Stephen Merchant

Interview: Stephen Merchant on his upcoming UK tour

Comic and writer of The Office returns to stand-up for his "Hello Ladies" tour.

Stephen Merchant interview

"I've never been this busy," exclaims Stephen Merchant in that unmistakable West Country burr. "It's a terrible thing. I didn't get into showbiz to be busy."

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Size has always been central to Ronnie Corbett's fame too - or rather, the lack of it. As if to prove the point, Matt Lucas described him as "a giant" in the introductory sequence of Ronnie Corbett's Comedy Britain. That sequence made this sound like a long and slightly tedious tour of Corbett's lunch companions, with the aim of presenting him as the patron saint of British comedy. In fact, it was utterly wonderful.

Miranda Hart, Stephen Merchant, David Mitchell and John Cleese were among those who shared insights into what makes comedians tick and comedy funny. The former is mainly the potential for going from bladder-wrenching insecurity to megalomania in the blink of an eye. The latter is mainly timing.

Corbett proved a superb and humble interrogator. He didn't address the decline of the sitcom and the relative rise of sketch shows, nor did he ask why so many comedies these days centre on flocks of people, rather than families, and what that says about our society. But he did remind us that contemporary British comedy is full of great talent, a useful corrective to the nostalgic defeatism of most televisual trips down memory lane.

This new ITV1 documentary sees Ronnie Corbett meeting up with some of his favourite comedians, past and present, while also looking back at key comedy moments.

As a result, this programme, on the whole, is not going to suit a die-hard comedy fan; because it covers lots of things that they will already know about, such as how The Two Ronnies came together, or the early radio history of Little Britain. This show is really more for the casual comedy observer who wants to learn more.

One thing that got me thinking, however, was that this first episode was all about comedy partnerships. However, Corbett didn't actually meet up with any double acts - just half of them, namely Miranda Hart, Stephen Merchant, David Mitchell, Matt Lucas and John Cleese (although admittedly there is a very good reason why Cleese's comedy partner was not on, seeing as how Graham Chapman has been dead for over 20 years).

If anything, this show seemed to be a comedian's version of Jim'll Fix It, with Corbett giving many of his comedians some exciting experiences. For example he allowed Miranda Hart to walk on to a stage where Morecambe and Wise had one of their greatest ever stage shows to the tune of "Bring Me Sunshine". Another segment saw Corbett getting Merchant a brand new tailor-made suit; another featured Corbett doing a Little Britain radio sketch, attempting to do Vicky Pollard - badly.

To be honest I was almost expecting Corbett to be sitting in his chair, holding a cigar and saying something along the lines of: "Now then, now then, I've got a letter from a Jim Davidson of London what says; 'Dear Ronnie, I haven't been on telly for years due to no-one liking my act because it is racist. So could you fix it for me to appear on your show?' Well, goodness gracious, unfortunately Ronnie Corbett's Comedy Britain does have a very tight budget, so Jim how would you like it if Ronnie fixed it for you to sing with the black and white minstrels?"

Having said all this I did like some of the archive clips that they showed, graphically onto any flat surface such as walls, clothing displays and theatre curtains. Some of them also featured clips I hadn't heard before such as one clip from The Goon Show which I found absolutely hilarious.

So, this show does contain the odd comedy laugh that you won't have heard of 50 times already, but other than that it is just a series of interviews and pleasant surprises.

Ronnie Corbett's Comedy Britain was short on laughs

Ronnie Corbett's Comedy Britain wasn't actually very funny, considering the veteran entertainer was cavorting with the likes of Stephen Merchant, Matt Lucas and Miranda Hart.

If you have never seen Monty Python's parrot sketch, or are unfamiliar with Eric Morecambe's demolition of "Andrew Preview" ("I am playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order"), then this is for you. Ronnie Corbett's Comedy Britain is a handy primer for anyone who needs to work on their history of British comedy. For everyone else, it's an easy-going, if sometimes uncomfortably loose, hour of very familiar comedians talking about comedy. As Corbett is beloved of the new wave of Brit-coms - he had cameos in Extras, where he snorted cocaine from a toilet seat, and Little Britain, where he was confronted by the grotesque Bubbles DeVere - his pals are modish. So he has an odd little interlude with Miranda Hart, whom he accompanies to the Fairfield Halls in Croydon, spiritual home of Hart's beloved Morecambe and Wise. Then Corbett has lunch with Stephen Merchant, a picnic on a punt with David Mitchell and afternoon tea with John Cleese. And with Matt Lucas he tries to be Vicky Pollard, and is terrible.

Ronnie Corbett - the pint-sized national treasure, retired comedian and arguably the finest anecdotalist of the last century - is now 80 years old and as sharp as he ever was. Disregarding a slight limp, he also doesn't appear to have aged much in the last 20 years - proof that laughter is indeed the best medicine. Tonight, feeling that it's time for "a new adventure", he embarks on the first leg of a two-part tour through the history of British comedy.

It's basically a victory lap, in which Corbett meets up with a variety of comedy luminaries - from John Cleese to Stephen Merchant to Miranda Hart - and chortles about the good old days. In the hands of a less charming figure this could easily have been a piece of self-indulgent schedule filler, but Corbett has a wonderfully light touch and the programme skips along. The first leg is dedicated to double acts, touching upon Morecambe and Wise, Mitchell and Webb, Matt Lucas and David Walliams and, needless to say, The Two Ronnies. Jokes, anecdotes and clips from the archives abound - look out for the story of how Corbett and Barker made the TV big-time, thanks largely to a power outage and some clever ad-libbing.

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