‘A lot of comedians don’t have a sense of humour’: Jack Dee on his loser Lead Balloon creation Rick Spleen
‘Rick’s basically a what-if version of me.Had I not found success, that’s how I would have been – deluding myself into thinking success will come, or believing it’s not my fault that it hasn’t’I was doing a lot of standup, working with other comedy writers.I was interested in the relationship between writer and performer.I wondered: “What if the writer is funnier than the performer?” I approached Pete Sinclair, who I’d written with for a long time, and said: “What do you reckon?” BBC4 commissioned a pilot.We developed the world of Rick Spleen and his relationship with his writer and the public.
Spleen is trumped by everyone in his life,His wife is more successful than him,Magda, his Polish cleaner, is more logically intelligent,His daughter and her boyfriend are cooler and his writer is funnier,Everywhere he looks, he’s bashed about by people better than him.
He’s basically a “what-if” version of me.Had I not found success, that’s what I would’ve been doing: deluding myself into thinking it will happen, or believing it’s not my fault that it hasn’t.Some of what goes on with Rick has happened to me, like when he hosts a corporate do.These things are always terrible: everyone is waiting to see if they’ve won an award, they’re all pissed, and nobody has come to see you.Rick finds that out the hard way.
We certainly weren’t the first show to centre on the private life of a comedian, but it had a very British feel: the audience could understand how this comedian, who wasn’t terribly funny, was still able to get work.If I slip on a banana skin and find it funny, I’ve got a sense of humour because I can see the joke.A lot of comedians like Rick don’t have a sense of humour and can’t laugh at themselves, which is really weird, but I think we pinpointed it quite accurately.I’m sure I share Rick’s frustrations with the world, but he allows them to ruin his day and destroy his career.I make a conscious effort not to allow all that stuff to get in the way.
It doesn’t get any easier – because the older you get, the more certain you are that your way is right.And that’s a recipe for disaster.I’m the kind of actor who likes to spend loads of time preparing, but it was literally: “There’s an audition this afternoon, can you go?” I knew it was a big deal and was suitably nervous.Clearly I should do more of that because I got the job, and we went into table-reads and filming almost straight away.Rick is a failing comedian, so my approach was: what are we like together? I clearly think of him as this hapless, compulsively lying man.
Rick can’t help being outwitted by Magda or the children, but as his wife, I still love and stick by him.The only time I get angry is when he brings a pig home.I’m like: “No, that’s going too far.”I’m not clever enough to be Mel.She’s completely together.
If Raquel Cassidy was married to Rick Spleen, it would be a complete nightmare.We’d both sit on the sofa trying to be more rubbish than the other.But Mel manages to find Rick adorable, even if he repeatedly goes down the wrong road of getting himself into such unnecessary scrapes.There’s one scene at the theatre where Rick leaves his phone on, and eventually the actor gives him a dressing down from the stage, which is excruciating.We had to fill the theatre with friends and family, out on a jolly, while the actors on stage were doing deep and meaningful acting.
My dad is sitting behind us, so I’m very fond of that scene.It’s a show I genuinely miss.It still gets me stopped on the street.Some diehard fans quote scenes word for word at me.Most of my scenes are set at home, so we’d just get changed in the bathroom and film in the house.
It felt like we were in a reality TV show.For it to go on for four series was a delight.Clearly, Jack is a genius.He was so good to work with.All I had to do was say my lines and keep a straight face.
It really wasn’t hard work,
My cultural awakening: a Rihanna song showed me how to live as a gay man in Iran
My sexuality had to be hidden from my friends, my parents, not to mention the authorities. Then I found freedom at house parties and one song that sums up me finally being able to be myselfI was raised in Tehran, under the Ayatollah’s sharia law and daily watch of Basij – the “morality police”. My parents fell in love with the Islamic Revolution when I was a baby and welcomed life under its strict religious rules. The Ayatollah’s face stared down from the walls at home, a daily reminder of what was expected and what was forbidden. This included being gay, but by my teenage years I knew I was different from my peers, and began hiding my sexuality from my parents and the world outside
From The Bride! to Harry Styles: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead
Maggie Gyllenhaal gives us a new take on The Bride of Frankenstein, and the stadium-conquering pop prince is back with a new albumThe Bride!Out now Maggie Gyllenhaal directs this Chicago-set gothic romance starring Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale. Per James Whale’s 1935 classic Bride of Frankenstein, on which it is loosely based, a lonely monster wants a mate and taps up a scientist, Dr Euphronious (Annette Bening), to create her.Peaky Blinders: The Immortal ManOut now As The Rachel was to women who watched Friends in the 90s, so the Peaky Blinders mop chop was to male fans. Will the return of the Birmingham gang drama in feature film form prompt another wave of ill-advised dos? Only time will tell. Just remember, Cillian Murphy looking amazing with that haircut doesn’t mean it’s a good idea for absolutely everyone
Stephen Colbert on Kristi Noem: ‘A domestic terrorist who deserves to go to Gitmo’
On Thursday night, late night-hosts celebrated Kristi Noem’s firing, criticized Maga’s handling of the war in Iran and raised an eyebrow to Robert F Kennedy Jr taking issue with sugary Starbucks drinks.Stephen Colbert immediately brought up Kristi Noem’s firing in his monologue, saying that the former homeland secretary brought it on herself by “standing too close to that gravel pit”.The host then turned serious. “Before we get any more information about what happened, I just want to say with absolute certainty: she is a domestic terrorist who deserves to go to Gitmo.”On Truth Social, Donald Trump announced that Noem would be moved to a new role as “special envoy for the Shield of the Americas, our new security initiative in the western hemisphere”
Stephen Colbert on Republican double-speak for war in Iran: ‘A war that got a thesaurus for Christmas’
Late-night hosts unpacked the Orwellian double-speak of congressional Republicans trying to justify the Trump administration’s military strikes in Iran.“Folks, I really didn’t want to start the monologue by talking about the war, but in honor of this administration, I went into this without a plan,” said Stephen Colbert on Wednesday, five days after the US military, in conjunction with Israel, bombed Iran and killed its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.“I say ‘war’,” he continued, “because it sure looks like a war, and Trump keeps calling it a war, but Congress never declared it a war, and Maga was promised no new wars, so the White House sent out a list of talking points to all the congressional Republicans telling them in no uncertain terms that if a reporter asked ‘Can you promise the American people this will not be a long-drawn out war?’, the answer to give is ‘These are targeted, major combat operations.’”“So … it’s worse than a war,” said Colbert. “It’s a war that got a thesaurus for Christmas
Nothing beats the smell of oil and steam | Brief letters
Re your article (T rex breath and Queen Elizabeth’s car: scientists creating ‘time machine for the nose’, 28 February), one of the great attractions about working steam museums is the whole sensory experience, including the smell of hot oil and steam, which is often mentioned by visitors. Non-working steam engines are, by comparison, lifeless, however well they are polished.John Freeman Trustee, Claymills Victorian Pumping Station My tried and trusted method of getting back to sleep (Letters, 25 February) involves me making the mental journey from my home in Kent to Lewis, including stocking up with groceries in Stornoway. I’m looking forward to making the trip for real in November. Out the door, turn right, right again…Ralph JonesRochester, Kent My twin sister and I shared a bed from the early 1950s
Seth Meyers on Trump spilling military secrets: ‘He’s so excited to bomb people, he can’t help himself’
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