Interlude: David Mitchell Interview from Wessex Scene
Another interview, this time from the website Wessex Scene, March 2005 by Darren Richman:
Meeting a hero is never an easy experience. Will they like me? Will I inadvertently offend them? Will I come across too eager? Will I not come across eager enough? Naturally, for someone like Michael Jackson, a lifetime of adoration ensures he knows how to deal with such an obsessive.
David Mitchell, however, is probably not quite as accustomed to such behaviour. A deranged, plastic, child-loving freak he may not be. A genius, however, he is. My initials fears are immediately dispelled within seconds of his arrival in the North London pub at which we have agreed to meet. “I’m sorry I’m late” he begins, with an absolute sincerity that is heart-warming considering he has entered a mere two minutes after our proposed meeting time. But, then again, sincerity is something that has punctuated Mitchell’s work from radio sketch shows to his most acclaimed role, that of Mark the loveable loser in Channel 4’s Peep Show. His obsession with writing comedy, though, began way back in his schooldays. “I always felt that doing a joke was the cleverest thing. I would intrinsically prefer a parody of something to the actual thing itself” Mitchell proffers as an explanation for his interest.
“At school a group of us swotty, actory types wrote reams and reams of sketches. With characteristic self-deprecation he adds, “we completely failed to put on a show.” At Cambridge there would be no such disappointment. After meeting Robert Webb in his first year (Webb’s second), the pair formed a comedy partnership that his endured to this day. As part of the prestigious Cambridge footlights (past performers include Peter Cook, John Cleese and Stephen Fry), Mitchell and Webb delighted in being part of a society that was “just about making up comedy. It wasn’t the serious play your drama teacher at school wanted to do, it was just about stupid jokes.” Given the fact that Mitchell became the President of the Cambridge Footlights, his work, somewhat inevitably, suffered.Despite having been a self-confessed “swot” at school, Mitchell scraped a 2.2. in history after tremendous cramming in the weeks leading up to his final exams. He explains, “out of comedy, drinking and history I could have done any two. And I didn’t choose to do comedy and history.” Having left university, he continued to make waves at the Edinburgh Fringe with his and Robert’s two-man shows. Eventually justice prevailed and the pair landed coveted writing positions for both Armstrong and Miller and Big Train.
The duo made their first foray in front of the camera with the BBC2 sketch show Bruiser, for which they also wrote material. Ricky Gervais was involved in the writing of this programme and has been incredibly supportive to the double act to this day, even declaring Peep Show one of his favourite comedies of recent years. Mitchell returns the favour with his apt description of The Office as “perfect.” The pair then wrote and performed in The Mitchell and Webb Situation. Produced for the small sky channel, Play UK, what the series lacked in budget, it made up for in magnificent material. A riotous show far superior to the vastly overrated Little Britain, this comedy gem surely stands as perhaps the greatest forgotten sketch show of modern times.
Mitchell is typically level-headed with regards its status, “I’m more proud of the way it turned out than annoyed that it was only aired on a small channel.”
Peep Show was to receive no such indignity. The Channel 4 sitcom, which just concluded its second series, was written by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain, two writers whom Mitchell and Webb had worked with on an ill-fated group writing experiment. From these ashes, Armstrong and Bain developed a good ear for lines they felt their friends could utter. The series revolves around two flatmates, Jeremy and Mark, using POV camera angles and internal monologues to accompany the dark humour. “I empathise with Mark and enjoy playing him” he explains, “I agree with many of his opinions. And, to be fair, at least he knows what he wants in terms of his love life. In his own odd way, at least Sophie knows Mark likes him. I’ve been in so many situations when I’ve just said nothing to someone I’ve fancied.”
On a more positive note, the day before our meeting, it emerges, Peep Show was commissioned for a third series. What will the four central forces surrounding the show do first I enquire?
“I imagine we’ll get drunk” comes the response. Mitchell claims watching new comedy to be very stressful. “When it’s bad it annoys me, when it’s good it terrifies me.” Despite this, he delights in enthusing about his favourite programmes. “I’m Alan Partridge, The Office, Monty Python.” He pauses before considering, “And there must be a special place in comedy heaven for The Simpsons.” Up next is a second series of That Mitchell and Webb Sound for Radio 4 which is being written and recorded over the coming weeks. Beyond that, he says “I’d love to write a novel but I haven’t got an idea for one. I don’t even know what an idea for one looks like.”
He does, however, know what a good comedy sketch looks like and his advice for aspiring comics is simple, “just write what makes you laugh. Oh, and practically speaking, do Edinburgh.”
And so, after a couple of pints, and a couple of hours whiled away, our illuminating comedy chat must come to an end.
When asked to name his comedy idols, Mitchell immediately listed Milligan, Sellers and Cook. The latter choice got me thinking. Member of the Cambridge Footlights. One half of a double act primarily interested in sketch comedy. Witty. Intelligent. Utterly devoted to his craft. Reminds me of someone. Not that David Mitchell would ever dare proclaim himself the Peter Cook of his generation. In his own words, “I just want to be on telly doing jokes.”
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