FirstWord Rob Brydon
Welsh comedy lord, small screen legend, inventor of the ‘small man in a box’ . . . Rob Brydon shares some thoughts on steak, manslaughter and gnomes
First record you ever bought Apart from Rupert Bear, Propaganda by Sparks. Last time you were star struck Meeting Bruce Springsteen.
Last extravagant purchase you made A cashmere scarf. First film you saw that really moved you Barney’s Version.
Last lie you told I never lie.
First movie you ever went on a date to An Officer and a Gentleman, although with hindsight I suspect she didn’t realise it was a date . . . Last time you cried The birth of my son.
First thing you do when you’ve got time off work Slow down. Last great meal you cooked Steak and chips for 14 people, in Cornwall, on holiday.
First crush A girl in Jaws 2. Last book you read The Reluctant Fundamentalist.
First thing you’d do if you ran the country Run away. Last meal on earth – what would it be Ribeye steak, ice cream and Flake.
First song you’ll sing at karaoke ‘Suspicious Minds’. Last time you exploited your position to get something A table at a fully booked restaurant.
First time you realised you were famous Being approached by a stranger in the street. Last time someone criticised your work Even as we speak . . .
First three words your friends would use to describe you That little shit. Last time you bought someone flowers My wife’s birthday.
First object you’d save from your burning home Fire extinguisher.
Last funny thing you saw online A clip of Don Rickles on YouTube. Last crime you committed Arson, manslaughter and assisted suicide. What a night!
First song at your wedding ‘The Laughing Gnome’. Last song at your funeral ‘The Laughing Gnome’.
First great piece of advice you were given Listen.
Last person in the world you’d sleep with Angelina Jolie. Unless she has a change of heart . . . First person you’d thank in an award acceptance speech The Laughing Gnome.
Last thing you recommended to someone The trailer for The Hunt for Tony Blair.
First thing you think of when you wake up in the morning How much sleep did I get? Last thing you think of before you go to sleep How much sleep will I get?
■ Rob Brydon will discuss his memoir Small Man in A Book in ‘An Evening with Rob Brydon’ at the Traverse, Edinburgh, Mon 31 Oct.
WeLike The things making our world just that little bit better
■ We like hearing of new ways to consume our art. We’re all for discovering it via websites, zines, phone apps and now . . . having it chucked into our garden in the style of those American paperboys. That’s the idea behind Papergirl SF, a bicycle-based,
art dispersal system currently on the go in San Francisco. Founder Heather Tompkins got the idea from a concept that started in Berlin in 2006, and now rides around on her bike, lobbing free rolled-up paintings, drawings or self-portraits made entirely
from stamps, onto porches and front lawns. (See papergirl-sf.com for info.) Back in July, The List’s editor gushed after seeing Jarvis Cocker seduce the T in the Park crowd that he would happily ‘buy anthologies of his offhand comments’. A few months on, his wish comes true, with the publication of Cocker’s first book Mother,Brother, Lover (out Thu 20 Oct, Faber & Faber). A compendium of lyrics and commentary from the lanky one, which we expect we shall very much like.
RIGHT NOW ON list.co.uk
All costumed up and nowhere to go? Find a long list of Hallowe’en and bonfire parties and events happening across Scotland, where your bloodstained plastic fangs will be more than welcome, by logging on to list.co.uk/events/halloween
2 THE LIST 20 Oct–17 Nov 2011