Manchester Comedy Festival interviews: Thom Tuck

 

Well, it's quite a difficult show to insert new material in to. There's been one new one – Spooky Buddies – but technically I don't have to watch it because it's live action. I set the rules and I don't have to do those ones.

 

 

It's a sort-of tongue-in-cheek public service. My ex-girlfriend was given the Little Mermaid trilogy boxset. We watched the first one again and it was okay; watched the second one and went oh my god, this is terrible. Then we watched the third one, and that was so good.

How can two be so bad and three be so great?

 

 

[An unexpectedly long and considered pause] Maybe it seemed so great because two was so bad. But I think it was great.

 

 

Little Mermaid 3; probably Cinderella 3 for the disparity between the promise of the title and how good the film is. Cinderella 3: A Twist In Time has no right to be as watchable as it is. The Lion King overall is the best trilogy because there isn't a properly shit one, and three is very strange. I had a kid who was 15 who saw the show and he said the Lion King 3 is genuinely one of his favourite Disney films.

 

 

No. I don't hang around with that many film critics. I'll get my agent on to the case of getting me on to the Culture Show, look at everything through a straight-to-DVD angle.

 

 

I think I have a fresh appreciation for quality film making. And I've been trying to develop a theory because of both this, and Ricky Martin. Do you know the Sartrean idea of bad faith?

 

 

It's the idea that you can both believe in something and also believe in the opposite.

 

 

I think you can both like something utterly ironically and completely genuinely at the same time. 

 

 

Yes, that is it exactly. I have three Ricky Martin albums. I know it's ludicrous but I do genuinely like it.

 

 

I don't think so. I did realise how great Robin Williams is, because he's in Aladdin 1 and 3, but not 2. There's something pitch perfect in his impression that's really needed, that feels genuinely like improv. You know at improv gigs where something feels like it wasn't

improv, it didn't feel dangerous? But no shitpiphanies apart from when they get Robin Williams back for the third Aladdin.

 

 

Yeah. The show as is is not 100% that. But that's the Trojan horse of the show and I try to steer away from what the little soldiers are that come and stab you. But I think that has enabled me to stay relatively sane because I blow a gasket on sanity during the show. 

 

 

You sound really disappointed. I do really want a child...

 

 

I think I've got more broody as a result of it. There were films where you go, yeah, this would be better if I watched it with a kid. I don't find it magical but I think they might.

 

 

Yes, very much so. It was very annoying because we kept getting reviews of our individual shows that said 'ex-Penny Dreadful' and it was like, no-one said that, NOBODY said that. I decided to do a show, and then we decided not to do a Penny Dreadfuls show in Edinburgh this year, and the other two went, ah, we'll do shows as well, as it'll be fun and we have a big hole in our schedule. Apparently that equates to breaking up. But we have at least four things chuntering along. I can't see a new live show for us in the immediate

future, but there are radio projects going that we will probably know more about in a month of so; another we're putting forward; a TV show that is a tediously long process; and a kid's TV thing. 

 

 

No, not at all. I'm sort of embargoed as it technically hasn't been commissioned. We're not head writer on it but it's with someone who does kids books. It's for five- or six-year-olds. And we've been working on it for about two years, and it just keeps changing. It'd be such a fun thing to do.

 

 

Well, it would just make it worst. Although if I do ever have children I will have a fantastic DVD collection.

 

 

Have you met Humphrey?

 

 

He didn't have his ego in check to start with, so it's made no discernible difference. 

 

 

It'll come back, I'm just looking for a new venue for it. I did it for a venue at one venue but we fell out because they kept kicking us out earlier and earlier. They had another night afterwards called Trannyoke, which was exactly as it sounds. I stayed once and it was quite fun, but it's a shame to have to kick your headliner off if they're having loads of fun. Then it was at the Leicester Square Theatre for a bit, but now I'm looking for a more permanent home before I contact the Tom choir.

 

 

Yeah, a few. Mark Thomas, I'm still working on Tommy Tiernan which would be great. And I best get back in touch with Tom Stade before he does Live at the Apollo again. 

 

 

Yeah, we had the second one of the season on Tuesday. The first one we'd pre-sold like fifty tickets, this one we pre-sold fourteen. But more total people turned up, about eightyish. We had Phil Nicholl headlining, and next time we'll have Will Hodgson and then John Hegley the time after that. It's just great to have a space where you can really mess around. I think the audience really appreciate seeing something that probably no-one will ever see again. A couple of people who've headlined have asked if they can come back and just do a five-minute weird thing. 

 

 

We're very fond of the audience who've come so far. There's a big core of regulars, and then semi-regulars. The show is too long and you get great value for your eight quid. Hopefully it'll go from strength to strength because we're having bigger and sillier ideas.