John Thomson interview
John Thomson returns as his politically correct stand-up character Bernard Righton to host the Gold series Legends Of Stand-Up.
Hi John. What is the premise of the show?
The show is a legends of comedy archive clip show, hosted by the UK's only politically correct working men's club comedian, Bernard Righton.
The inspiration for the character was Bernard Manning. He was a brilliant comedian, he was a great gag-seller, and one of only a very few British comics to play at Vegas, a great comic. But his choice of material was to have a go at everybody, anyone. He would say anything goes so that's all right, you name it, any ethnic group, even his own. That was his mantra, no one was safe, everyone was fair game.
When was Bernard Righton 'born'?
Around 1990. Me and Steve Coogan were at the same drama school, the Manchester Poly. We were toying with character comedy and I started out by describing the Bernard Righton persona. Then I started performing as him. At one particular gig it was so popular that the audience were going "Bernard!! Bernard!!" and they were kind of chanting for more of that kind of joke; non-joke, that's what the technical term for them is really, but we're just subverting the punchline.
Of course the scenario of a comedian in a working men's club is a thing of the past; people joined a working men's affiliated club because the alcohol was incredibly cheap, and the old ladies were addicted to bingo. And nothing got in the way of bingo!
I drummed in a working men's club for nearly three years of my life, so I know the clubs, I know the scene, I know how it works, I've seen acts, I know the vibe, I know what it's about, but I also know what the comedians were about. Also of course their kind of humour is a thing of the past, some of it was terribly offensive and things have moved away from that, and in the right direction.
Bernard Manning was interviewed about me once, and when he was asked about Bernard Righton he said "never f*****g heard of him". Then the interviewer told him about Steve Coogan and I being mates. "Oh Steve Coogan, he used to fill my Cadillac up with petrol in Middleton" which was true! Steve was a petrol pump attendant in Middleton and Bernard drove a dirty great Cadillac, a petroleating thing, and Steve filled his car up.
What I love about the Bernard Righton character is, it's ingratiated me into the world of both comedy schools, the old and the new so all the old comics that are still among us, love it - like Mick Miller and Stan Boardman, because they came from that school. So it's nice to be accepted by both. It's a double-edged sword really, I'm having a go at two kinds of people: the racists, but also the bleeding heart liberals, the Guardian kind of futon socialist. It works on quite a few levels but the act itself is one central joke: it's subversion.
How do you feel about doing stand-up yourself?
I revisited Bernard when I went back to stand-up in November 2012 after a long absence. Originally I had gone off the boil with him and didn't feel the need to do it, and I felt there was a lot of jeopardy involved in it: there are so many factors in stand-up that can affect your performances. You can be good but the venue might not be right, the lighting or the sound, the audience might be in a quiet mood and that spreads like a virus in an audience, when you have a pocket of people who aren't responding.
These days one of the first questions I ask when I've got a booking is are the audience comedy savvy, which means is it a comedy club that is regularly attended by people who like comedy. The analogy I'll make is imagine going to the cinema to a big duplex and someone saying I'm going to the cinema tonight and you go "What are you going to go see?" they say "screen five", you say "what's on at screen five?" and they'll say "don't know".
About eighteen months ago I did new material night and tried my set out on a younger crowd. A mate of mine went for a cigarette in the break and a guy was on the phone saying "oh, there's a bloke on tonight, terrible. He couldn't remember the punchlines, so he made them up. He didn't know what he was doing!" That was his interpretation of it!
Now I'm back doing stand-up and really enjoying it, it's very important to keep the wheels greased to keep going, so the more gigs you do the better you get, it's as simple as that. When I do it and it goes well I love it, I relish it, obviously. But there's no guarantee, no matter what stage you are in your career, that you won't hit a bump, no matter who you are, Seinfeld or just starting out, it's just the unpredictability of it.
Sometimes when I book a gig and it's four months off I'm so nervous, so, so nervous. It's just, I mean I'm nervous at every gig but it's like someone once said, your heart rate when you do stand-up is the same as the heart rate of someone who's just survived a car crash! But that's stand-up!
What are you earliest recollections of watching comedy?
It's funny you should say that, one of the clips I introduce on this show is of Max Boyce and he is the first comedian I ever saw live, one of the more obscure. My mum used to work in a book shop in Preston and she got to know him quite well from coming in to the shop. She was a huge fan, and we got tickets to see him. I was only a kid, and that man united a north-west audience, it was unbelievable the way he brought people together. He was the first kind of arena comic I had seen.
Tommy Cooper is an absolute hero, and Eric Morecambe too. There are comedians who are technicians, but it's very kind of scientific. When you see a natural, it's just a joy to behold, and those two were absolute naturals.
Do you prefer live performing or TV/film?
I prefer live for comedy but as an actor I prefer television because the turn around is a lot quicker, a lot more gratifying. To see yourself on a big screen when you do a movie is very exciting, but all the technical stuff you get paid to hang around to do, not act, takes so long and the amount you shoot in a day is minimal.
You've got to be very comfortable with yourself, you've got to be a big friend of your own company for film, which can be tiring.
Q: Who are your biggest contemporary influences?
My favourite at the moment is Micky Flanagan, I saw him at Southport Park Plaza - a sell-out, an 1800-seater full of Northerners, and he smashed it. Two hours' stand-up, two hours. He absolutely blew me away. He's got funny bones, he's great.
'Legends Of Stand-Up & Bernard Righton' is on Gold on Mondays at 10pm.