I encapsulate a lot of Daniel Craig – after he’s been savagely beaten
Heard the one about the singing comic? MARION McMULLEN finds out why Rob Brydon wants to share the song in his heart
You are touring next year with an eight-piece band in new show Songs & Stories. Are you looking forward to singing live?
IT’S a deliberate risk. I have got to the stage of my career where shows I’m in like Would I Lie To You? and The Trip and stand-up tours return, but I want to test myself.
I’ll be nervous thinking, ‘What will the reaction be?’ But I’m taking a chance, and the fact that there is risk involved is part of the thrill of it.
People say ‘I didn’t know you could sing’, and yet I have sung a lot. I hope this show is a very pleasant surprise for audiences.
At the end of the day, I’m there to entertain people. I recently went to see Jeff Goldblum with his band. That was wonderful. That guy was just there to entertain people. He played his songs, but he did lots of other things as well, like film quizzes.
The show followed no rulebook. I found that liberating. It showed me you can make the show whatever you want it to be. So that’s what I’ve done with Songs & Stories.
What appeals to you about performing live?
LIVE comedy is such a buzz. People come just to see you. Sometimes you stand on stage thinking, ‘Good God, these people have all gone to the trouble of paying a babysitter and chosen to come and watch my show.’ That’s a very special feeling.
Do you enjoy being on stage? IT feels very natural to me. Sometimes people say, ‘I can’t imagine getting up on stage. It would be so terrifying.’ But
– it’s almost a calling, something you just have to do.
You feel very comfortable on stage, and that grows over time.
I like to entertain people and make them laugh. It’s a real privilege. As with a lot of things, you appreciate that more as you get older. You stand on stage and think, ‘This is great!’
Did you enjoy looking very dapper in the new tour photos?
I WAS looking rather lovely in a suit and freshly pressed shirt. It was a glorious sight to behold. As you know, I’m a very elegant man. I encapsulate a lot of Daniel Craig. (Pauses) Albeit after he’s been savagely beaten.
What will you be covering in the new tour?
I GO back to my childhood. I was 16 and starting to get interested in girls, but pining from afar.
I lived in Porthcawl, a coastal town in Wales and all the cool boys were surfers. I wasn’t a surfer. I had a go once, but I hurt my knee.
What were you listening to in those days?
MY musical taste was never considered cool. I never set much store by stuff being fashionable.
I loved David Bowie and The Police, but also Shakin’ Stevens and Cliff Richard, which not many boys of my age did. Well, not the ones sitting at the back of the bus!
What were your teens like?
I DIDN’T drink. My friends would all drink on a Friday and Saturday, and on a Tuesday and Wednesday just for good measure. That meant they lost their fear of rejection. Unfortunately, I never lost that fear. I knew that I was funny and could make girls laugh. They would want to spend time with me. Had I had the nerve to close the deal with a kiss, I’m sure they would have responded, but I was too frightened.
I would see Neanderthals from my class with their arm around a girl at the school disco and think ‘How did he manage that? He can’t string a sentence together and now it looks as if they’re setting up home together’.
I talk a lot about my bemusement that girls were going out with those boys. At the time, Joe Jackson’s song Is She Really Going Out With Him? was a big hit, and I sing a bit of that in the show by way of illustration.
What can audiences expect from Songs & Stories?
I HOPE people will come out happier than when they went in because they’ve had such a great time. I hope they will have forgotten about the world for two hours.
As a performer in the last few years, you can really feel that people just want to escape. It’s tangible. People come up to you afterwards and say ‘I’m so glad you didn’t talk about the state of the country or the current US President’. My show is an escape. It’s a service. People want to go out and be entertained. In times of adversity, which you could definitely say we are in now, people want that more than ever.
(Grins) Of course, if the box office is still open, a percentage of the audience will be looking for a refund, I don’t doubt that. I can only hope that the more forgiving among them will draw a line in the sand and put it behind them!
■ The Rob Brydon – Songs & Stories tours to almost 30 venues next year from February 26.
Go to robbrydon.live for details.