SANDI TOKSVIG INTERVIEW
the spontaneity of it all.
“You never quite know what is going to happen. The unexpected stuff is always the most enjoyable part. The most unexpected thing that ever happened in a show took place during a Q and A in Bradford. A woman asked me what my bra size was. I couldn’t remember, so she had to come up on stage and have a look,”
Sandi, who was a very popular host of Radio 4’s News Quiz for a decade, proceeds to underscore her love of live performance.
“The other reason to do a live show is that there is still something magical about sharing an evening out at the theatre.
“When actors stand backstage before a performance, we listen to the sound of the audience. We say, ‘They’re a bit Monday night’ or ‘They’re a bit Saturday matinee’. A distinct personality overtakes an entire group of people.”
The theatre also demands a focus that we sometimes lack in other parts of our life. “It’s about getting people to put their phones away, have an engagement with the show and listen to other people laughing - hopefully - or weeping!
“For a brief moment we can forget about Brexit or whatever it is we’re worrying about and lose ourselves in the show. That’s good for us. We feel better.”
One of the main themes of “National Trevor” is our current fixation with celebrity. Sandi explains that, “The thing I’m slightly obsessed with is our whole attitude to fame. There is a new trend of calling people a ‘National Treasure’.
“I don’t know where it’s come from, but I heartily disapprove. I think everybody has something to commend them. Everyone has a story where you go, ‘Really?’ We don’t get to hear their stories of extraordinary endeavours.”
Sandi proceeds to outline where the show’s title comes from.
“One day, a friend of mine was being extremely rude to me. A lot of my friends are – I encourage it! So in the middle of this argument, I said to her, ‘Don’t you know I’m a National Treasure?’
“And she replied,’You’re a National Trevor?’ Then her husband said, ‘Who’s been calling her Trevor?’ Now they call me Trevor. So that’s why I gave the show this title. I’m going round the country looking for all the National Trevors. I’m celebrating people.”
Sandi muses on what she hopes audiences will take away from “National Trevor.” “I hope they think that they have had a really good evening, that they’re had a great laugh and that I’m much younger, taller and thinner in the flesh!”
Before she has to go off to another gig, Sandi decides to order an alcoholfree cocktail to clear her throat. It’s called, Endless Joy.
Quick as a flash, Sandi jokes: “That should be the title of my next live show.”
Well, I’d go and see that, wouldn’t you?
Tickets for Sandi Toksvig’s
“National Trevor” tour are available from www.sanditoksvig.com or call Reading Arts on 0118 960 6060.