Today we chat with James Sherwood, the award-winning musical comedian who adeptly uses songs to address those hot topical issues of the day. For an evening of sharp, analytical and musical comedy go see James Sherwoood in One Man and his Piano which is on at The GRV in Guthrie Street as part of The Five Pound Fringe from the 17th to the 29th of August at 7.00 pm each evening.
You can also see James Sherwood’s Topical Podcast from Belushi’s starting from the 24th to the 28th of August at 12 noon.
1. What inspired you to become a writer, comedian, musician and performer?
I’ve always written comedy and music, though not always well. Eventually I realised that I wouldn’t find out if I was good enough to do it for a living until I tried.
2. What’s your show about and where are you taking your show after the Edinburgh Fringe?
My show features me and my piano. We will be in the early stages of our relationship, because I’m only buying the thing the day before the festival starts. And then I’m selling it the day after the festival ends. So the show is basically a sales pitch, with me begging the audience to buy my piano, by showing them how entertaining a thing it is.
3. What are you most proud of?
Last time a journalist asked me that question, I said, ‘The abolition of slavery’. But, thinking about it, she probably meant something that I’d done. But I still think it was quite a good answer. So my answer to your question would have to be, ‘The answer I gave to that question the last time I was asked it.’
4. If you had a chance to work with anyone of your choosing, who would it be?
Possibly Peter Mandelson.
5. What kind of questions do you most like to be asked about your work and why?
“Tell us a joke” – always a classic. “What’s it like working with Clare Balding?” (from people who are thinking of a different James Sherwood). “What’s it like acting straight into the camera?” (from people who think I’m David Mitchell). “We loved you on Nationwide” (from people who think I’m Richard Stilgoe).
Also: ‘Why Peter Mandelson?”
6. Do the reviewers of Fringe shows do a good job?
Some, yes. Others, no. The worst read like ‘What I did on my holidays’ composition assignments: “And then a man come on and told some jokes and I liked that because I like jokes. And then a man came on and shouted and I did not like that because I don’t like shouting. My favourite colour is blue. My Daddy is a journalist.”
7. What do you feel about the current state of Arts funding available?
You only feel second-hand the effects of Arts funding as a jobbing comedian. Some gigs wouldn’t exist without it, but most others would. Comedy is a populist medium, so lots of it can function on a purely economic basis, without funding.
The main benefit that I notice is when I go to a regional Arts Centre, they are often excellent. But I have minimal technical requirements, so I can perform just as well in a ramshackle village hall as in a state-of-the-art complex with an Arts Council plaque on the outside. Arts funding should be generous, and comedy should not be exempt; but it’s not something that affects my day-to-day work.
8. Which three famous people would you invite to dinner and why [dead celebrities included]? And what tasty treat would you prepare?
Dick Crossman, 1960s Labour cabinet minister, whose diaries I’ve just finished reading. Dudley Moore. And maybe Margaret Rutherford. And if any of those were busy, possibly Oliver Postgate.
I’d cook something hearty and traditional – not exactly a Sunday roast, but something similar.
9. What do you do to relax?
Lie down.
10. What would be your dream come true?
Selling all my Edinburgh tickets the day before the print run of my flyers. Then I can save some money, have a flyering-free month, and slightly save the planet. It won’t happen, though.
In your inner self you lived free, beyond the rules of carping wee Scotland. Your heart was your own to give, and you gave freely on stage and page.
So far everyone I’ve met here is a stand-up or Oxbridge undergraduate. Someone told me there was an International Festival of Music and Drama going on but I can’t find any trace of it. Not in the Old Town anyway.
5. What kind of questions do you most like to be asked about your work and why?