Circuit Training 49: In the moshpit with Miles Jupp

It borders on the unfathomable that Miles Jupp is best pals with Frankie Boyle. Indeed, they almost made a splendidly bonkers-sounding series together, as Jupp reveals below, set in the Alps and involving celebrity rehab. I can think of worse Boyle vehicles.

The London-born comic - leading light of the "new wave of niceness" (Evening Standard, 2010) - is staging a less aggressive but similarly effective takeover of the UK airwaves. His big TV break in Balamory was followed by a rather different cameo in The Thick of It, a high-profile part in the Bafta-winning Rev and a general ubiquity on pretty much every regular comic outlet recently.

The film CV is also looking pretty nifty - Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes, Made in Dagenham, and Steve Coogan's forthcoming The King of Soho - while the radio and theatre credits are too lengthy to begin listing here. A busy chap then, and he even has a sports book out, Fibber in the Heat, having dabbled as a cricket journalist on one English tour of India.

But this chat has come about due to his participation in, of all things, a music festival. It may not seem the most obvious fit for Jupp but The Applecart is a rather nice one, favouring a more cerebral type of musician - Billy Bragg, Noah and the Whale - and focussing heavily on fine food, plus the likes of Sean Lock, Rich Hall and Phill Jupitus in the comedy tent.

With summer belatedly here, then, let's begin with a bit of fest chat...

How do you approach festivals? I like to think of you rocking out down the front of the main stage, followed by a sweaty evening in the dance tent...

Well absolutely. That's me.

It really depends on the festival. If it's in London you just rock up don't you? Latitude or somewhere then you'll bring a tent and have a few days doing all sorts. Buying Moroccan crockery.

Do you find the festival comedy tents difficult?

They can be pretty big gigs, so I suppose you just hope that you've got a bit of material that can be enjoyed by someone standing hundreds of feet away and watching you on a screen that's slightly out of sync with the sound.

The hardest festival gig I ever did was to follow Mark Thomas at the Leftfield tent at Glastonbury. 800 people just stood up, turned around and fucked off. I looked at them, and then into the wings where thankfully my friend Paul Sneddon was standing. He said "just come off again." So I did. I went on again about twenty minutes later to about 80 people. It was fun though.

How did your stand-up career begin?

I used to go and watch quite a bit of comedy in my late teens, and always fancied having a go at it. And other things. I was at university in Edinburgh and so went to The Stand Comedy Club where there used to be Sunday afternoon workshops. I did a few open spots and it all started there, really.

Were you inspired by particular comics or actors as a kid?

I was a big Fry & Laurie fan. I was into Blackadder. All the things you'd expect me to like. And we listened to a lot of Max Boyce and Tom Lehrer in the car when I was little. I still love them.

Your Wikipedia page begins: "probably best known as Archie in the children's television series Balamory" - does that still loom large?

I get asked about it a lot, but it's not really something I think about other than when asked. Or when I'm mining those days for a pertinent anecdote. It finished filming in 2004 but I'm still friends with a lot of people who were involved.

Did it have a big impact on your career?

It did have an impact, yes: it meant I got 22 weeks of filming work at the age of 22. And then another 30 weeks about 18 months later. It wasn't the sort of work that I'd have chased but I was really lucky to get it.

Was acting always part of your career plan? Did you do any training or studying along the way?

I've wanted to do it for ages. There was a brief moment that I was so into stand-up that I didn't want to do anything else: that has quite definitely passed. I've not been to drama school, although I go to the odd workshop or class. It's on-the-job training. If I get the chance to watch someone really good at work or talk to them about how they work, then I'll take it. And then there's always instinct.

What's the most glamorous moment of your film career so far?

A few weeks ago I was in the passenger seat of a classic car, being driven through Soho by Steve Coogan. In the back seat there was Michael Winterbottom and the cameraman. That was good. And I've been to a couple of premieres.

You're often cast in support roles on screen. Are you still searching for your own perfect project?

I like supporting roles. And if I have a lead, then I'd still want it to be as part of an ensemble. I'm writing some bits and pieces though. I've auditioned for a few leads. And I had a good part in A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg at the Glasgow Citizens. That was great.

The three days I spent filming on The Thick of It for Series 3 felt pretty perfect as an experience. So if I ever did something like that which lasted longer I'd be very happy. And lucky.

The Thick of It and Rev have a very different pace and atmosphere: how different are the filming experiences on those two shows?

Filming on The Thick of It is much quicker because they use two cameras, and there aren't really close ups and cutaways. You film a whole scene right the way through about five times, the last of which will be a bit looser, and then somehow it's all cut together. Rev is a much more traditional piece of single camera filming, which is therefore slower. What they have in common is that they're a lot of fun to do, and the directors and casts are encouraging and reasonably laid-back.

Do you often pitch show ideas to broadcasters?

I haven't pitched all that many before, but I've got a few in at the moment. Frankie Boyle and I once recorded a radio pilot called Frankie and Miles' Alpine Convenience Store and Celebrity Retreat. We ran a shop aloft the Alps, and would cut away to sketches. And then a celebrity who needed therapy or to dry out would turn up and we'd interrogate them. We were pretty happy with it, but it was pitched to BBC Radio Scotland which would absolutely not have been the right home for it.

Your new book is about blagging a cricket journalist job in India: have you done any more of that since?

I had a column for a bit on a cricket website...

Is it hard to get involved professionally if you're not an ex-player?

I don't think ex-players dominate the media. The press box is full of people with all sorts of backgrounds. Yes, everyone on Sky seems to have played somewhere round about 100 Tests, but that's not representative. It's about the work. Peter Hayter hasn't played cricket professionally and he's a great writer. Mike Atherton captained England and he's also a great writer.

What were the biggest revelations for you about how that business works?

It's much harder than it looks. That goes for everything.

This interview was originally published to promote The Applecart Festival, which took place in June 2012.