‘I’m celebrating people. Me talking? Not so interesting. Them talking? Very interesting!’
QI host Sandi Toksvig is back on tour in the New Year with her show National Trevor – including two dates in the East Midlands
SANDI Toksvig is remembering a terrific occasion at the Festival Hall in London 4 years ago. “My wife and I renewed our wedding vows on the stage. It was a small gathering, a few family – and a thousand of my close friends. It was held on the day that same-sex marriages were made legal.
“It was astonishing, you know. I invited 150 family and friends, and let it be known to the general public that if anybody wanted to come, they were most welcome.
“The hall was full. There were literally thousands of people. It was every kind of person you could possibly imagine. It was very jolly.
“The only drawback was that there wasn’t enough cake!”
Toksvig will be hoping for the same when she takes her National Trevor tour around the UK, starting next month.
Over a burger in a central London hotel, the QI and Great British Bake Off presenter is brimming with excitement about the show, which will include a Q&A, storytelling and a quiz.
The 60-year-old will also be inviting members of the audience to help her conduct a piece of music.
“I get them to conduct Beethoven’s Ode to Joy,” she says.
“I chose that piece because Beethoven was deaf by the time he completed it. It’s remarkable to want to create music when you can’t hear it.
“On the night of the premiere, he was seen running through the streets shouting, ‘Grab life by the throat!’ That’s what I’m saying in this show.”
She adds: “Whenever I see people wearing a T-shirt that says ‘Living the Dream,’ I think, ‘You’re totally not.’ I want to