Mark Thomas: "There's so many working class voices coming through."

[00:00:00] You Shouldve Been Here Last Week I'm very happy to go back and say that I've got no underwear on if you want. Actually, especially in that voice as well, it's... I know! I sound like... Hello everyone, I've been down the docks till the early hours.

[00:00:50] Now I've got no underwear on. Well, of course you're only fans. OK, so welcome to this new edition of You Shouldve Been Here Last Week, a podcast about the comedy industry, a quick peek behind the comedy curtain run by myself, Steve Gribbin and Paul Ricketts.

[00:01:08] On this week's guest we have comedian, activist, presenter, journalist, actor, columnist, posessor of an honorary doctorate, author and supporter of a lower league football team. They're fantastic, the one and only Mr Mark Thomas. Welcome. Hello. Hello. Hello. Lovely to see you. Yeah, we're fine.

[00:01:27] I just want to ask the first question really, what do you think your first, your earliest comedy influences the things that made you want to be a comedian? Oh, well the first stand-up I ever saw was Tommy Trindall.

[00:01:39] I saw Tommy Trindall as an old musical comic who was kind of like a king to Max Miller. Max Miller wouldn't have him on the bill because he was like a cockney chappy and Miller thought, no, we can't have too many of them around.

[00:01:51] He was like confusing me and Mark Steele. So there was a Trindall Miller right off. And so Miller was very, very popular. Miller was just absolutely, he was king of the musicals. Tommy Trindall, he used to be, he was chairman of Fulham actually,

[00:02:08] and he used to have a little trilby yet and he always, his catchphrase was, you lucky people. My dad took me to see him perform Batsy Town Hall. And it was, this was before it was an art center,

[00:02:23] it was like a Batsy Town Hall and there was, it was a variety bill. So there was a kind of like an early version of the Rolly Poles, which was Les Dawson's dance troupe. So a mixed sized dance group.

[00:02:36] There was a, there was a Glockenspiel player who was very, very cool. There was a magician and there was Tommy Trindall. Now how old was he at that point? He must have been knocking on a bit, was he? He was quite old. He was quite old.

[00:02:53] I was 16 and he was, he was kind of, he was in his 80s or late 70s and he, the old deers had to get up and go out to catch their last bus home. And he was, he was just kept on going for an hour.

[00:03:06] And so he, and so I think I got my sense of timing from Tommy Trindall. He was in a hurry. In an hour. And that was the first stand up was, well it wasn't actually the first comic I saw.

[00:03:19] The first, by the way, if you look at Tommy Trindall online, there are these amazing clips of him performing in the streets to troops in Italy and improvising with what's going on around him. It is absolutely beautiful and you should check it out.

[00:03:34] The first comic, well the first comedian I suppose I saw live was Spike Milligan. And I went to see him perform in Treasure Island, the Mermaid Theatre in London. It was a school trip. And I think I must have been about nine and he was playing Ben Gunn.

[00:03:55] So he came with his mad cheese, cheese. You know, he was just absolutely, a mesmerist. Absolutely mesmerist. He sort of just filled the stage. No one could, no one could go near him. He was amazing. Brilliant.

[00:04:10] And that sort of, even then did I plant the seeds in your mind that you wanted to be a comedian? Yeah, I mean I think it did. I mean I've told this story before but right, my dad was quite the fighter and quite the robust human being.

[00:04:23] Quite the sort of like the paternal patriarch. And he used to, he was self-employed builder. He used to finish his work and he used to have a bath in the morning. So he kept his dirty work clothes on for the evening.

[00:04:36] He had a favourite leather armchair but he didn't want to get his work clothes on the armchair. So literally he would unbuckle his belt and drop his trousers and get in his leather armchair in his long johns, I promise.

[00:04:48] And we would be laughing at Steptoe and Son for being common, right? And Steptoe and Son was really one of the favourite things. Comedy was the one place where you could be free.

[00:05:00] It's where everyone could laugh and express themselves in a house that was walking on egg shells. So for me comedy was really important. And what was interesting the first time I felt the power of a gag? And what it was was as a self-employed builder,

[00:05:17] people used to come and speak to you after tea. Do you know what I mean? Like neighbours would come on the doorstep. You'd wait till everyone had had their tea. Then about seven o'clock, so caught past seven,

[00:05:28] neighbours would ring the doorbell and they'd discuss work on the doorstep that needed to be done. And my dad would have a chat with them and talk about all of that. Kids were never allowed on the doorstep.

[00:05:40] You couldn't go on the doorstep while they were talking about work. Me and my dad watching Steptoe and Son. And there was a joke, two things you need to know about this joke. One is VAT had just been introduced.

[00:05:56] Two, the word totter. Do you know the word totter? A totter, someone who collects scrap metal or picks up scrap metal. We used to use it because my dad was a totter. He used to pick up any bits of copper wire and nails and anything.

[00:06:13] Put them in bags. Once every six months we used to go down to the scrapyard which was in Chelsea Arbor. Where Chelsea Arbor is there was this massive scrapyard. Anyway, I remember watching Steptoe and Son. He goes, where did you come in to visit us?

[00:06:28] Who are you on about? The Prime Minister. What? VAT? What's that got to do with it? Visiting all totters. Now, I'm a topical gag, right? My dad had left the room so he didn't hear it. So I ran to the doorstep,

[00:06:42] Bards passed my dad and goes, when is he going to visit us? And Jim Derby was the neighbour who was on the doorstep talking. And Jim goes, who are you on about boy? And I said, the Prime Minister, he said what?

[00:06:53] I said VAT, he said what do you mean? I said visiting all totters and they laughed. Jim Derby goes, you've got a right one here Colin. And my dad held my hand and let me stay on the doorstep. Oh my God.

[00:07:04] That is truly the power of comedy isn't it? Power of a gag. Wow. I knew I wanted to be a comic. Yeah. From the age of 16 I was telling people I'm going to be a comedian. What did they say to that then?

[00:07:17] I think it varied from good luck to you got the face for it. Exactly. I mean you talked about, one of the major inferences on you was Bertolt Brecht, wasn't it? Yeah. You saw that play and stuff, yeah. I'm 16 and I saw Caucasian Talk Circle.

[00:07:38] And I think it was a stunning moment. It was an absolute stunning moment and it hit me like a, I was profoundly sort of like struck by this. Caucasian Talk Circle, which is a beautiful story and it starts with an argument over who should get land.

[00:07:57] And it was whether it should go to dairy farmers or whether it should go to vegetable farmers or what have you, or cheese makers or the progressive new farmers. And actually you think oh no it's the cheese makers they own the land blah blah blah blah.

[00:08:12] Anyway you have this play, beautiful play, which is almost like the sword of Solomon in its judgment, the Caucasian Talk Circle, where the person who loves a child most drags it from the circle and the person who does can't.

[00:08:26] It's a beautiful play, it's an amazing play and it's like travelling through a sort of like a hellscape of war and what happens to it.

[00:08:34] And at the end of it they come back to this scene and go so the mother who wasn't the real mother but loved the child most gets the child. Just as the people who are going to produce more for the people should get the land,

[00:08:48] which is the new farmers and not the people who hold on to it. And I was absolutely gobsmacked. See this amazing play, hear an argument and have my mind changed at the end of it.

[00:08:58] And actually the idea that you could go into a theatre and have your mind changed is I think just absolutely remarkable. And it's something that really stayed with me. The idea that you can change things, you can influence things.

[00:09:14] I've seen stuff that has made me just go oh my god there's a beautiful play that was made in the association with Northern Stage in Newcastle called Key Change.

[00:09:28] And it's about the, that's the name of the group. They do verbatim plays with women in prison and it's one of the most incredible things. Because you go in there and it opens your eyes and allows you empathy and understanding for a situation that you know nothing of.

[00:09:45] And that's a brilliant thing. It is a brilliant thing. Do you know that by the way, me and Brian, my ex-partner, we always joke that we met him on the pauses during a play.

[00:09:56] It was actually true because we did a Harold Pinter play at Goldsmiths College and many, many years later we were doing a benefit at the Duke of York Theatre.

[00:10:05] And I idolised Harold Pinter but he came into the dress room and we were in the dress room that he was meant to have. And the first thing he said to me was get out of my dressing room you cunt.

[00:10:17] I was like, but Mr Pinter, I break you and dead arms. Brilliant. I was stunned, you know, because he's very angry. I was doing a storytelling show at the Leicester Square Theatre, which used to be called the Notre Dame Hall, where the Sex Pistols played.

[00:10:41] Oh, I didn't realise that. Yeah, if you go in there now it looks like 1950s kind of so-ho sheet. You expect to see Dudley Moore and Peter Cook in the corner with a couple of strippers just chatting about their work prospect.

[00:10:56] It's got a lovely feel to it, but I was doing a storytelling show there and I'd got there early because I was very nervous. There was a whole load of people on the bill including Harry Shearer and his partner.

[00:11:09] Harry Shearer being, yeah, I mean being Spinal Tap and being, you know, the voice of Mr Burns. So what was amazing? I was like really excited. But anyway, I went round to the, there's two sets of dressing rooms on either side of the stage, right? Backstage.

[00:11:28] One is very small with a tiny little cubicle for toilet and sink. The other is smaller, right? No facilities. So I was putting the smallest one, right? But I was there early and I thought I really need to relieve myself in a profound way.

[00:11:50] So I thought I'll use the other dressing room and it's got Harry Shearer written, you know, big thing on it. And I knocked and no one was in. I thought fuck it, I'm really early, I'll use it.

[00:12:02] So I went into this tiny dressing room with the tiny toilet had just finished the pooling process when I heard them coming to the dressing room. Literally they are standing outside the door. The fucking room is so small, right?

[00:12:16] That you can't, you can't go in the fucking toilets, right? With a full bowl and unclean hands. And I think what, and I've got Harry Shearer and his wife about what a foot away from me, right?

[00:12:30] And they don't know that I'm in there and I quickly wash my hands and flush the toilet and walk out and say, I'm terribly sorry. There was no toilet facilities over there. I am on the bill.

[00:12:41] I'm not a random stranger. I am so sorry. And Harry Shearer's partner just went home invasion. Oh my God. I was just thinking what I would have done in that situation was walk out and go, well, obviously I fixed it now so don't worry about it.

[00:13:06] Harry, I'd leave it a bit. I'm the comedy plumber. Let's quickly move on to the early days of this alternative comedy circuit when you started off. I mean, it was quite an exciting time. What was your first ever proper live comedy gig?

[00:13:24] My first gig was an open sport at the White Line in Putney. It was opposite St Mary's Church and St Mary's Church, but it's where they had the Putney debates with Oliver Cromwell and the Levellers arguing for universal suffrage.

[00:13:42] A really significant moment in English history and Cromwell is a bourgeois fuck. So that was opposite there. And I remember who was on the bill. John Lennahan was the compere and Andy Johnson was on the bill as well.

[00:14:01] And Andy Johnson, as you may remember, was Cyril the tortoise. Yes, I'd forgotten that. What he used to do was impersonate tortoises for 20 minutes.

[00:14:14] If he was booked from extended sent, he would put a couple of tea strainers over his eye and do a B for 10 as a filler. And he used to do the B as a Geordie guy. And it's not all hanging around the cake shop with a what.

[00:14:35] But he used to do the tortoise and I don't know if you can remember Steve, he used to purse his lips back and used to stick his fucking tongue out.

[00:14:43] And he used to do a tortoise skiing and he'd put a ski hat on and goggles and go down with his teeth like that and his mouth like that. And it's flying behind him and he was great. And I think round the musician was on.

[00:14:59] Oh, I remember Steve Brown. We used to go down to this jazz pub in Thornton Heath called The Lord Napier and it was like a family thing. Everyone turned up, you went there Sunday, everyone drank round and specialed, which was a young special.

[00:15:15] It was a special bit of mix with ramrod, which is a brown ale and it had a bit of a punch to it. So I was pissed when I went on stage, which was an early lesson. And I died on my ass. Wow. I died on my ass.

[00:15:33] And what was lovely was years later, I'm not going to mention the performer's name, but I will mention that one performer had a horrible time, a horrible time at the comedy store and ended up getting his wallet out in front of the audience.

[00:15:51] I don't even know who you mean. Oh, him the money and going, I don't need you. I don't need you. And it was awful. And it was the late show at the comedy store and I was on afterwards with John Lennahan,

[00:16:07] who had compared me on that very first gig. And awful. The audience were just like, ah, it was so tight. And I was standing there going, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.

[00:16:17] And John just put his hand on me and just said, don't worry, you're great. All you have to do is be half decent and they will love you after seeing that. Yeah. And I walked off and it was great.

[00:16:30] That's another thing we've been talking with a lot of comedies about the weird and strange acts that were around in the early to mid 80s that you just, I mean, there's a certain element of them still going somewhere. But there was so many of them like the Iceman.

[00:16:44] I loved it. The Iceman is now an artist. As you know, the Iceman used to try and melt a block of ice in 20 minutes. He bought a new keyboard. He'd do 40 a file of blowtorch. It was a homage to the method, Sisyphus. It was absolutely brilliant.

[00:16:58] I used to love him, but he's now working as an artist. And I've actually, my partner gave me one of his paintings for a birthday present. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing. It's really, you should check his work out. It's really good. Oh, great.

[00:17:12] By the way, we're talking about strange acts. Remember Chris Looby? Yeah. He got one of the best tackles ever because he used to go and now... There you go. Yeah. He goes, and now this is my impression of, I don't know the names of the best.

[00:17:27] That's an AC 65252. And he did it. And somebody in the audience went, No, mate, that's not an AC 65 DC2. That's an AC 65 DC1. And he went, fucking mad. You don't know your fucking aircraft. They're like, oh, fucking dogs. Brilliant. Right, mate. I love all of that.

[00:17:51] I loved all... Like Chris Looby, my favourite moment of Chris Looby. Apart from seeing him impersonate the band of the Coldstream Guards in front of the Glastonbury audience, the Peace Festival. My favourite moment was the Malcolm where you were at the funeral.

[00:18:08] With Malcolm's funeral, where he got up in the pulpit and he wasn't supposed to be there. And he had tears in his eyes and he said, I wasn't going to do this, but I'm going to do it for the big fella. A spitfire barrel roll. What the hell?

[00:18:24] What the hell? Oh, my God. You had Chris Looby. Right, you had Steve Murray, the teddy bear killer. Oh, he was great, yeah. He was amazing. And he used to come out with that little squirrel, that fluffy squirrel. Look at this, they sell this to the children.

[00:18:45] And he had got a flippin' knife in the tail that... I saw some people getting really upset once with him chasing him out of the building because he kept going, it's not fucking real. It's not a real teddy bear. And then he'd be cruel to the teddy bear

[00:19:01] and people get really upset. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, he was the teddy bear torturer. He used to strap a little Ted to a record deck, turn it up so it faced the audience, put it on 45 and then, or 33, and then go, The Wheel of Death.

[00:19:20] And sometimes if he got pissed off, he'd turn it up to 78. Like, bah! No, he wouldn't do this. There was an act... Malcolm Hardy was involved in it. What happened was during one Edinburgh, there was the military coup in the former Soviet Union.

[00:19:40] And Gorbachev had been kidnapped and had gone missing. And Malcolm knew a Gorbachev impersonator, blew him up and spent the whole day walking around the venue. He goes, it's all right, we found him, is it? Yeah. Stubborn to. Stubborn to. I love your body.

[00:20:00] But all he could say was, Dasvedanya. Like, he'd actually have... He did have like the gravy stone on his face. Oh my God, that is incredible. And the thing was, this bloke, if you got him, I sure him perform, right, all he could say was, Dasvedanya.

[00:20:17] So you'd have the big bah, bah, bah, bah, big fucking military music. And on where he would come, Dasvedanya. And then he would sit down in a chair and sing Elvis Presley's I'll See You Friday. And the reason for it...

[00:20:32] The reason was, he was originally an Elvis impersonator and then he'd lost his hair and had a stroke. So he couldn't stand properly. But all he knew in Russian was Dasvedanya. So he'd come in, so Dasvedanya, sit down. I'll see you Friday.

[00:20:48] And it was just like one of the most bizarre... There were lots... Like Woody Bopp Muddy, who, you know... Yeah, yeah, yeah. He would be, we get all the records or the vinyl. Shall we play it? It's a nailing or a saving.

[00:21:05] Right, and then if you liked the records, you'd cheer for it, and if you didn't, he'd nail it to a bit of wood. Now there would be vinyl junkies going, oh my God! Can you imagine the hipsters, be back? Well, he started doing it with CDs

[00:21:19] and it just didn't translate as well. People don't care about CDs. No, he originally started with a cassette tape and it went into... I remember seeing Andrew Bailey, Podomovsky talking of that, that weren't quite straight. When he used to... He was performing in Hampstead.

[00:21:40] He climbed out of a balcony window. Above a palm. And he climbed out of a balcony window, leaving the windows shattering and slamming in the breeze and then appeared at the back of the room through another balcony window and he leapt one to the other

[00:21:54] to climb in at the back in full Podomovsky gear. Holy shit! Wow! Okay, I mean... Yeah, I mean, they were amazing times. But you've now recently... This is a question we wanted to ask you. You've come back as you're performing more on the circuit.

[00:22:10] I mean, how are you finding it? The comedy circuit of 2024. What's the major differences, do you think, between the last time you were here and now? Well, the major difference is, I think... The level of skill that new comics have is really high.

[00:22:29] You know, when I remember starting out, people were bumbling their way through it. So that's... The level of skill that new comics have is absolutely amazing. The comic's work in the room is dull as shit. It drives me fucking nuts.

[00:22:46] You know, where are you from? What do you do? Are you with this person? I'm here for a joke, not to fill in the stents as you've come. Do you know what I mean? It drives me fucking nuts! No, it just...

[00:22:59] And people don't know how to do it as well, because there's a gentleness to this. Do you know what I mean? You need gentleness and you need wit. You know? And there are comics who do a comic, and I must get used to handling the audience.

[00:23:14] So you get... What we used to do was if you were starting out, you'd try and get a club that you could run so you could have a weekly gig and you'd compare. And that's what people are still doing. And good is a good way of doing it.

[00:23:27] But you've got to have some jokes. You've got nothing substitutes, jokes. Right, and I think there's a real... There's an interesting thing. The audience think they're in the moment because they're seeing something special. Yeah. But it's being videoed. And it will end up going on TikTok.

[00:23:50] So several things happen as a consequence of that. One is you're not in the moment. You're actually doing something for posterity that is going to be used to... So you're actually looking forward to it, finding that bit that you can use.

[00:24:08] The other thing is the fact that actually this is... You start to build up an audience that expects that. Yeah. And actually, because there's so many comics on the circuit, so many that it means you have to fight to get your voice heard above the crowd.

[00:24:28] And TikTok and those little clip things is one way of doing it. It drives me nuts. I hate it. It sets up bad precedence. If you're comparing, the whole point is to introduce the acts, to get the audience right for the acts,

[00:24:45] to get everyone ready to listen to comedy. Not to find a bit for your shitty TikTok fucking thing. So I think it undermines what goes on. I think also what happens is with the sort of like plethora of performers and channels and platforms

[00:25:05] that people can appear and see comedy. Especially with Live at the Apollo and things like that, people are turning up because they've seen things on TV and they know what they want to see. So there's a kind of decline in the culture of curiosity

[00:25:20] for going to see things for the sake of seeing something that you might not have seen. So there's an idea that you know what you want. You're going to see what you want, but you're not quite sure what it is. But when someone does something different,

[00:25:33] well no, you didn't want that. No, you didn't expect this. I think culturally there's a mistrust of randomness. Even if you talk about dating, no one's going to meet some random bloke in a pub anymore. They've got to have to check them out on their phone,

[00:25:51] see at least a couple of pictures of them on holiday, wearing swimwear before they make any decision. Very precise in what you want from your men. He likes it with no underwear either. Well, you're in luck! On the positive side, there's some positive aspects to it.

[00:26:16] I think the standard of new comics is really good. What I'm commenting on is that what it does is for years there has been a movement away from variety and from the slight madness that we knew to stand up. So stand up, stand up, stand up, stand up.

[00:26:38] A lot of people have been on courses, so you can see the grab the audience's attention within the first 30 seconds, establish yourself, who you are, what your voice, all of that. It's like, oh, just fuck about. They'll get to know you.

[00:26:53] So that thing is kind of slightly negative. The positive is the standard of comics and the joy with which they all attack it. And actually, I love that. I did a gig that was in Harrow, which no one gets paid for. It's a fucking free gig.

[00:27:12] And I didn't quite know when I was booked to do it. And there's that we put your socials up. I'm going, I haven't even got any socials. What the fuck are you on about? Yeah. And it was very, it was interesting because actually, because it was free,

[00:27:27] it actually meant the audience was slightly more open minded. And that was fascinating seeing that. But I mean, there are gigs all over the place. And I mean, I've had so many rounds, Steve, I promise you. Right?

[00:27:41] I was in, oh, so this is the other thing that's changed is my hearing's gone. And I forgot to put my hearing aids in the other day. Right? This is why I love gigging with Jeff Innocent, because he needs hearing aids. And if I'm in aggression with him,

[00:27:55] I know at least one of us has got a spare battery. I'm doing this gig up in Congleton. Nice crowd. Most of them are there to see me. Small group of people in trackies over on one side. And I started out by, and this block just went,

[00:28:12] I'm not interested in politics, mate. And I just jumped in and just really fucking tumbled around with him. And we had a great time. And then I carried on and I was, and it's quite a low room. And I was holding onto a fucking girder

[00:28:24] and the mic with one hand and doing proper fucking Henry Rawlings at him, you know. And this bloke got up and started to walk out and I said, where are you going? And I thought he said, you're shit, mate. I can't lie. And he walked out.

[00:28:42] And so I was like, oh, okay. And I took a deep breath and I sort of like did a quick quip, carried on. He walked back in and I said, what the fuck are you doing? You've told me I'm shit. You're fucked off out of it.

[00:28:55] And I lost my shit completely. Right? Actually, what he had said was I'm going for it here. Now... Now actually, that is still quite an alarming heckle. Yeah. It is absolutely. A group of complete strangers at a comedy night that you wish to vacate your bowels.

[00:29:18] Well, you moved him in a way that you just didn't expect. I mean, obviously, that is the effect of your comedy. I mean, it is. But it's also part of me felt like fucking hitting him and going, did you not go before you came out?

[00:29:30] Yes, sure got before you came out. I know, Larry Shearer's Dress Room's free. You can have a shit in there. But this was the thing though, right? So then next, and the audience are coming up to me and I'm going, why didn't you tell me?

[00:29:44] And they said, oh, we just thought it was quite funny. And so the next I'm thinking, okay, the next night will be fine. I walk on stage at Berry, start going here we go. It's the election day in Berry in Manchester. Yeah. Right? And I'm going, yeah.

[00:30:01] And half the crowd are going, yeah. And then it becomes apparent because I start taking the piss out of the tourists, obviously. And there's a couple of people who goes, who did you vote for then? And I said, the Green Party and one bloke went,

[00:30:15] it's only a waste of a vote. I said, no, it's only a waste of a vote if you believe in a binary system. Actually what you're doing is building a campaign and expressing your opinion in a democracy. What you do is you don't vote for the winning party

[00:30:27] because that's not democratic. That's just following the crowd. What you do is you express your political opinion and just nicely kind of right. Bit later on, I mentioned that Trump has actually said he is considering banning contraception. Right? And this woman just went bullshit.

[00:30:45] And I said, I went into the audience and sat down next to her and said, right, you said bullshit. Why is it because you think the idea is bullshit? Because she goes, no, the story is bullshit. I'm a Trump supporter and all media is lies.

[00:30:58] And I said, all media is lies. She said, yes, all media is lies. I said, well, tomorrow morning when you wake up and they have their announced the results of the election, that didn't happen. That's just false. The election never occurred.

[00:31:09] It's just a group of actors who are employed with some serious dark forces of the deep state to pretend that we're having a democratic election. And she was just like, bullshit, bullshit. And anyway, it just went completely fucking mad.

[00:31:23] And I ended up having a vote with the audience over who believed that COVID-19 actually existed and who didn't. And it was the most bizarre fucking thing. And you think in very, in very also Steve, what I've been telling people now England have to win the euros.

[00:31:42] No, you tell me. England have to win the euros. And I'll tell you why. It's because the last time we won anything was 1966. I'm not fucking Wilson. And now we can say to people, the tour is a bad for football. You can't. Absolutely. Yeah.

[00:32:01] Did you see Richie Tunak trying to play football at the start of the campaign? Oh man. I think all he can really do is get into a sedan chair. I think that's all he can do is play football and doing this.

[00:32:12] Any other practical thing he can't actually do, you know what I mean? It's like trying to use a contactless card where he's walking around a fucking petrol station just touching random things. You know, it's like he's gonna fuck over a bottle of duckum.

[00:32:30] Just going up to run the people go, do you run your own business? Yeah, I know. Political comedy and satire is pretty much middle class and upper middle class, even upper class. And yet you're one of the few that sort of broke through.

[00:32:47] I think some things have changed as some things haven't. I think what's really interesting on the circuit is actually there's so many working class voices coming through. And this is one of the great positive things that has happened on the circuit. Steve, do you remember when we started?

[00:33:02] It was mainly white blokes. It was. Mainly for white blokes. And maybe you dragged along Hattie Hayridge or Felix Dexter and you describe it as a diverse bill. Now that's changed. You've got all sorts of people there.

[00:33:16] You've got black and brown people, you've got gay and trans people, you've got women. It's absolutely amazing to see that. You've got people with disabilities on stage and that wouldn't have happened 40 years ago. You wouldn't have seen that. And so that's a really positive change.

[00:33:33] And politically, you have got... There are a few... I think what's happened is people have become much more obsessed with describing their own personal politics rather than talking about politics in a wider spectrum. And that has dominated... The personal politics has dominated the idea of politics

[00:33:49] with the capital P. And that we're in a world that's in change and in flux and that we can influence and have agency over it. That's changed. You've obviously got... It's very weird because my favourite bit of the media is Private Eye, which is Ian Hislop,

[00:34:07] which is hardly a hoary-handed son of the soil. But I think what's interesting is the idea of holding people to account is something which Hislop takes very seriously. And I suppose he inherits it from Swift. Who was a conservative? Jonathan Swift was a conservative

[00:34:25] despite the fact that his books were absolutely scathing of humanity's behaviour and class system. So it has changed, but there is a resounding lack of politics that's happening. And so it happens within a kind of smaller world, if you like.

[00:34:48] And it's very funny being someone walking out into that bigger world and going, here we go, everyone, we're talking about this. I like it when people get into fights. Now it's a good time to wrap up and thank Mark for switching his phone on.

[00:35:10] It's an absolutely delight to see the pair of you. Yeah, it was brilliant, mate. I love you, man. Thank you for asking. I'll see you soon. See you later, mate. Bye-bye. I'll put my pants on. Don't do it! Don't change! Take care, my loves.

[00:35:29] OK, that was Mark Thomas. Talk to us there. Fantastic interview. Don't forget you have no pants on. How can I? How can I ever forget that? So I think people listening to this might be feeling, oh, I've missed out on something here.

[00:35:49] Yeah, rest assured there's no other footage. There's no other footage there. It might encourage you to watch the YouTube offering so you can catch a glimpse of Thomas's Thomas. Yeah, it was great to have him on. So as always, at the end of the show,

[00:36:06] we will do our pleadings. If you're watching this on YouTube, subscribe, tell your friends, follow us. You can also send us emails with suggestions. Emails should be in the listing for this show. Wherever you find it, it should be there.

[00:36:22] Any other stuff you want to tell us about, comedians or promoters you'd like us to talk to, please, please contact us. For those of you that also would like to send us any offerings, I think you've got Kofi, haven't you, Steve? That's also in the description.

[00:36:40] And I have a joke pit thing. You can send me money and you can just send me the money and I'll pass it on to Steve. By the way, if it's joke pit, they can also leave some reviews if they want.

[00:36:54] Steve, I've recently got my first one from joke pit. Five stars. I got a five-star review for one gig and for the same gig I've got three stars. You can't please everybody. No, you can't. Not everyone's going to love you. That is what I live by life by.

[00:37:13] Yes. That's why you become a comedian in the first place. Indeed. Would you have re-mentioned the election result in that interview? He did. He mentioned when he was playing Barry Metro-Arts. Yes, yes he did. It's the night of the election. So, yeah. Who was it said?

[00:37:32] Events, dear boy, events. Who actually said that? Was it Harold Wilson? Sounds like Bill Willam, doesn't it? If it's dear boy. Yes. Wilson would have said that. Yeah, Alexander Douglas Hume. The forgotten prime minister. Please email us and tell us who said that quote. Yeah.

[00:37:52] They should have done our research, shouldn't we? No. No, no, let the audience do it for us. It's cheaper. So we'll see you in another couple of weeks' time and enjoy the Labour government, I suppose. This show is part of PEDOMITY, the podcast comedy network.

[00:38:29] We're the best kept secret on A-Cast. Why not laugh at what else we've got? Check out PEDOMITY.com now.