Most of all I don't want to be bored. That's why I'd rather do something that has some sort of ambition, that risks failing, rather than make safer, more comfortable choices.
From Steve Coogan
Going to a grammar school, you mixed with all sorts of different types and I used to listen to how they talked. When I did my imitations, I could sound like someone really rough, or I could sound like a cabinet minister.
I find impressionists slightly annoying, really.
What I don't like is dance music or hip hop or any of that sort of thing.
Comedy is unique in the sense that laughter is a palpable noise that everyone makes.
If you are a great dramatic actor then you often don't know if people are enjoying your stuff at all because they are sitting there in silence.
But with comedy it's a simple premise. If it's funny, people laugh. If it's not, they don't.
London audiences are tricky, too. They don't laugh as much as the Northern audiences because, and I hate to say this, they are a bit cleverer normally, and they are picking up on all the little details and listening more carefully.
Actually, bizarrely, in America, I get more appreciation from the odd, unusual stuff I've done, almost because I'm not, if you like, famous in America as I am in England.
If the person who can effectively sanction ill-conceived wars can play the electric guitar, which is a symbol of rebellion, then that whole worldview becomes confused.
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