Aging and Career Longevity

Hi Rat fans. Thanks for downloading the podcast. Thanks to everyone who came to the Droit Witch and St. Alban's gigs, which were fantastic . Look, the big news is coming up. We're at the Edinburgh fringe during Rahullestapur from the fifth of August to the sixteenth of August, there's two shows on the eighth and ninth . They're all at Stand three except for those later shows at five thirty , which are at W edinburgh, which is another stand venue. The regular shows at two o'clock . Tickets are available go to richain. com slash rallisap and book now, especially if you want to come to the weekends where tickets are selling fast. I am going to start booking guests this week and you'll be able to see the confirmed guests on that website as well. So book ahead. It's lots of fun. We had loads of fun last year and we should be creating enough podcasts to see us through to the end of the year. After that, what's going to happen? Not sure, my fan friends. I'm not too sure . Anyway, sit back, relax, enjoy another episode of whatever flickin' podcast you're listening to. Hello, welcome to another studio based Rahalistafa. And I guess this week is probably best known for her appearance on Blue A Blue Peter Report about Bertolf Brecht of the Riverside studio . Pretty good, huh? That's pretty good . Pretty obscure. Ronnie Ankona or to give her a full name for Veronica Anconicicaa. Veron Anaconda if you get it right. Anaconda . Do you remember the blue peter? Blue Peter Insider? Yes, I do . It was a million years ago and it was for the Riverside Studio and we were we would I was actually at Central St. Martin's doing a design course and we had we would we were big doing a thing about Caspanier, who was Bertol Brooks Breck's design er and we were part of we were on we were huge soldiers on stoves. Right . And I remember poking my head out of this big soldier thing. And I'm extraordinarily white pale The kind of sort of the paleid complexion that takes three weeks in the sun to go blue. It was that's how pale I was with a very distinct Scottish burr. Nice. Who was the presenter of Blue Peach the same? Oh now it was oh oh there was an I can't even I can't would I tell you what? No , it was the one with Goldie. Okay, Simon Groom. Yes, I think it was Simon Groom. Janet Ellis. Was it I was a little disappointed about first of all the shock of seeing how small the studio was because you don't think of wide angled lenses and stuff like that. So you walk and you go, what ? No . But this is where you do and you drive trucks in and everything and but no and where does where's the space for an elephant to poo where is it? And it's a lot smaller than you think. And I'm slightly disappointed lots of sort of chipped chipped furniture and stuff. And then nobody seemed to like Goldie the dog that much . I was a little nut, I was a little bit a little bit I mean I'm not that's a little bit of an accusation which I might get in trouble but I didn't feel that I didn't have a huge ore of kind of it was just a little I remember it was a bit of a bubble being burst. Yeah . Yeah, I could see that. Yeah. Well, sorry to bring it up. I was okay. I did get a blue painter bath. Yeah, I was going to hang. Yeah, yeah, I did. Yeah. Does it get you into places for free? I've been using it ever since . It's wearing off now because now because I'm literally so old people think it's a bit perverted that I'm walking. It's lost its it's lost its it's lost its shine a bit. Well, look I can't believe you did to try and get in here to talk to you say no. You need a fist of thumb badge, you've probably got one of those. I can't believe we're just saying and this is this is my fault. I cannot believe I don't think Alistair's been on either. I need I don't know why you've not been on this podcast before. Yeah , I haven't been on the podcast. I'm literally trying not to be bitter about it . Every single person I know has literally been on this podcast and I've got to be slightly bitter and twisted. So I just lied. And I said, Oh yeah, yeah, I've done a couple of have you just done I've done a couple of times in the theater. I think yeah that's how that's what you've driven me to. I think I think I just thought you were too cl assy to come on it. I thought I thought you would say no, I'm not going to do it. So that's a bit sad actually, that this is the first given our history . I know , but isn't that crazy? And like, what did I do ? Literally , you know, the mistake you made was we never went out with each other which again I can't believe that never happened. But we never never did did. We . We've got several children together, but we shouldn't say that now. We'll bring that up. But Sally's been on and that was a very entertaining Yes episode. And Julia Swell has been on, that was very interesting. So I think if we'd gone out of a gun, I've got to talk to Ronnie about what a terrible boyfriend I am because we never did. Don't worry, I heard that from lots of other people . There we go. So I'm disappointed not to have had yum before and I'm disappointed that there must have been a moment in the nineteen nineties . And then I didn't even know that you'd started doing them without an audience. I'm just wondering if your less successful guests are kept away from the audience more successful. No, I know because we've got plants and everything . And crystals. It's lovely. It's really lovely. Well, yeah, we did and I didn't realize that you did your first Edinburgh show you ever did was our show London was in explicable ? Yes, it was with Alistair. Yeah. McGowan. And what was so joyous about that, if you remember, I just I was up at Edinburgh this year and it's just the way that Edinburgh now is just like so sort of you know over produced and corporate and slick. I'm not saying the shows are but you know the everything has to be so well professionally done and the stakes are so high and it's so unbelievably busy . And then there was us. What wasn't that every night? Did you know what I mean? Trying, let's do this. Let's do why don't we do I know, why don't we bring on a plastic bag full of blood? And at that point, Wolf, I mean, it was just joyously an aricch, wasn't it? I think it was yeah. I don't remember loads about that show. I remember you and Alistair doing the characters where he was trying to predict the future with Urine . Do you remember that? That was right . So he's still trying out Instagram actually. That's a quite a lot of luck actually. This is the time to do it. As soon as you say longevity because you could predict this one's going to have a baby by urine. Yes. And so therefore he extrapolated that and then there was a sort of suggestion. Then we thought the two of you were more interested in urine than you should have been . Yes, yes. And there was the Bromy vampires. We did Brami Vamp ires. Yes. We did something else. We did some other bizarre stuff. It was a lot of stuff. It was a movable feast. I think it sort of changed a lot. Funnily enough, I was looking through some stuff the other day and I found you know now if you look at the Edinburgh French you need like thirty tones thick massive pages of do you know what I mean? Listing everybody that's on I. found an original brochure from that year . So thin , by the way, I mean, I think there was literally , you know, seven shows and it's, you know, you can see Jane Bran for fif ty p and it's all that so and you know, Harry Hill looks like two pounds fifty and it was like there was just all of tiny. Yeah. Well, you know, everyone would get seen by, you know, and every one would get reviewed and everyone would hopefully get a bit of workout. You lose a bit of money, but hopefully you would get some workout that would cover that . But you know, now it's you lose a lot of money and there's every chance no one nobody will see your show at all . So this you know, this thousand is become so much more yeah, so much more difficult I think. And but in a way it should be about just going up and trying stuff out and learning, shouldn't it? But it was, I guess also in those days you sort of got to know everybody. That was the way as comedians would be on the circuit and you might meet up every now and again, but you had a month where basically everyone was there and I know it was extraordinary. I mean it has changed. Funny enough, I was talking to Joe about this how much you know it has changed amazingly. I mean, there was like four women on the circle, you know, it was just like a tot ally different time. And I used to run this I was the world's worst compare on a t errible . I think it is a club now still I'm sure it's very well run now. It wasn't then called the Tataashle Castle , which was a boat on the tip. And I've still got the I've still got the way we chalked up the, you know, it was literally sort of Lee Evans and Jack Lee and Eddie you know , and I was, you know, just terrible combat. I mean, it was just extraordinary. It was just terrible. You were not terrible. You won the new act of the Year award, which I'd forgotten about that in ninety two was that? ninety ninety three three during I was a child predator had a chaperone for that which is that is a big that is a really big deal to me. Well, it was a big deal because at the time there weren't many other awards? No were there . I mean, it's just totally sort of it's almost sort of slightly segued by lots of other bigger better awards. Yes. But then it was sort of very, you know, and it was difficult. I mean, I we did Stewart one at the year. I tried to do it, but I got there was rat. You had to go through rounds to get to the final. I got knocked out in the I think in the maybe the second round. I think Tim Vine came was runner up in my year and never forgave me . We became very good friends there because we did the Skat Show together but you know, he was like, you know, in fact there was just there was this kind of general who is this slightly surreal odd creature that looks a bit like a Gothic pterodactyl that one. I don't, you know, and now yes . Because you know, it's easy to forget, I think that you are because you've obviously been so successful with the impressions and so successful as an actor that you were, you know, you started out as a proper stand up comedian and you are a committee you see yourself as a comedian, I think. I do see myself as a comedian. I've forgot. Actually, it's funny to say that I do get asked to do quite a lot of drama and I'm very flat tered to do it, but I'm the opposite. I just want to do sort of comedy and comedy acting and I'll, you know, and I'll go to you pleased, you've been asked to do drama, drama. You feel like a proper, you know, but to me I was always that was the thing I wanted to comment wanted to do better than I think Richard if you're a minute if you're a second out in drama , you're interesting. If you're a second out in comedy, you're not funny. Yes , you know? Well, you know, it's I think it's much harder to be funny than it is to be serious, right? You know, I think like the things that get nominated for awards in acting are often just very weighty subjects and it's sort of easy and not saying it's easy because I do have a lot of respect for actors. But I think it's easier to do that than it is to take something and make people laugh and that you would never get if you had the funniest film in the world, you would never get an Oscar for me. No. In fact , I don't know where it is. One of your amazingly incredibly vigilant audience. I bet somebody knows they're out there . But there is a fantastic clip of the Oscars Robin Williams and a couple of the big I think it's Steve Muddon, you know, get up on the Oscars and r ant about how no comedian has ever wanted, but they do it in such a clever way . Like they kind of take the piss out of actors because we don't have to do you know what I mean? Very, very clever. Yeah. But you know, it's I think there should be there should be more respect for comedy, but you know, it's it doesn't matter. We're not bitter. We're not bitter. It was bitter at all . So look it is, you know, it's great. We spent so much time doing stuff that we like to write those ear thes,pecially in the early nineties and with the radio shows we did for the radio one radio four and fist of fun Fist of Fun Fist of Fun . And so it was, you know, I can't believe how much time it's taken. And then but this is going to sound unbelievably tragic. But I am very close friends with Alistair McGann still although he's a, you know, a bit annoying for dante, but no, I'm very, very fond of him. And he still brings me huge joy by doing impressions with you . And there's a particular job, well, listen, you're incredibly well known. I saw you on celebrity Baycoff for example . But you are you're very well known, but he does just it is a slight niche impression. He does for me and it brings some huge joy. And he does. And in fact, I think I featured Alistair Doing You featured in my podcast and Stuart in my podcast I did with Hal Crotting Duba i. Well, it's very nice. It was such a great group of people that we sort of assembled to do those shows. And it did. Again, it's also back to that thing of Edinburgh being so few people, but like, you know, we within that group of people that did all those liner on Nimrod and Fist of Fun and all the things we did, it was, you know, you and Aliston and Sally, who I know you're very good friends with a company together. Yeah . And you know Kevin Elder and you know it was such an amazing I actually went to a birthday party of a comic recently and they were all there and it 's just you know a lot of them are there.' Its just extraordinary. Yeah, yeah. So it was, you know, it was sort of it was a time we're all coming together. How did you and Alistair meet? It wasn't you didn't meet doing Lynne and Imrod, you knew each other before Lynn Minor. No, we met because I think I think I was doing a gig as I think I was doing a very early I was doing a very, very early open spot . I was absolutely appalling with hecklers. I would just stand and stare in fact once a very famous comic said to me no, Vonnie, you should when somebody shouts box at you know, you shall you should know and you've only got two and it's holding your brain oh no you only got one and it's holding your ears apart or something like that it was very clever and I thought that's brilliant I'.ll remember that I'll. remember that. And then of course I get heckled and I go , stop with someone looks at me. I go, you've got now you've got two, and then you've got one. No, that's wrong. Hang on. You know, I was terrible at Heckers, but anyway, I was I had a kind of quite esoteric ethereal sort of act with lots of sort of weird impressions thrown in. Yeah. And I think we met at, I think we met at the McCarno Club. I think so . But at that time , I was actually doing he was doing lots of different stuff and he was doing stuff with Harry Hill , which when Harry met . Do you remember that? When Harry met Ali . And then my listen to us go on. I mean, it's like when I first met you were wearing a doublet, weren't you? It was when Soho was Marshland and there were pigs running through Broadwick Street . No, he and then we I think we met and then we started talking a lot about impressions and he was and at the time and then we started doing quite a lot of shows together because we thought we had this idea of doing stuff in the night, but then I was working with Rory Bremner and then I was working with all sorts of other people and he was doing spitting image . And then we started having a relationship before we started properly working. Right. But we were doing all sorts of little bits of comedy together . And I actually went on tour with Rory Breman before and then we came up with this idea , you know, for the show I mean I mean , it's interesting because you're so different to Alistair. It's interesting. Even so let's not do at the personal level we like, but on the professional level but it really geled and worked together. I mean both you'd say brilliant impressions obviously a big part of doing an impression show. But isn't it weird how to Well, it was really interesting you say that because I mean, you know, we'd gone out for about for about for a long time . We were actually split up just before the show started and first of all there was a lot on top of the fact we're unbelievably different . You know, he's incred ibly pedantic and he's very, very , you know, ordered and his sense of humor is very different from me and it was very sort of pun led and very literal. And I was much more surreal and much more weirder comedy appealed to me. So that was actually but that worked quite well because I think he was too far that way and I was too far that way and it sort of amalgamated quite well . Added on top and we've just done something for the Guardian and we talked about that quite a lot, but there was quite an explosive frison because there was all this, you know , quite a lot of , you know, emotional baggage as well , which and my God, we had some stonking rise . I mean, I'm not, you know, I'm he's I'm not a difficult person at all on that. I'm really well behaved, but we remember, I remember particularly there was a show we did Joe Wiley and Peel doing Jastonb,ridge John Kilding person,ally . And literally we would be I cannot tell you. I think somebody came down from the BBC and pulled us apart. I think that's right. I think we'll go. But we'll watch sketches now and we'll go, remember that one. But sort of worked . You know, it's sort of it sort of worked because we and it was always about material we'd draw about, you know, we'd have terrible fights. And it was very interesting. And then we sort of slowly became respected like I'd have this idea about Audrey Hepburn and Carrie Grant running a burger van in a l ay by in the A forty . And he said, you know, what are you talking about, Ronnie? What are you talking about? And I said, But no, no, no, no. It's, do you know what I mean? Funnily enough, remember the BBC saying nobody will know who Audrey Hepburn is and all this sort of stuff. But I said, It doesn't matter because level one of the comedy writing is that they're two people out of contact they shouldn't be there with the, you know , and he actually was really sweet. He did he really , you know, couldn't understand it at all. And, you know, and I had lots of hitchgot references in it and stuff, but he really sort of stood up for it, you know, we reached so he I think he began to trust me and know that you know what I mean that it would work. Yeah. So you know it's really I mean obviously I've been in some double acts and there 's been some tensions. I haven't I don't think I've had sex with someone I've been in a double acting with no I don't. But I was going out with Sally when we did Fistafun I was going out with Sally and we broke up Yes during Fistafun or just before Fist of fun so we always that was quite heavy. It was and sunny. So we were sort of we weren't we were sort of on and off throughout Fist of Fun. Yeah. In fact, if you watch one of the driving instructor sketches , I've got a love bite on my neck because we'd gone we'd gone and had sex the night before even though we'd broken up, we'd had sex the night before we shot that . So it's best thing we ever did breaking up. That's where I'm going wrong with marriage. I should get divorced and then I can have sex . Okay, that's great. So yeah, so look out for that fact fans. But yeah, so it was, I mean, it was but it was certain all that time was I mean again it was so we were all heading for stuff and going in different directions and the same directions and helping each other and fighting against each other 's really interesting because it's so obviously you know what's interesting going back to big impression a bit was that I was talking to Alice about this recently and I don't I don't think you just couldn't do a show like that anymore. No one of the main reason , you know, first of all, I mean there's probably lots of bits, you know, as was with the sketch show where you go, oh well that wouldn't you wouldn't be allowed to get away with that and etc , etc. But I think the a big reason is that you know that because it was all pre digital and pre social media , you could imagine people doing things or saying the home life. There was a mysticism . You could imagine that's what we based we'd started doing Persian bets, not because we had to do Persian bets because it was right at the beginning, Richard of the beginning of this brand new celebrity culture. Yeah, yeah. And before that it was kind of a little bit, you know, it was all a bit sort of George Bess going round to his nans for a cup of tea and he'd park his roll er outside and there was a kind of innocence. And then suddenly on the cusp of that time in the early nineties, you suddenly got celebrities making a lot of money and becoming sort of very young and very powerful. And this was a new, quite a new thing. So we'd sort of the Posh and Becks thing, we just we chose a couple that we thought personified that and of course we'd have them, you know, sitting opposite each other talking about their isses and their and all sorts of things that we would imagine scenarios you can't really do that anymore because everybody's out there. Yeah . And you know what everybody's doing it's a kind of satire's a little bit difficult with that in mind because you know, parody and a lot of people have become parodies of themselves . So, you know, it's very difficult not so McLeod and I used to be doing Trump and Melania phrases and I'm like, you know, what can you possibly where can you go with that? Yeah , it's difficult but it's when I think and sketches go in and out of fashions obviously anyway so there was a sort of big and you know, it's interesting if Saturn Night Live had come to when you when, you know, in the nineties or the naughties when you'd have been perfect for it. And they wouldn't, you know, I know, I know. I mean, there's no reason it's nice that it's young people on that. Is it though? I think it is. But that doesn't mean the American one . But the American one does it does have different ages and certainly used people just come out with it has old . It has old people could make it you could make it no, I know. No, it is I think it is a kind of young person but there's just the luck of the dream. It's the the luck of drawer about when that comes up and whether it would work or you know it could. And again, I mean there's elements of people going so sad Ronnie because you're so bad at social media you can barely switch your phone on and you could have done really good stuff. But then again , Alistair and I, as had, there were four channels. Yeah. So we would get millions and millions watching us just because there were four channels. Yeah, yeah. And that's what people did. So and I don't think that's usual anymore. No, well, TV's, you know, TV's not what it was at all. So, you know, and that's people do and the interesting thing about the sketch show , you I'm constantly seeing bits of that coming up on social media. Which it's interesting which show I mean, they all come up saying you wouldn't be able to do this anymore, which I don't think is true. The sketch show is they're solid I mean there might be ones that you can't do but it's just solid ideas not neatly expressed in little packages and it's you know you're all ready. It is amazing I did try and get some I mean because I'm so unc ool, I might be cool. I might be straddling that step. You know where you get really communism? I could be just so uncool that I might be do you know what I mean? Cool anyway. But I did try and one of those went hugely viral on TikTok and I tried to say to my girls, look , look , look , look, you see, your mother is quite relevant still and they're like, It's not about you, Margaret. It's like if you know that thing where you revoice the sketches, you know that trend of revoicing, that's not about you. It's about the people who have revoiced it. Great . But it's still, you know, it's still there and it is, you know, it's this I mean looking through your whole career it's an incredible body of work amazing what you've done but like so many people , you know, would be on TV and then disappear or you know, whatever. You 've you've carried on, you know, acting, you've carried on doing comedy. You've done so much stuff like Latin you're, as we speak, you're on East Enders now. So that's a pretty yes, that is something that I wouldn't naturally have thought, but I was I was actually rang up and said, Look, we've got this we've got this character Ronnie for you. It's kind of it's being written for you and mine. And I went, oh , is this great? And I said, What? And it's like they were so excited. It's literally the most annoying deranged disturbed . Really annoying. I was like, oh , and then we did find it. And you know, and I was like, well, and they was going , no,, no no , but it has to be and I was like sort of slightly like a double eight sort of and they wanted to bring a character that was sort of very mercurial and kind of tragy comedy in it . But she's literally spiraling into being a psychopath as speak exciting as we speak. I mean I do, I'm doing a guest internet, so that gives you a chance to know sort of the beginning and the middle of the end and boy is the end. Wow . That's all I can say. Wow. But interesting about East Enders was that first of all there's a lot of people that I did impressions on that are still there and I had, you know, and I really love the cast . But you know, the great Jess Wallace go I can do you doing me. I would do my impression of her back to me. And Laticia Dean the other day did my impression of her back to me and it was just so surreal. And then of course, in the old days at Alison and I used to do these sketches . I've got to sort of find them and find them. We used to do intellectual use enders where Peggy would row about Dostiki go I'm sorry but he was essentially a boy whoever later. Have a word with yourself, peg Dosto Yes, you know, we would do this every week and then we would do the Truman show that they didn't realize that they were, you know,, yeah did I it. do We all sorts of like breaking the fourth wall and it's very odd. I phoned Alistair after I'd done a scene on the Bench of Tears , which , you know , was a sketch that we did on the book called The Bench of T ears. So it's all a bit meta and weird for me . And it was always you know, I mean it was always the East Enisop was always clearly from a sort of fan perspective though wasn't it? So it wasn't it wasn't like you would leg into anyone you were having fun with it. So I think they would they would have they were all loved. Yeah, boy, am I not regretting that now? I seem to remember someone said, Why don't we do this about I was like wow, that was a good decision . However, I mean talking of like I do actually, it's quite interesting. I was watching an episode the other night, you know , they are brilliant and there is a lot of snobbery with these extenders and I have never , ever in my entire career seen a schedule or the hard work that they do. It just like that Mitchell and Webb sketch about football, it doesn't stop . The work and the schedule and the actors on it, I mean, they're amazing. Yes. They're crying one minute, they're love. I mean, they're extraordinary they're extraordinary and and it's um you know and they do some fantastic they do do some fantastic storylines which, you know, touch a lot of touch a lot of people . Not me, I'm high cam . That's recognized a lot sure. I am. I also my character is called Pollard and she's I mean, I did want to do somebody that was kind of very nuanced, you know, but I get a lot of people coming. I was flying up to Glasgow the other day and this woman comes up to me on a plane going you are so naughty . What's that about why you up to? Oh my god I had I had some people drive down from Manchester came up to me and said, You know, we've driven down to Manchester. You're up to no good . We know you're up to no good. Have a word. Yes, and I said didn't Adri's up to no good. I mean it's quite interesting and I have quite a lot of people who are, you know , you know, there are some people who take it very much to heart. Of course , you know , yeah. But you know, isn't that I do tend to specialize in playing , well as the BBC said, annoying derain e you're mentally disturbed. You're not annoying alcohol . It's real ized . You might be the other thing so you're not like I've done that a lot yeah. Well, you know, but that's it's you know you always you're always you've always just been yourself runny and you've always been, you know you've always it is beautiful when it's you've got a wonderful, you know, you've got a wonderful I'm going to say aura but it's not that I believe in that but you but you know what I mean but you you've always been this you're in you know you're an individual. So that's that's a great thing to have as an actor and you're versatile as an actor anyway, but it's good to be able to play those things and understand because if you were really any of those things you wouldn't be able to play it. You know what I mean? If you were really good if you if you are really if you are quite a few people who know me very well watching it going Yeah . Yeah, like someone I think my brother said to me so let me get this right you're playing a neurodiverse woman who needs attention at all times. Wow, but you had to dig deep, didn't you? She's a bit, I mean , she's like me in the way that she's sort of a middle aged woman trying to in filtrate the Wolford square nobody wants her. It's a bit like me in show business really . But look, you're working constantly. And you know, we are both of us and we were both in our fifty as's we're talking. Yes, we're talking. I haven't done that yet, but I'm absolutely Well, what I do is I tend to do that a lot when I'm filming. I have had a director say can you take your hands away from your face and I'll go She's very pensive she's just thinking about her options But anyway, you look amazing but not that it not that that even matters but what's in you know it's it's a very difficult industry for especially for women to there is it is a difficult it is a very difficult thing. In fact, I mean I actually I think when they did a press release me going is I got such lovely headlines going Ooh comedy and one said huge telestar what the one who never gets any work that one me I thought my god they must have thought I was dead but it is it, yeah, it is. And I do think I know Sally and I both feel that there is a tendency to there's a tendency, you know, for women of a certain age to be the kind of the hag. Yeah. I've just done a film actually that's going out that's being released in the autumn very exciting called Think of England about making porn films for the troops and the fall tooths . And quite a big feature film. And of course I am some slightly grotesque middle aged woman in that as well . So yeah , good film though. Yeah, we we have have to to have we to move onwards, but I think but and be you know You, however, Richard Harrington. Yeah , have a youthful twinkle I must sort of got the cynicism of being perpetually rejected. You however have got a youthful sparkle in the eye because you've got you've got little ones. Little kids yeah. How many of you got? I've got two and my daughter's eleven and my son's eight. So yes, it's very, you know, I think it well, it keeps you young and it keeps you old because it's hard work , but it's yeah, it's great. So that's you know, I'm glad I've I've done it eventually left it a little bit late which obviously as a man is a bit easier to do to leave it near the other thing. That's another thing at some fact I know. It's quite interesting when you see a lot of your contemporaries playing sex symbols still and then you know you're like got another part for you, Onie, a witch . But this one's good because she's particularly haggard which you're like , but I didn't I just see someone I know. It's a little unfair. It is a bit unfair. So what are you what's the company that you and Sally are running together . We've got a we've got a little film company and a film production company and we have got some projects together as well and we did do actually we did do our my podcast with Hal Crottingdon through that production company, which is actually funny enough me and how met each other somewhere and we went , Oh my god, you're the male female equivalent of each other . You know, we're can you see that? Yes, I can not have thought of And then it's about I was desperate to do a spoof podcast . bas It'icallys about two idiots trying to do a podcast ten years too late . And they've got a Jones Ed producer who hates them , a new one each week. It's not far from the truth at all, actually . And then we're trying to do this gimmick, we're trying to do apocalypse and we get lots of comics in. I mean, it's not all I mean there is a genuine and just everything slightly goes wrong. And then of course Al,istair McGowan did all these fake ad verts, which is quite funny. He's got lots of famous comics undermining me and how with their adverts for significantly more successful podcasts. So that was quite fun to do . And I've just done another film. Oh, I did a film with and I'm producing a film actually. And God that sounds so grand. But you got to remember independent fil m producers are I gave out some awards at a film awards recently and their eyes are red from crime and they've got yoga down the top. Then you get the top echelons of like really brilliant, you know, very, very successful. But it's like, why are they going to give an award for a film under three million? Because it's very hard. Of course it is. Yeah, yeah. I mean , but that''ss it terrific that you're, you know, that you do these things. I mean and and a lot of people wouldn't, you know, wouldn't put theirselves out there to do that. And a lot of actors wouldn't put themselves out to do that. You know, they were just waiting for the phone to ring if only I m'ardried a h edge funder . Yeah, it's explaining which I'm trying to do films like on a budget . You're trying to marry , I'm trying to do films on a budget of like fifty grand and see if there's combat films on that. Got to come and you can put this in. But you've got to come and see our studios because we've got virtual studios. Have a yeah, and you can come and use them . Well, that's very nice. I might have to be in it . You definitely be in it. But I think there's also I think we've got a lot, I don't think , you know, I don't think we're using the comic talent we have in this country. I have a theory about this. I do think you're totally right. I think that I think I don't know. I'm really interested to know what you feel about this. I think in America the Americans kind of know their genre, right? I remember doing a big dog mov ie and I remember saying to someone, oh I don't it would I'm making a dog melt film Ronnie. It doesn't matter it's a dark they know their genre and they're proud of doing a gross out Farley Brother Tight film war a little independent. I think in the UK, I could have got this totally wrong, but I think that we tie ourselves up knots about the tone , right ? Because it's got to be funny, but it's got to be pity and it's got to be socially aware and it's got to be clever and it must be, you know, about growing there must be people in the north growing vegetables. I'm not making any point about anything specific and there are very good films that have come out, but I think we tie ourselves and knots. I think there's definitely I think if you look at the carry on films, I'm not saying that anybody's competitive, but it was like a little repertory company and you just you just did it. You know, and you had and they churn them out and churn them out. And there was something about that kind of that sort of worked in a way because you were and I do think people get very nervous in the UK about comedy films . And I think that doesn't help things I think you're right. And I think what I feel is like it's well, even if people see what's successful and there's a lot of British films that are sort of an attempt to recreate the full monte it which is brilliant film and a lot of the films a lot of the films that try to copy still good but I think, you know, I think what we've got in the UK, which and I don't think this is as true with American comedians is we've got a lot of comedians who can act and also write . And so if you stuck them all together in with a bare script or with just an improvised script, I think you could make something like real that would be actually amazingly funny. I couldn't agree more. You know, and I think that the last thing I had a sitcom that we kind of got to like the taste the tape section of doing. So we did ten minutes of it, but it was Jessica Nappet Doc Brown , you know, the I can't think of his actual real name now because I'm such an idiot. And I can't think of the name of my brain's just gone to hold on, I'm going to get there in a second. Is it one of the very good producers? Noel building. Oh , and started remembering Ben Bailey Smith. You're like a mobile. You're like, who is this guy? I got Ben Bailey Smith, Nel Fielding and Jessica Napping. Wow. And we I realized every single one of those people was a writer as well . Yes. And so then you're going, you know, so you're doing something you're going, well, you know, you can mess around with them . So they understand how even if you've got a script, you can work with the script and you know that they'll improve. Of course. And that's just an amaz ing thing to have that talent those people who can work that well and but also create stuff as well. And I think you could just say to those people let's this is the scene. Let's go for, which is what, you know, does happen . is It it is difficult with films as well because I, you know, the company used to have a bit of a distribution arm. I mean, we're only a little part of it, but and it's quite difficult because of course, you know, the cinemas are only taking the big , you know, the big films and people tend to go and see the big films. And then there's this sort of quagmar of these really good films that often do really well in the festival circuit , but then it's getting them to have , you know, after life after they do the circuit. There's nowhere for them to go and you have to pay your investors back and you know, they don't have enough help, I think, for going to the cement. Because you remember the children's film foundation and things like that God were so old . And how you feel I'm going to so I do a show every decade about getting older. So I'm only fifty eight I'm fifty nine next month and so sixty's coming up. See now you and Stuart , I think of you as very I always think of you as very young. Yeah, I like to think of myself as very young as well. Same age, although some bastard and Wikipedia keeps them making the older. Really? It's really upsetting me. And I've got myself and I'm literally obsessed with obsessed with it . And it's only two years but, it's very important two years. I'm not very good about older and I can't work out whether it's just because I'm incredibly superficial , which I think could possibly be the answer . Or I think it's because I've never I just I find it quite disturbing because I've always felt quite young inside or like and I think that that's difficult because there is these sort of affirmations that you're expected to be in a certain way at a certain age and do you know what I mean? I do I do, but I think it's, you know, it's disappearing that my grandma who, I think I've mentioned her quite recently she lived until she was one hundred and two, but I remember when she was eighty five. Yeah, and when she was eighty five, she would go to me, I can't believe I'm eighty five. I feel like I'm twenty five. But you know what? Richard, there's a there's I can't remember what it's called, but I know there's Instagram's full of like, you know, longevity experts usually tech, billionaires, don't they? Who immerse themselves in oxygen tanks and don't eat anything before twelve o'clock at night and all that sort of stuff. But there are some Oxford Boffins that do have done a great big survey for the government because they have to look at who they're who they're going to put money for and who they don't. They were doing a big I think it's called Elsa, it's a big aging thing and they 've done all this sort of research and they presume that diet and exercise would come first. But the people who tend to live the longest are people who have a laugh , social interaction obviously . But very interesting point, the people who do not correlate age with having to be in a certain way. Sure, sure. And they said that was quite interesting. Yeah, I mean, I think there's definitely something to that because I was talking to Callie Beaton about this for a book club, but you know, my grandma, I'm sort of the same age now as my grand was not the first remember . You can't do that . That's gonna drive you . That would drive you mad. But then he was sitting in a chair he was sitting in a chair with his chair open and , you know, and he lived for another twenty years after this, but you know, you would that he was just an old man sitting in a chair. Yeah. And you, that's the difference isn't. I'm not an old man, I'd love to be an old man sitting in a chair, but I'm not sure. And there's no way that's going to happen . It's going to happen. So you've got to, you know, we and it's and it's it's funny. You start to realize your body starts to fall apart and things start to go wrong, you start to say, okay, there is going to there is an endpoint to it. But you know , if you're still going out and keeping active and whatever it's, you know, it's there's no I mean, I don't feel like I'm approaching sixty at all. It just doesn't make any sense No God and when did that happen to us all? I don't know when did that happen to us all feels like to And actually my, you know, the girl the people that I think , you know , I just think are always young , you know, they're all in the same boat. I mean, if you know what I mean . We'll all be dead soon. Great, my little ray of sunshine . That is the other thing. We'll all be dead soon. Okay . But look, I mean , I love looking through, I love looking through everyone's CVs when I do this show and you know, you don't catch everything everyone's doing. I should have you've been in death in Paradise, which is my dream job. I haven't ever done that . I'm very sad. Yes I did I did yeah, so I did Last Tanger in Hannifat. That was a huge show. Yeah, that was a huge show . But I had to play a drunk at all times. There was only two scenes where she was ever sober. It was quite difficult actually. Being drunk isn't that? Yeah, that's quite difficult to do well. You've not done deaf in Paradise. I've not done I do a lot of I don't do much acting at all. I only do acting that I've written really. I've just played Franken Educating Rita but in a tiny theatre in Hitchin. Oh you'd be so that was n't that I had to be drunken that that.' Sos a play you know, drunk in that, but that's it is yeah, no but you've been in the comic strip which is amazing to think yes yes I did do the comic I used to sort of end up always being on the end of a c usps of shows when they weren't in their heading. That's what I've noticed about me, you know, just as they were falling apart . I did I tell you what a show that I was really proud to be part of was Stella Street. Yeah . I wasn't I wasn't so much in the series I was in the film the film and I just adored John Sessions. I really, really loved him and we had a real bond. He was a genius , a troubled genius, shall we say, but my God that film, I mean, with Peter Richardson director, he wouldn't have a first director . He wouldn't it was absolute carnage , but it was just , I mean, you know, sessions and Cnorwall doing, you know , for those listeners who don't know what it was, am I allowed to say was it was about it was really before anybody had done something . It was about cul de sac, a very suburban cul de sac and it happened all these kind of slightly nineteen thirties semi detached houses were all occupied by either a mixture of real people or huge stars. Yes. So there was David Bowie that lived there and the corner shot was of Mitch Jagger and Keith Richardson . And And Keith wears the cocoa pops and they wear these gray, you know, shopkeeper coats . And I'm obsessed with Dustin Hoffer and I always have been since being a kid and actually Johnny used to do Dustin Hoffman as a sheep. Don't ask . I mean, I just , you know, we used to laugh so much and sort of cry. It was sort of such chaos, but they were very precious time. And in fact, I worked it was quite quite I've never said this before ever , but I had a kind of a bit of a disastrous time because I did my own , but for lots of different reasons which I can't go into now. It was like a three parter, but they did not schedule it properly. So they were supposed to all go out together and then they put one out and then they forgot and then they put because the football was on. They put the next part on the day after and of course everybody thought it including my mother thought it was a repeat. So nobody watched her and then everyone went Oh my god it's terrible She's dropped to whatever and then the other one went out like weeks later opposite Darcy I will never dance again B,uscelle at Covent Garden and Victoria anyway. Anyway, but the reason I bring that up is I did a lot of stuff for Johnny Sessions in that and it was it all became terribly painful the whole experience and I couldn't watch it or talk about it afterwards and it culminated with a very, very bad thing that happened to me personally at the same time. So I couldn't it was this terrible pain and then poor Johnny died and this oh my god I've got it as well I'm going mad I in his lop and his wonderful very well known film producer who, again, I forgot and I'm so embarrassed, did an organized a memorial for Johnny, you know, in a theater . And they found all they couldn't find many people that Johnny worked with many women that he'd worked with. And they found all this material from this little show I'd done and they'd cut it all together and this was, you know, I remember sitting next to Ruby W ax, you know who knew her husband had directed it and she saw this coming on in front of this massive full theatre and I said, Well no , they can't show this stuff. This is just, you know , and everybody loved it. Do you know what I mean? And I remember looking up to the sky and went, oh look, Johnny, we're before our time. And lots of people came up to us afterwards and said, I was really brilliant. It was really surreal. Of course, it bombed at the time. But you know what I mean? It was really and I had that sort of moment with Johnny where it was a , you know, a well, we said we were right, Johnny. We were just twenty years out of something. I think you know, I think John Sessions is sort of weird because he was so massive in a lot of ways and then sort of just almost he doesn't get deserves. I think you've got to I think I've had lots of friends say to me, It's really weird, Ronnie that you're in comedy because I noticed I've met lots of comedians and the really successful ones, thanks. Or the successful ones . You know, they're quite the , you know, they're not very chatty or funny, are they? Or even nice? And I said, well, I don't think that's fair, but you know what I mean? And I think that you know, there was certainly a style of comedy , you know, that when the panel shows started to really take grip and it was like really fast and furious and gags like this all that and funny gags, but quite aggressive gags. And I don't think that that mode of humor suited everyone. No, and Johnny being a case in point , you know, I mean I've never heard, I mean him doing , you know, the Bloomsbury set in coronation strip. Just everything he touched. He could go off from these extraordinary flights of fancy , which they used to do on things like QI and then they became everything became a bit more you know what I mean punchy and one line a base because people's attention doesn't . Yeah, yeah. And I think he probably he was sort of fell between two stills. I think there are comics, his style or they're not in fashion for what's going on at the moment. Yeah, I think that's true. And you know, it's interesting to say that about, you know, that you would think you and him in a show would be like a massive hit and it just by that, you know, especially where you both were at that time. Yeah . But you know, sometimes just the , you know, the things go there's some things on the other side that takes me away or scheduling things or whatever. I mean , understimate, you know, and then it's a spiral and then so you know, so many things you know and so many things that have been successful started off night and no one noticed and they got repeated and suddenly they were successful so it's a there's a lot very weird though that when something's been really kind of finified and then and then you've got people coming up Where did you do that with Johnny? It was genius. It screws with your head to bed. Do you know what I mean? It do. But that's what I loved about looking back through all your stuff is to realize how much you have done. And it's kind of crazy because everyone's the same. Everyone goes, Oh well, I haven't, you know, I had this I'm not as successful as that or things have been going my way or whatever and you look at what you've done and it's it's already and you know there are many years of Ronnie Anonka to come, I hope You know, it's already like an incredible CV and you know, just and I think anything went, you know, it's really interesting just that I think even just the sketch Show, which obviously was a big thing at the time and it's you know, we went to America, didn't it as well? And went to America with different people from Lee from Lee Mac for the second. He didn't enjoy doing it Lee and he and in fact they filmed it in Teddoning andt it was all rather , you know , classic kind of all our scripts sold behind our hello yeah, you know it seems you're a writer you're credited as a writer on that but obviously yeah , they just took your stuff and said but you know, the fact that that is coming up and people are looking back at that nostalgically going, you know, they wouldn't do this anymore. However right or wrong they are about that is, you know, it's it's fantastic and you know, people obviously and East Enders is terrific . Well, it's not everybody's cup of tea. I realize that, but I have been, they've been wonderful there because they've allowed me to do something really different . You know, they're quite sort of brave certainly the hatred that people feel because she is very bad. That must be okay. Yeah, yeah. But you know, and who knows where that will lead, you know, and they do have they've had amazing people on East Enders who they have such good actors on them than people move on to be. Yeah , yeah, yeah. But I would love to I think honestly talking about age and I just want to do a couple of funny films before I die . I don't even have to I know that's quite a big thing, isn't it? Oh, I just want to do I just want to do a Zulander before I die. Yeah, right. That's really going to happen, Ronnie. But I don't mean be in necessarily. Do you know what I mean? Because I can obviously only play a witch now . But but you know, I'd love to sort of do , you know, get something like that away . I think they're, you know, it's very , you know, it's very addictive, isn't it? When you see something that brings people joy? Of course , but like, you know, that's that's what you do. That's what you are doing and you're continuing you too. Well, not bad enough . Am I that's why I finally got on the podcast . Am I the is the last one? I've had it. It's the last episode. Well, I should maybe think that I've no, that's not true, is it? Well, you know, no, we can't stop, Ronnie. We can't the only way they can stop . How many episodes have you done? I mean, two. It's approaching a thousand, I think you've had a thousand comics more well known than me. Your old mucker and friends. Loads of them have come back twice or three times That's okay that's even more insulting. Better Yeah. I don't, I don't there's there are there every now and again someone comes along and I think how the hell have I not had that person on and definitely when you when I've got your But I just sometimes I think oh they won't want to do it I think is what is what probably is going on in my mind I don't think Alice is Alista done it. I don't think Alistair No Alistair would love to do it. Maybe he's done it. He'd love it. He did it. He was actually a guest. He was very funny on our podcast. And then but they're very, I mean, this is typically of me. You know, Hal and I did this podcast. We put so much work into it because we were doing the Mata thing and it was a bit spoof like and all these little beds and the false producer and you know, all these little things if you listen to it. But of course, you know, it was far too it's great. I love it and I'm really, really proud of it. But of course, you know, it's quite hard to keep on doing them. That's it. That's all. All I've got is perspiracity . I've never give up