Brexit? Backstop? Climate change? And the end of civilisation? Thank goodness for Trump, Farage, Boris and Jeremy Vine. At least it’s going to be very funny
Dead Ringer for US president reveals he nearly copped out
When it feels like the world is falling apart, the man to call is Lewis Macleod.
The actor can’t fix the divisive politics of Brexit or the policies of Donald Trump but he can certainly help to poke fun at them. Lewis, a member of BBC political satiree collective Dead Ringers, takes off a range off British politicians from Boris Johnson andd Nigel Farage to Alex Salmond. But his best-known turn is the US presidentnt – with Ronni Ancona as first lady Melania. And this Christmas, he’ll be offering advicece to public figures on Radio 2 as Jeremy Vine:ne: Agony Uncle. Lewis said: “It’s boom time for satire. It’s like the mid- 80s with the financiers. But instead of running about with Ferraris, we’ree’re just running about with cracking jokes.s. “It’s all kicking off just now with all the chaos and the material is really strong.g. “As far as Brexit goes, it’s so complex,plex, we have the best writers to fill in the gaps with the material so you know what the subject is. “I mean what’s a backstop? Doo you phone Pimlico Plumbers? “On the other hand, Donaldnald Trump is a gi f t. He almost writes it for you when he sends out tweets like, ‘ There’s no smocking gun’. I’m pretty sure that will be his New Year’s resolutions, ‘ To give up smocking and not to get Muellered’.” Trump ha s proved to be the gift that keeps on giving. Lewis has been doing idents as the US president for Steve Wright on Radio 2 and performing with fellow Scot Ronni on shows including Peston and Andrew Neil’s This Week.
He said: “When he got elected, there was one day when I was running between BBC World Service, Channel 4 News and Channel 5 doing Trump all around the place.
“I hosted an event recently as Trump and I aligned him with Patrick Harvie of the Scottish Green Party, who I just quoted verbatim saying, ‘ We cannot allow Trump’s inflated ego to delay our renewables industry a moment longer.’
“Then Trump replying, ‘Listen, repealing the Paris climate agreement may actually help the sun to shine on Scotland. Sunshine on Leith, forest fires in Dundee.
“Those two pasty b****** The Proclaimers are going to look like Julio and Enrique Iglesias.”
Another character who is taking on a life of his own is Jeremy Vine. Lewis’s take on the Radio 2 and Channel 5 current affairs presenter has been another regular feature on Steve Wright and he now has an off-shoot show, Jeremy Vine: Agony Uncle, which will be broadcast on Christmas Eve.
His impersonation of Jeremy is so good it has fooled listeners and won the support of the man himself.
Lewis, 48, from Glasgow, said: “There’s a log they have at the BBC and there’s a lot of listeners saying, ‘Dear BBC, I really must complain about what is happening to Jeremy Vine. He’s a respected broadcaster, why is he reading such ridiculous things and undermining his career?’
“He’s a really good sport, he takes it well. At the launch of the Radio 2 BBC Sounds App, we did a mini Dead Ringers in the Tate Modern and he got up on stage and we
did this exchange and it just workedwo a treat. He really enjoyed beingbei a part of it. He’s been excellent.exc “AgonyA Uncle is coming back on ChristmasChr Eve and he’s been tweetingtwee it, retweeting it, making funnyfunn comments and just been a really great sport about the whole thing,thing which is fantastic. “There’sTh nothing worse than if you impersonateimper someone and they don’t like it. It’s all in good humour.” LewisLew appears on Radio 4’s Dead RingersRinger with Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Duncan Wisbey and Debra Stephenson. His vocalvo talents are also featured on BBC ScoScotland football show Off the Ball, adverts includingi Action Man for Money Super m Supermarket and I rn-B ruXt ra and voice-oveovers for shows including Michael McIntyre McIntyre’ s Big Show and Hell’s Kitchen. As an aactor, he’s appeared as Hrothgar in the DavDave TV series Zapped and was a podracer called Sebulba in Star Wars: Episode I – ThePThePhantom Menace. He said: “When I was a kid, I loved going to the cinema and loved that voice when the lights went down. I do a lot of film voice-overs but getting a part in Star Wars was a bit special, from seeing it in 1977 when my mum, Margaret, queued for four-and-a-half hours to take us. “I’ve also done loads of voices for major characters in video games, it’s like speech karaoke when you can sound like an actor. “I’ve been Optimus Prime, Gandalf, Dumbledore and I’ve been about 20 Bond villains, thug nine, henchman four and a talking door.” If things had worked out differently, he could have been pounding the streets of Glasgow as an officer of the law. He comes from a long line of policemen but his late father, Ian, encouraged him to follow his own dreams. Lewis said: “My brothers, Callum and Donald, both do voices, so I thought everybody did. I found impersonating your dad and mimicking teachers just made people laugh, and that’s a pretty classic story for many performers. “I thought I was going to follow my dad’s path. I was going to be a fourth-generation cop but it was actually my old man who said, ‘No, you’ve got to use this ability you’ve got’. I didn’t see it.” “I waited until I was in my late teens before I thought, ‘I’m going to give this a shot’.” His first break was an appearance in 1989 on Channel 4 show Halfway to Paradise, a slot given to him by Stuart Cosgrove, who he still works with on Off the BallBall. He later became a presenter, hosting kids’ show Gimme 5 with Jenny PowePowell and Nobby the sheep, before develdeveloping his vocal talents. Lewis said:s “In 1986, my dad paid for an advert on Radio Clyde for my brother’s band, The Crows.C It wasn’t cheap and he got me to do the voice-voic over. “I loved the experience andan I always had it at the back of my mind whwhen I was doing chacharacter comedy and imp impersonations and it’s been a natural progression.”
It’s bboom time for satire. Dona Donald Trump isi a gift