Andy Parsons interview

We catch up with Andy Parsons to find out what he's up to...

Hi Andy. How's your summer going?

Nice of you to ask. I haven't had as much time sitting in my pants in my garden as I would like recently, but intend to rectify that soon.

You're performing at Henley Festival soon. Have you been before?

Never been, and I have no idea what to expect. The only thing I can be certain about with my audience is that they are not Chaka Khan fans because she is on at the same time as me - although depending on the venue soundproofing it may be possible to watch me and listen to her.

Will you be performing topical material, or avoiding politics?

When a constituency has elected Boris Johnson twice, and has Theresa May's Maidenhead constituency next door, a little bit of politics is the least it deserves.

Are you going to hang around, or head straight off after your set?

Sara Pascoe is doing the show before me and I'm really looking forward to catching her latest hour. It will also be a chance to seek some fellow performer support depending how lubricated the crowd are and whether they are more Henley-on-Thames or Reading East.

It's been a couple of years since you quit Mock The Week. Do you miss the show?

No. I couldn't face doing "Unlikely Things You Would Hear A Sports Commentator Say" one more time. I'd already done it 7 times.

When you departed you commented "Perhaps this will be an opportunity to make a female comedian a regular." That didn't happen. In fact, it was only last week that producers finally booked two women on the same show.

I hoped it would happen but I didn't expect it to happen. Mock The Week is way behind the times on this, which is somewhat embarrassing for a topical show.

We've been enjoying your Slacktivist Action Group podcast. How would you describe the format for those that haven't encountered it yet?

An MP, a journalist and a stand-up walk into a bar - and there's an audience there...

It's been quite a turbulent year for politics! Have you enjoyed satirising what's been going on, or has it been hard work?

The turbulence has created a lot of pain so 'enjoy' would probably be the wrong word, but it's certainly great that more people are engaged with politics than they have been for many years.

Fast forward to 2020... who do you think will be leading the Conservative and Labour parties then? Still May and Corbyn?

After the last 2 years, it would be foolish to be predicting 3 years' time but I'd be very surprised if by 2020 Theresa May doesn't have a lot more time to spend relaxing at home in her £995 leather trousers.

Not that we want to wish away the summer, but as it fades away, you'll be heading off on tour. What can people expect?

We came up with the title Peak Bullshit at the start of last Autumn. Nothing so far has made me think it will be any less relevant at the start of this Autumn. With a minority government, DUP agreement, Brexit negotiations, Trump, Syria, inflation going up and interest rates set to rise, bullshit is not going anywhere fast.

To find out more about Andy visit andyparsons.co.uk