Vic and Bob feel their age

Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer were once seen as young rebels. Yet they were inspired by the comedy greats of old: their heroes were the likes of Laurel and Hardy; Morecambe and Wise. “We’re childish,” says Mortimer. “Our comedy is falling over, funny faces, arguments... all the basics, really.” And like comedians of the old school, they’ve never tried to be topical or relevant, let alone political. “You’d never have had Tommy Cooper or Les Dawson asking, ‘What does everyone think of Brexit?’ We don’t bother with real life,” says Reeves. Even so, when they first crashed onto Britain’s TV screens, with Vic Reeves Big Night Out, their surreal humour baffled and enraged audiences, says Nicole Lampert in the Daily Mail. Thirty years later, Reeves and Mortimer are still going strong, but now, as they approach their 60th birthdays, it’s their turn to be baffled by what passes for entertainment today. “There’s that bloke Joe Sugg on Strictly Come Dancing,” says Bob. “He’s a Youtuber with eight million subscribers. I looked at his – I think they’re called blogs [in fact, they’re vlogs]. They were about half an hour long, but nothing happens. He just does stuff like go on a boat trip and shouts ‘Heeeeyyyyy’ and ‘Woooooow’ a lot. I watched it and felt very old. I felt like the people who felt uncomfortable when they watched Big Night Out for the first time and thought, ‘What is that all about?’ Clearly people are seeing something, but I don’t understand which bit I’m meant to be enjoying.”