‘If I’m down the pub the last thing I want to talk about is Brexit. That’s the day job’
Following a sell-out UK tour last year, frustrated news reporter Jonathan Pie is back with the Fake News Tour. Creator and actor Tom Walker tells us what to expect
With such a rapidly changing political climate, do you have to keep rewriting the show while out on the road to keep the material fresh?
Pie’s first live show back in 2016 was a nightmare. It was all about David Cameron and George Osborne. Brexit was a foregone conclusion and Trump was still just a joke candidate. By the end of that run we’d voted leave, Cameron and Osborne were gone and Trump had won The White House. From the first show in the tour to the last show of the tour we rewrote probably 60 percent of the show. I almost had a nervous breakdown. Last year’s show, Back To The Studio, show was much more about universal themes. Our culture of offence and how Twitter can ruin careers. By the end of that show Pie’s career is in tatters. But for me that show was a career highlight and ended up on the telly! You can watch it on iPlayer still. This new show is going to be a similar combination of up to date politics, but with a more dramatic arc.
Do you feel the public now view Pie as much as a live act as an online star?
Pie is still thought of as a YouTube annoyance. But the weekly rants are disposable content. Three minutes of anger usually directed at either the Tories, Trump or the excesses of PC culture. In the live shows you can go on much more of a journey and deal with more complex issues…whilst trying to make it the funniest it can be. I am much more comfortable as a stage performer than I am a YouTube presence. And the audiences have always been fantastic…and appear to be coming back for more which is encouraging.
Do you ever have trouble working out what
Pie would think about a certain subject?
Ultimately, Pie is a character…so I can make him say or think anything I want. He can be right. He can be wrong. He can be articulate, and he can be crass. He can agree with a pro-remain argument one week and agree with a pro-leave argument the next. Which means Pie has the unique ability of annoying absolutely everybody. But he’s a complex character politically. He’s left wing but is often found to be berating the excesses of the liberal elite. He hates Trump but understands his supporters’ reasons for voting the way they did. And ultimately, I think he is confused about Brexit.
You took your last show overseas, performing in the US, Australia. How did Pie’s satirical approach to politics translate overseas?
They loved it. It was interesting because the US and Oz audiences are far less easily offended and much more open to having their opinions challenged.
Whilst touring the US last year, you filmed a BBC3 documentary called Jonathan Pie’s American Pie. What subjects did you tackle in the documentary?
The BBC really put a lot of trust in Pie and it was an incredible experience. I wanted to go to America and talk to as many Trump voters as possible. I wanted to try not to pre-judge their motives for voting the way that they did. So, we started with what we all think a typical Trump voter would be like and interviewed a Far-Right White Supremacist. It was an interesting but not particularly pleasant experience – however, I really wanted to allow him to speak, because as soon as people like him start talking, you realise how ridiculous they sound. It was uncomfortable to shoot, and I hope uncomfortable to watch. After that, we spoke to other Trump voters, which allowed us to demonstrate that not all of his supporters have extreme or sinister beliefs…That’s not to say that I don’t think they made a dreadful error of judgement in voting a sociopathic cheese Wotsit into the White House.
Do people ever struggle to recognise Jonathan Pie as a character?
Most sensible people can tell the difference between a satirical character and an actual human being. But of course, the lines are blurred. Let’s be honest, we look and sound the same. So, it’s cool. The main difference between me and Pie is that I am not a politico. If I’m down the pub the last thing I want to talk about is Brexit or the importance of free speech. That’s the day job.
■■The Fake News Tour visits Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall on October 11 and Leicester’s De Montfort Hall on November
14. For tickets visit jonathanpie.com.