He's a stand-up guy (From The Argus)

He's a stand-up guy

8:30am Monday 6th February 2012 in Interview By Nione Meakin

hris Addison, familiar face of countless TV panel shows and those Direct Line ads, is touring a new stand-up show. That’s stand-up, he points out – something that’s been a passion for more than 17 years. His live experience has been somewhat eclipsed you see, by his ongoing role as junior policy advisor Olly Reeder in hit BBC political satire The Thick Of It.

Despite it being his acting debut, he quickly became known as “the actor Chris Addison” he says, “and it made me feel a bit of a fraud. I’d done this one job and a sitcom I’d written [BBC mini-series Lab Rats], whereas I’ve done a lot with stand-up. It made me think I had to try to change people’s perceptions.

“I still get people saying, ‘I didn’t realise you did this!’ Or people who think I’ve taken the Ricky Gervais route, when, actually, I’ve been doing stand-up since the mid-90s.”

Don’t be fooled by the youthful face and nervous energy – Addison is older than he looks. He cut his teeth on the Manchester comedy scene, with contemporaries including Caroline Aherne, Steve Coogan and Peter Kay.

His first solo stand-up show was back in 1998, when he was nominated for the then-Perrier award.

The married father-of-two turned 40 last year. His fans might find it surprising when he’s cast in adult roles – “Judging by how young he looks, David Blood must’ve conceived Grace when he was practically a foetus,”

one blogger wrote about Addison’s role as Professor David Blood in E4 teen drama Skins – but he’s certainly feeling his age.

“I love doing the shows, but I’m less keen on the actual business of touring now. When I was a younger man and had no responsibilities, it was quite nice, but now I have a family I want to get back to.”

However he feels about being known as an actor rather than a stand-up, The Thick Of It (and the film spin-off, In The Loop) undeniably moved Addison up a few leagues.

“It felt like a baptism of fire,” he says of starting out as the arrogant, inept and morally dubious Reeder in 2005. “When I first walked into the rehearsal room to be faced by [writer] Armando Iannucci and Chris Langham – these people I’d been a huge fan of for years, with all the training and chops – yeah, it was pretty intimidating!”

Now, he is recognised if he ventures anywhere near Westminster, where he says the show is well-loved.

“No one asks me to swear at them though,”he says, referring to colleague Peter Capaldi, who plays foulmouthed spin-doctor Malcolm Tucker. “Olly’s a bit different.

What would you do, ask me to incompetently wheedle my way out of a situation?”

The show has been praised for its seemingly close-to-theknuckle portrayal of British politics, with all its gaffes and cover-ups and in-fighting.

Actually, Addison says, it’s only in the last few years that it’s started to bear any resemblance to reality.

“When we started out, it was a show about the minutiae of working in politics. Politics just wasn’t interesting to people then, it wasn’t a big deal. We were still in the boom years and with the exception of the Iraq war, no one was interested.

It’s only as the show’s gone on and people have become more interested in politics there’s been more mirroring of stuff that’s gone on.”

He disagrees with the suggestion it is cynical towards politicians though.

“Saying it’s cynical is like saying Fawlty Towers is cynical towards hotel owners or ’Allo ’Allo is cynical towards the French Resistance – it’s a farce! It’s a workplace sitcom that happens to be based in the world of politics.

“The cynicism comes from people reading their own stuff into it. It’s not a documentary.

People never say Yes Minister was cynical, they say, ‘How witty, what a brilliant satire!’ We’re basically doing the same thing but with more swearing.”

If anything, working on the show – and being privy to a certain level of “backstage access” in politics –has made him more sympathetic towards the people in charge of running the country.

“I think they’re working in the most terribly difficult circumstances. Some of it’s of their own making, some of it’s the media and some of it is our making. I think we, the public, manage to excuse ourselves on almost every level when it comes to looking at why politics is the way it is. It’s this hideous hate triangle between the media, the politicians and the public, who will forever be offended by the suggestion we are massively to blame.”

The fourth series is set to start filming in a few months’ time. Armando Iannucci had suggested it would portray a Coalition government struggling to implement cuts, with Capaldi’s Malcolm Tucker languishing in opposition.

Addison, however, claims to know nothing about the script: “I don’t think anyone does.”

It’s surely a good time for satire, the country being in the state it is?

“I think it’s a richer time for satire because there’s more to be satirical about.

I don’t know how important satire is now though; its purpose is to prick pomposity but that’s done now. When the modern satire boom started in the 1960s it was shocking and unusual, but we’ve grown up with it now, to the point where you watch the news and, with the amount of editorialising and sneering you get from someone like [BBC political editor] Nick Robinson… there’s almost nothing left for satire to do.”

In Addison’s opinion, some of the most exciting TV comedy now is coming from children’s programming. He’s filmed cameo roles in CBBC’s award-winning Horrible Histories, which he describes as the funniest thing on television. “It’s brilliantly performed, really funny and the best kind of kids’ TV, because they go away having learnt masses without realising they have. You’re allowed to be a bit lunatic on kids’ TV. There are things you’d be endlessly questioned about on a grown- up sketch show that no one seems to question with kids’ TV. They’re completely open and it’s fantastic.” Would he like to do more in this vein? Possibly. “The idea that I choose what to appear in!” he guffaws. “If only it worked like that. You’ll notice I’ve chosen not to appear in a number of hits…”

More seriously, he says, he’ll do things if he can fit them in, and if he likes the idea. So the Direct Line insurance ads weren’t just about the money? “I saw the scripts before I signed up and I thought they were really funny. Someone basically asked me if I’d like to get paid to come and work with some of the best comic actors in the country [Addison appears alongside Alexander Armstrong and Amelia Bullmore] and be directed by some of the best comedy directors in the country… er, yes please! It was a very simple choice.”

* Chris Addison’s The Time Is Now, Again, comes to the Theatre Royal Brighton, New Road, tomorrow. For tickets, call 0844 8717627