Q&A: Rob Brydon, comedian, 57
Welsh comedian Rob Brydon on dinners with Steve Coogan, his ‘terrible’ early days in comedy – and his surprising new show.
A lot of people know you as host of the TV game show Would I Lie To You? and as Steve Coogan’s travelling companion in The Trip, where you play an exaggerated version of yourself. How different is it from the real you?
I think a big percentage of the audience does think it’s real, that they’re simply following Steve and I around as we travel. A lot of it is very close to who I am, but there’s probably two elements to it that aren’t. The first is the prickliness of the relationship with Steve, who in reality I adore. It has always been tricky when Michael (Winterbottom, director) says to have a go at him about a film of his when really I thought it was fantastic. The other thing, believe it or not, is the impressions. I love doing impressions, but there’s no way we’d sit at the table doing them and there’s no way I’d be bothered if he was critical of them.
One of your impressions, “small man in a box”, is particularly popular. Is it strange being asked to play the hits?
Yes, but hits are hard to come by! I’m not going to knock that if somebody likes something I’ve done. That’s fantastic. I spent a long time where there was nothing for anybody to say, “Hey, I love when you do that.”
You were a voiceover announcer and a home shopping presenter during your early career. Was it a struggle breaking into comedy?
I started off doing open mic nights in the 90s, and they were terrible. I’d travel to these places and I’d be getting paid less than it costs to get there, sometimes not getting paid at all. But you do it because you have no choice. There’s something inside you that compels you to do it. I’ve done comedy at corporate events, hosting some award show for insurance salesmen. I’ve performed at some rich person’s wedding. I’ve performed in tents. I’ve performed through technical failures, trying to keep a crowd engaged without a microphone, but it was always worth it. Any time spent on a stage is time well spent, even if you die on your arse.
When were you able to see yourself as a successful comedian?
I started feeling like a successful comedian around 2000 when the BBC series Marion and Geoff and Human Remains were both hit shows. Not in the way Gavin & Stacey was a hit show, but they won awards and they opened up my career. I’d had years of knocking on doors, and suddenly all that changed. But then Gavin & Stacey came along, and I remember doing interviews a few years after it and being told, “we first heard of you in Gavin & Stacey”, and I remember thinking, “that’s interesting, because I remember thinking I was already doing pretty well before then!”
‘There’s no way we’d sit at the table doing impressions’
Your latest run of live shows are a mix of comedy and storytelling through music. How did it all come together?
I first linked up with a musical director, a wonderful man called Paul Herbert. I spent about a year with him, meeting once a week in a little rehearsal room. We’d both bring some songs and he’d coach me on techniques for keeping my voice strong and flexible. And frankly, I would have been happy to just carry on doing that and never do a show, to never have to put myself out there.
What’s the biggest adjustment you’ve had to make with the new shows?
It took a lot of time to get comfortable with singing sincerely. I’ve had shows before where I’ve done a song that might not be out and out funny, but there will be a slight bit of irony to it that’s your get out of jail card. But in this show I do several that are just pure emotion, sincerity and feeling, and I’ve had to grow into that.
Rob Brydon brings his show A Night of Songs & Laughter to Australia in March 2023.