Mark Brailsford talks to Nione Meakin about his creative writing, why Casablanca brings back fond memories and his soft spot for Fleetwood Mac Mark Brailsford is best known in Brighton as the founder and director of satirical sketch troupe The Treason Show. He also wrote the play Mushy Ate My Credit Card about his journey following his cricket team to glory with ever-decreasing funds.

On the back of this, he was invited to become Sussex County Cricket Club’s first writer-in-residence.

Brailsford first got a taste for the limelight as a child when he appeared in Pink Floyd’s The Wall and later in Jack Rosenthal’s P’Tang Yang Kipperbang – the first Film On Four in 1982. He lives in Hanover.

Which film star, pop star, rock star, artist or writer do you admire?

Film star would be Jack Lemmon – what an actor and what a career! He proved that the best comic actors make the best straight actors, it’s rarely the other way around. Rock star is Bob Dylan, a musical poet. As for a writer, Milan Kundera – he made me think about writing and I love his intellect.

Which TV programme couldn’t you live without?

Mad Men for its eloquent and brilliant storytelling, something British TV simply fails to do these days.

They do drama, we made Big Brother – urghh!

Do you remember the first record you bought – what was it and where did you buy it?

Bang Bang by BA Robertson (a comic song, so no surprise there) from WHSmith in Bognor.

Tell us about any guilty pleasures lurking in your CD or film collections...

Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours but it’s brilliant and I don’t care what people think. I’m also a massive Meatloaf fan – I love Bat Out Of Hell.

Favourite film?

Wow, tough one this… Casablanca but closely followed by The Apartment (Jack Lemmon) and When Harry Met Sally. The latter is a masterclass in writing comic dialogue and it’s a romantic comedy that’s actually funny.

Favourite book?

Recently, David Mitchell’s The Thousand Autumns Of Jacob De Zoet, a beautifully told story. But the best has to be Great Expectations and The Unbearable Lightness Of Being by Milan Kundera.

Favourite comic or comedy?

I find stand-up irritating so no recent ones unless you count Stephen Grant (the best compere I’ve ever seen). I liked the late Bill Hicks and Woody Allen but the best has to be Groucho Marx, a genius when the word is so overused.

Is there a song or individual piece of music you always come back to?

Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. It reminds me of my busking on beaches around the world.

Also, of course, Bat Out Of Hell.

What are you reading at the moment?

I’m currently doing an MA in creative writing and authorship so it’s a mix – Bakhtin And Cultural Theory, A Week In December by Sebastian Faulks and The Art Of The Novel by Milan Kundera.

Tell us about a live music, theatre or cinema experience that sticks in your memory...

Watching Casablanca on the big screen and the close-up of Ingrid Bergman, one of the most naturally beautiful women ever filmed. Plus Bogart’s drunken bitterness when she comes back to Rick’s cafe in the middle of the night. Every man who has ever loved can feel the pain. Also, my dad taking me to see Airplane and Life Of Brian for the first time as a double bill! My sides hurt for a month.

Is there a comedian or actor who made you want to do what you do now?

Jack Lemmon