Interview with David Baddiel

WHEN people think of fame it's either the glamorous or the tragic side - champagne-filled parties or the untimely deaths of public figures such as Amy Winehouse.

But is that all there is to it? Comedian, writer, actor and football pundit David Baddiel thinks not.

In his new show, which he is bringing to South London for a four-week run starting tonight, he aims to lift the lid on fame and what it's really all about.

The 49-year-old is well placed to talk about the subject. He shot to fame in the late 80s with Rob Newman as part of the four-piece comedy sketch group the Mary Whitehouse Experience.

Then in the early 90s he and Rob branched off to do the BBC TV show Newman And Baddiel In Pieces achieving almost cult status in the process.

They became the first comedians to sell out arenas - and were credited as inventing comedy as the new rock 'n' roll - attracting a level of fandom normally reserved for pop stars - which I witnessed firsthand when I saw them at a show at the Birmingham Symphony Hall.

"Well, to be fair they weren't really screaming for me," he chuckles modestly.

But in 1997, David took a step back from stand-up to concentrate instead on various TV collaborations with Frank Skinner, write a number of books, a screenplay and is currently penning a sitcom for Channel 4.

But now he's back at the mic stand after his enforced hiatus and, although he admits to a few initial nerves, he is clearly enjoying himself.

We speak as David takes a short break in Cornwall, before he takes to the stage at the Menier Chocolate Factory in Southwark.

I start with the obvious question: what is fame?

"When people think about fame they think either of the baubles, the glitz and the glamour of it all or the downside of it, the loneliness and tragedy associated with fame," he says.

"It can be both of those things but I think there's another aspect and that is the mundane and absurd nature of it, which no one talks about.

"The show is not glorifying fame and saying how wonderful it is to be famous. Instead I try to illustrate the reality of it and demystify it.

"It's an interesting thing that can happen to someone - fame is thrilling but it can also be incredibly annoying."

This annoyance extends to Twitter, being recognised and stopped in the shops, and dealing with people's misconceptions.

"Social media, like Twitter, has changed the nature of fame," he says.

"Twitter is great but people can get in touch with you at any time. You see different levels of your fame as people discuss you and you have to deal with people who hate you.

"If you get too famous there is a version of you out there that isn't you, so it gets uncontrollable. I had problems with that, which is one of the reasons I stopped doing stand-up.

"For me it's about being slightly more visible.

"The ideal scenario is that you don't feel so famous that things seem out of control, but there is enough fame that people are interested in what you are doing."

And he denies it's a naval-gazing exercise.

"I basically tell a series of stories in which I am the butt of the joke in some way or another in all of them," he laughs before sharing some of the gems he will be sharing in the show.

"As an example I was reading Cormac McCarthy's book The Road on the Tube not so long ago and started crying. People were looking at me and were probably thinking, 'There's that bloke off the telly crying, he's clearly having a breakdown'."

This self-mocking also extends to talking about being mistaken for other famous individuals, most notably BBC executive Alan Yentob, who is 20 years older than him and even comedian Ben Elton not to mention showing the audience mistakes he has made on TV and Twitter over the years.

Jokes aside, David says fame has changed since the heady days of the 90s with the screaming fans and says he is happier now as a result.

"When I was touring with Rob, things were so different. Not least because I was 20 years younger and doing all the stuff a 20-something would do," he says.

"My life was out of control back then and I wasn't really comfortable with it.

"This feels different and I'm really enjoying it.

"Now, I am coming back home most nights, being a dad and doing the school run rather than living in some kind of closed-off bubble, but that was what you do when you are young.

"I loved those shows, but I think it would be stupid to expect things to be the same now -- andI shouldn't be trying to generate that kind of response now - it would be ridiculous!

"It's funny though because I look out at the audience and I do wonder whether some of them know the History Today sketches - some will know the 'That's you, that is' catchphrase but I'm sure the younger ones don't know what the hell I'm talking about!" he laughs.

Now he says he has a clear sense of who he is and is keen for the Menier audiences to see the real him.

"The Menier a lovely theatre," he says. "It's a really cool place, does brilliant shows, is near the Tate and, of the theatres that asked, it was the one I wanted to do the show in.

-- "It's also a good size. I'm actually very anti big venues these days -- partly because I don't think I could fill them, but I like the intimacy and this show suits a small room.

"I am slightly worried about having to do it every night for four weeks though," he jokes. "It's a while since I have done that but I'm looking forward to it!"

Fame: Not The Musical is at the Menier Chocolate Factory until May 23. Visit www.menierchocolatefactory.com or call 020 7378 1713 for tickets.

Review - A Vie From The Bridge at the Young Vic

*****

FROM the moment the solid wall that is a curtain surrounding the Young Vic's main house stage is lifted for its production of A View From The Bridge, I was hooked.

Dark, gloomy, almost suffocating in its intensity, this is the most stunning production of Arthur Miller's classic play.

The story centres on Brooklyn longshoreman Eddie Carbone and his unhealthy and frankly creepy obsession for his 17-year-old niece Catherine.

Since the death of her mother some years earlier Catherine has lived with Eddie and his wife Beatrice.

Under the guise of protecting her Eddie clearly has a hold over her but when Beatrice invites her two Italian cousins, illegal immigrants in the country, to stay with them things take a dark and sinister turn.

Tensions begin to build but in doing so we, like Eddie's lawyer, who also narrates the piece, know something awful is going to happen.

The acting is superb particularly that of Mark Strong as Eddie. His portrayal of this tragic man is flawless. It is both heartbreaking and shocking to see him gradually collapse and disintegrate in front of our eyes as the play moves towards its inevitable awful and brutal end.

Phoebe Fox is delightful as Catherine, Nicola Walker puts in a beautifully moving performance as Beatrice, betrayed so cruelly by her husband, and Michael Gould brilliantly combines the voices of the lawyer Alfieri, and the narrator.

The set deserves special mention. It is performed on a thrust stage bordered by a low rise wall of perspex. The curtain is left hanging just above the action throughout the piece before it sinks gradually onto its base as the final heartbreaking scene is played out.

Throughout it gives a sense of the claustrophobic and suffocating atmosphere that exists in the home and that of the relationships within it.

Despite it being a bladder-busting two hours with no interval, this production is totally gripping and is without doubt one of the best pieces of theatre I have seen this year. A must see.

A View From The Bridge is on at the Young Vic, The Cut, Waterloo until June 7. Tickets from £10. Call the box office on 020 7922 2922.

Review - A Small Family Business at the National Theatre

FOUR STARS

IN 1987 playwright Alan Ayckbourn wrote A Small Family Business for the Olivier stage at the National Theatre.

Now, some 27 years later it is back in a glorious revival directed by Adam Penford, and again on the Olivier stage.

It was written as a response to the Thatcherite greed is good philosophy of the 1980s.

Ayckbourn's hero Jack McCracken is a man who has inherited the family furniture business from his father in law who is in the early stages of dementia.

To celebrate the new job, Jack's wife organises a surprise party for him, inviting all the extended family who it transpires all have certain "interests" in the firm.

Jack somewhat naively promises a new regime of absolute honesty, right down to accounting for every last paperclip.

What he doesn't realise is that the entire family has been bleeding the company dry over the years, filching a bit here a bit there, and all under the absolute belief that they are doing nothing wrong.

They even, thanks to Jack's sister in law Anita McCracken, have rather dodgy connections to the Italian mafia.

If Jack thinks he can implement his plans he's in for a shattering shock right from the get go thanks to an unwelcome visit from a private investigator with some compromising information.

And so as Jack's integrity starts to fade away, the scene is set for a farcical series of events which build to a macabre climax.

The cast is great though special mention must go to Niky Wardley who is brilliant as the vampy, tarty and totally amoral Anita.

Nigel Lindsay is fantastic as Jack desperately trying to stay on the moral high ground and being genuinely angry and disgusted at his family's attitude to stealing.

Matthew Cottle is suitably oily and disagreeable as the creepy inspector, hunched and wearing a dirty trench coat and trilby hat which look grubbier as the play progresses.

But for me the real star of the show was the amazing revolving set, a two storey house, designed by Tim Hatley.

A Small Family Business is on at the National Theatre until August 27. Tickets from £15. Call the box office on 020 7452 3000.

Review - Oh My Sweet Land at the Young Vic

****

WE are all used to seeing horrific images on our TV screens and in our newspapers of the horrible situation in war torn Syria.

But a new play now on at the Young Vic aims to delve more deeply into the human tragedy of the situation while weaving in a love story.

Oh My Sweet Land was conceived by actress Corinne Jaber and written by Amir Nizar Zuabi after the pair travelled to Syria to meet those trapped in the country and hear their stories.

It is beautifully written and is performed by Corinne on the Waterloo-based theatre's small Maria stage.

The audience is taken on a journey from Corinne's Parisan kitchen across the seas and continents to Syria as she tries to find her lost love.

Half Syrian herself, we hear about her childhood growing up in Europe and her adult life in Paris which seems a world away from her Syrian heritage.

She meets a revolutionary in Paris with whom she falls in love. But when he leaves her to go back home she decides to go to Syria to find him.

It is a heartbreaking, emotional and emotive story interspersed with real life accounts of what is happening to ordinary people in refugee camps and in towns and cities across this war-torn land.

All the while Corinne is cooking kubah, a spicy traditional Syrian meat roll.

The fantastic smells that come from the pan of spices, onions, meat and pine nuts brings the Syria very much to the Maria stage.

The piece does not aim to be sensationalist, nor does it offer any answers to the situation. What it does do is remind us of man's inhumanity to man, the resilience of human beings and the power of hope and love as human emotions.

Oh My Sweet Land is on at the Young Vic until May 3. Tickets from £10. Call the box office on 020 7922 2922.

Smashed - at Udderbelly Festival

THIS year's Udderbelly Festival is now in full swing and promises a veritable feast of acts between now and when it ends in July.

Among those making its debut in the purple upside down cow tent is London-based Gandini Juggling.

This nine-strong group promises to wow audiences with its hour long show, Smashed.

A mesmerising mix of circus and theatre, and inspired by the work of the late German dancer and choreographer, Pina Bausch, Smashed will feature the jugglers perform with four crockery sets and 80 apples.

"It's very choreographed and has an element of dance within it although it's not a dancy show," explains the company's boss Sean Gandini.

"There is no story as such but there is a narrative running through it so different members of the audience will take different things from it.

"But it's ornate and fun and there is a real pattern to it with the apples.

"There is also a theatrical context because it is based on the ideas, choreography and dances of Pina Bausch and plays a bit with formality and the relationships with men and women," he adds.

"We are not a circus group, nor are we musicians or dancers but we do combine all those elements with theatre and juggling within our act and we have scores and mathematical notations to make patterns with the apples.

"It's also got to be very precise so we practise between three and four hours a day which is quite intense!"

The company was set up 20 years ago by Sean who was born and grew up in Cuba.

"I grew up in Havana and was fascinated by magic and mathematics as a child," he says. "I started off doing a few magic tricks which included a bit of juggling as most magicians know how to juggle but one day I saw a professional juggler and it completely hypnotised me.

"I got obsessed by it and taught myself - this was before the advent of all the circus skills classes you could go to - and that was it. I was hooked!"

He came to London started performing in Covent Garden where he met his Finnish-born wife Kati Ylä-Hokkala.

"We met after her career as a rhythmic gymnast had ended and she became as obsessed as me about juggling," he laughs. "We set up the company and that was it.

"I am very lucky as I have a great team of jugglers. They are like my extended family!" he laughs.

Since then, Gandini Juggling has made a name for itself with its clever and intricate juggling sets and has performed in more than 2,500 shows from art galleries to palaces, street corners to stadiums.

But it is the first time the company has performed at the Udderbelly Festival.

"We were approached by the organisers when we were at the Edinburgh Festival last year as they had seen us perform and thought what we do would be a good fit for Udderbelly," says Sean.

"We are all so excited to be here as the atmosphere is fantastic when you come to the Udderbelly. Also, as we are based in London, to be doing a run of shows on home soil is fantastic.

"It also means we can indulge in our ballet addictions in the afternoon and do some classes!"

As well as the 28-date run the company will also be doing a 'come and have a go' juggling lesson near the London Eye on the South Bank on Tuesday next week (22nd April) at 4pm.

Anyone will be free to come along, bring some apples, and try their hand at juggling, guided by these world-famous maestros.

And Sean says they are all excited about being in the purple tent.

"It's such a fun thing to look at from the outside but inside it has a fantastic stage. It's not very big - in fact it's quite intimate, but that's great because the audience will be so close to the action and we hope they will feel very much part of it.

"It's going to be amazing."

Smashed is on at Udderbelly between April 22 and May 18. Tickets from £12.50. Visit www.underbelly.co.uk/ or call the box office on 0844 545 8252