Matthew Crosby interview
Matthew Crosby chats to BCG about his role in BBC One's comedy quiz show...
Hi Matthew. What role do you play in Ready Or Not?
Hello. I play the role of Surprisey Man. I hide in a variety of locations around the country (in fountain in a Glasgow garden centre, under a table in an Italian in Liverpool, under a crate of bananas in a market in Plymouth) and leap out on unsuspecting members of the public. But in a nice friendly way.
How did you find it, surprising the public?
The "surprising" bit I absolutely loved. I didn't enjoy the bit beforehand so much. Crouching under a table with my legs going dead, slowly being garrotted by a strap keeping a flowerpot attached to my head.
I'd be just about to leap out and then I'd hear Paul, the director, in my earpiece, "not just yet... one of the punters has gone off to the toilet".
Once I'd leapt out, given them a quick scare, then told them they could potentially win a cash prize; that's when the fun began. We'd do a quiz with them that involved illuminated garden gnomes and pineapples, and my trusty assistant Anna Piper (from sketch team Hot Mess) helped out by throwing cacti and bread rolls.
It was hands-down the most bonkers job I have ever done. And I once did a TV show where I played a news-reading dog who would occasionally tapdance.
How much preparation did you do? How much was improvised?
The questions and the game play were all worked out beforehand but obviously when you've got real punters you want to have a fun chat so a lot of it was just improvising and messing around. I found it's best to be as friendly and chatty as possible after you've just given someone the shock of their lives.
How long did you have to film for to make sure you got good reactions? Were there any dodgy reactions from the public that couldn't be used?
We'd spend a day in each location (which was a lot of crouching) but it wasn't hard getting the right reactions. Most people, when they see a fountain in a garden centre, don't tend to expect a short man in a tuxedo to leap out and start quizzing them on general knowledge.
I surprised one guy - a pretty big, scary looking Glaswegian man - and he just yelped and ran off across the garden centre. Which would have been fine if he hadn't left his poor mum just standing there looking confused.
Comedy fans will already recognise you... did you get rumbled at any point?
Well the good thing about Ready or Not is that, because I'm completely hidden before I leap out, there's no real chance of being recognised. It would take a really eagle-eyed comedy nerd to look at crate of bananas and think, "d'you know what? I reckon the bloke from Pappy's is under there."
Presumably, once the show has aired, it is going to make it harder for you to go out in public day-to- day... people will spot you and think you're about to pounce on them!?
Maybe it'll make people think twice before they get too close to a water feature, just in case I'm crouching inside.
What's next for you in 2018?
I'm still writing on TV shows like The Last Leg and Harry Hill's Alien Fun Capsule; Pappy's are doing our Flatshare Slamdown podcast every month (which the BCG very kindly host); I've written a play that I'm doing a reading of at Machfest, which I'm hopefully going to put on somewhere later this year; I've also got a (sort of) new (sort of) stand-up show called Let's Be Friends that I occasionally perform here and there. But mostly I'll be at home, crouching under the sofa waiting to leap out and surprise the cat.