Holly Walsh interview
We managed to grab a quick chat with Holly Walsh, co-presenter of TNT Show, before she headed off to the edit of this week's episode...
Hi Holly. Perhaps we could start by asking a question we've been wondering for a while: You were working in the art world before switching to comedy - two very different areas of life. Have you always wanted to become a comedian, or has this new career come about as more of an accident?
I've always really loved comedy - I'm a bit of a comedy nerd - so I guess it's always been there, but it wasn't until about three years ago that I did something about it.
I really loved my art job too though. I had a really cool job, and I got to travel a lot and meet some really interesting people. But I would say there are actually similarities between the worlds of art and comedy - they're both pretty self-indulgent.
Well, congratulations on a successful jump across to comedy Holly. 2006 was the year we probably first noticed you on the scene, so you've made your way up the comedy ladder in quite a short space to time...
Yeah, 2006 was when I started really. What I like about this job is you don't know what's going to happen next. I don't really have a 'big plan' or anything like that. I've been really lucky in having some really good opportunities come my way.
I don't really want to become famous or anything, I just want a life where people let me make what I want to make. That would be the ideal.
So, what's it like working on the TNT Show?
Yeah, it's been incredible. I really like the people I'm working with. It's a massive learning curve for me, every week it gets better and I learn more about the craft. For me its about learning how to do a live studio audience TV presenting and stuff like that, on top of doing the comedy. Jack's done loads of stuff like this already so he's a really good person to work with.
The fact we're talking rather early in the morning - desite the fact this week's show has already been filmed - suggests it's a pretty intense work schedule?
Yeah, it's a busy few days. We have to write the show and film the bits to insert into it close to the recording, so they are all as topical as possible. We recorded this week's show last night, so I'm now going in this morning to watch back my green screen bit, and then we edit it and try and make it as good as possible.
Because everything is done last minute, today is all about tweaking stuff and making it ready for broadcast... and then we move straight on to thinking about ideas for next week's show. It's a really quick turnaround, but the team are amazing. I'm lucky that I've got a good group of people who can make stuff work.
You mention about recording things close to transmission... a couple of weeks ago you were unlucky in that the show had to be taken off air to avoid a Michael Jackson joke going out...
Yeah, that was interesting. It was really unfortunate timing - the news about Michael Jackson broke as the show was going out. We could obviously never have predicted it. But the producers were there and they made the call to take the show off air. I think they made the right decision.
As we sort of already touched upon, in the few years that you've been working in the comedy industry you've already clocked up quite a few TV and radio credits, not to mention numerous stand-up gigs. What's been your highlight so far?
I've just written a pilot with Sharon Horgan called Bitches. That was really fun to write. It's about a female prison. I don't know what's going to happen with it, but Sharon was a really great person to write with. I think she is one of the best comedy writers in British comedy, so it was really great to work with her. We laughed loads when we were doing it, which is what you want from a job really!
You've done the guest stand-up spot The Now Show a couple of times, which is obviously quite a privileged thing to be invited to do. What was that like?
Yeah, really good. I enjoyed that a lot. I was brought up listening to Radio 4, so it was sort of quite an odd thing to work on the show. Punt & Dennis were really supportive. I really like Radio 4 and Radio 7, and I think radio is a great place to learn how to write. In a way, you've got so much more freedom on radio because you don't have the constraints of having to actually film what you write. I think radio is the place to learn what you want to do and then practice that.
So what else have you got coming up Holly? Are you performing at Edinburgh again this year?
I'm not going to Edinburgh this year, as TNT Show will still be running during August. I might go next year - I just need to think of something to do. Once TNT is finished I will definitely be looking to go back and do more stand-up, as that's my favourite thing in a lot of ways. We're only half way through TNT though, so I'm not making any plans yet. It's such an intensive summer I'm going to be looking forward to a holiday I think.
Well, if all else fails you could always become a hand model?
Ah, you've seen my hand video then. Ha ha. My hands are like children's hands. Quite creepy.
Ha ha. So, our final question - something we ask everyone - can you give us an idea of what sort of comedy shows you like?
Arrested Development is great. I love that. Plus The Day Today... all that Chris Morris stuff is brilliant.
Cool. Well, we know you've got a busy day coming up, so we'll leave you to it. Thanks for talking to us Holly.