy man over the past 20 years haven’t you? You seem to have had more jobs than the local job centre!
It's ironic that that‘s what my first job was. Y'know. maybe that's it: |'m one of those people with a short attention span. I suppose part of the reason I got into doing what I do was because I just hated the constraints of the day job. The one thing that's stayed with me is: any opportunity that comes along. give it a go. and if it doesn't work then don't do it again. I suppose that I've done a number of things that have just worked out for me. really. Now. DJing at Six Music. it's getting to the stage where this is the longest I've spent doing one thing now. I don't really count Bug/cocks. but the radio show. well. that's been five days a week for five years. I think I've been doing that as long as I did my first ever day job.
Do you think that the comedy scene has
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changed a lot since you started?
More people seem to be doing it now as a career. whereas I wasn’t looking to be doing it as a job. For me it was always a blag. like. ‘l'll do this so I don‘t have to work'. But then the missus did eventually point Out to me. 'you've worked very hard at stand- up. Think of the hours you do. you're writing. you're developing stuff. you go to meetings. and you‘re travelling. Here's what you did at the office . . . you're still working your knackers off now!‘ I never really saw it as that because it was something self- generated I suppose.
What’s you’re enduring memory of your visits to the Edinburgh Fringe?
I remember when I was doing two shows a days — my straight stand up and the Star Wars tribute show and I brought the kids up and. y'know. again I had a great time but I it was mental doing two shows and having the kids as well. I spent more time at the aquarium in Fife than I did at gigs.
So how did the gig with The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band come about?
I‘ve been a huge fan of The Bonzos and. subsequently Neil lnnes (Bon/os pianist) for as long as I can remember. I met drummer Larry 'Legs' Smith when l was live. He used to drink in my uncle's pub. He was the first pop star I ever met! I got Neil on the first year I was DJing at GLR. but it's terrible because when you corner these people. all you do is throw their CV at them: “you did this. and then you did that!‘ and they're like ‘dude. I know!’ Despite all that. when Neil decided that they were gonna do this Bon/os reunion he just thought ‘well. Phil can do this and that. Stephen Fry can do the talky bits. Paul Merton can do this and Ade Edmondson can do this'. When me. Stephen. Ade and Paul were stood at the side of the stage. we were just giggling. we were all instantly 12 again! We were on stage with The Bonzos and you've never met four more arrogantly happy young men in your life.
The Bonzos are one of those little British treasures whose albums got passed around from big brother to little brother . . .
Yeah. very much. The other thing from a personal point of view is that my mum was a big fan of The Bon/os and now I'm on the road with them. It's odd that she's never been able to quantify what I do for a living. It's like. 'I know you do that television Philip but when are you going to get a real job dear?’ There's a bit of that about my relationship with my mum. but to be able to phone her up and say. 'l'm going on tour with The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band'. that's something she understands! She can grasp that. so. if anything. I do the gigs not only out of love but also to shut my mum up.
Yeah, anyone who gets the comedy doesn’t always notice that they are great musicians.
The thing is. the whole music and comedy thing. I mean. if I draw a line through The Bonzos I think that had to become a bit more veiled. I think that Madness are the closest thing to The Bonms we've recently had. and. before that. Ian Dury and The Blockheads I think. Right through to someone like. say. Misty's Big Adventure!
What else have you been up to?
Well. we start the new series of . . . Buzcocks and we‘ve got a new host now. Simon Amstell. We're really looking forward to that. We start recording at the end of the month. and. oddly enough, I'm doing two during the tour. so my two nights off that I‘m getting from The Bon/os tour I'm doing Never Mind The Btl//C()(I/<S. so . . . no rest for the wicked!
I The Bonzo Dog Doe-Dali Band play Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Mon 13 Nov.
It might just be a hangover from one too many Hallowe’en parties, but The List is seeing dead people. Are the deceased really coming back for more?
I Mexican Day of the Dead There's still time to celebrate the memory of our deceased ancestors Aztec stylee with not-at-all-creepy sugar skulls. The Day actually comprises two: All Saints“ Day (1 Nov) and All Souls Day (2 Nov).
I Willow Coffin-Making Workshop If only List Towers was in the Borders we could all head down to this fun. yet practical. weekend workshop on 4 and 5 Nov. Now. where to store a prematurely procured coffin to get the maximum novelty value out of it?
I Death Cab for Cutie Indie band (pictured). Not dead.
I Dead People Fruit Salad Retro London sweet shop Hope and Greenwood has been hitting the national news with these delicacies. The Halloween sweets ditch the euphemisms and go straight for the grossest. oxymoronic title ever. Fruit salad? Yuk.
I Zombies Even the Epic of Gilgamesh mythmakers (circa 210OBC) knew that the way to box office success was via slow-walking. arm-waving, mind-controlled recently unearthed ex-humans. Modern pretenders can take part in the online multiplayer game at www.urbandead.com.
I Dame Barbara Cartland DBE The creator of false romantic possibilities (and resultantly millions of depressed women) was buried in 2000 in a cardboard coffin allegedly out of environmental concern. Her trademark pink nylon attire and make-up (plentiful enough to create an oil slick) are surely more of a threat to local wildlife than a wooden box.
I Thanatology The study of death and dying.
I Steve Irwin Gone but not easily forgotten (we've tried). He Changed Our World — The Steve Irwin Memorial Tribute is released on 13 Nov. The DVD features footage of the memorial service. interviews and the poem The Crocodiles are Crying as a fitting tribute to the animal bothering. but endlessly entertaining, Aussie.
I www.deathclock.com Calculate the number of seconds you have left to live then waste them all fretting as they tick away and you trudge along to your inevitable demise. Yippee! (Suzanne Black)