Alan Davies Interview

Hi Alan! How are you today?

Not too bad! Been running around. I’m filming Jonathan Creek at the moment, which is quite good fun, but they’re doing scenes that I’m not in so what tends to happen is you end up with lots and lots of things to do on what’s supposed to be your day off!

We’re very excited to see you come to Australia in March for the ‘Little Victories’ tour; can you give us any hints at what to expect?

I’ve been working away on material. At the end of my last tour in the UK in August I was doing ‘Work In Progress’ on ‘Little Victories’. ‘Little Victories’ basically refers to when you’re little and trying to get one-over on your Dad and that life is as best as you can hope for. There’s a bit about my children; on the last show I was talking about them being babies and now I’m talking about them being toddlers and how I could just happily throw them in the canal! But it’s about my bond with them, my father, and the usual everyday nonsense, muck and filth.

So you’ve been able to use your kids as inspiration?

Oh yes, they have to pay their way and they’re doing that by providing my with material for stand-up tours.

You tested the show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival back in August; how did it go? What was the general feedback?

Pretty good! When I was in the comedy clubs I used to be constantly doing gigs, but now I don’t as much, so getting a show together means doing a work in progress, which is pretty arduous in the beginning, particularly for the audience because nothing seems to work! But then you find your feet and it gradually expands, grows and develops. It’s nerve-wracking because I’ve got all these fantastic theatres, and even though it’s still months until March I’m thinking, “My God, I’ve got to get this right!” My problem is, I’m 47 and I can’t always remember what I’ supposed to be saying next!

While you’re in Australia, will you get any time off to see the country?

No, I won’t. I’ll be zipping around. But I first came 25 years ago and I’ve been many times, so I’ve seen a lot. But I’m going to new places this time that I’ve never been before, like Canberra, Tasmania and Darwin. I’m going all over eight cities this time, so I’m excited to do that.

You’ve toured for years, but you’ve become particularly well-loved in Britain for your TV work, do you have a preference between travelling and staying close to home?

I used to think that touring was a pain, but now, I’ve got two small children, one’s two and the other nearly four, and a day at home is great but it’s absolutely shattering, so a gig in the evening is a bit like a day out now! I can stay in a nice hotel and relax, and talk to people after the gigs. When I went over to Australia in 2011, I was there for eight weeks so the whole family came with me, but I’m going on my own this time because it’s a bit in-an-out. There’ll be plenty of FaceTime and Skype. For me, after ten years not doing stand-up, to come back is quite exciting. I’m a bit older now and I’ve actually got a few things to say. It was one of those things I thought I could fall back on, but I’ve gone back voluntarily.

We heard Bill Bailey was best man at your wedding; did he give a good speech?

Yes, he did, but unfortunately we didn’t record it because we didn’t want video cameras in our faces all day. I think what I would have done now is get a voice recording, because the speeches were really good fun and it was a nice atmosphere and good to have him there.

QI, which you star in alongside the brilliant Stephen Fry, is in its eleventh season; for anyone foolish enough to have never seen it, can you explain the concept in one sentence?

John Lloyd’s original idea was that you don’t get points for being right, you get them for being interesting. QI stands for ‘Quite Interesting’ and those that come on the show aiming to be right, are doomed to fail. Nowadays it’s just a jolly conversation. It’s not a testosterone-filled quiz that you get on some other panel shows and it’s just really good fun when it’s at its best. We had a shot in the arm actually when we took it to Australia in 2011 and did live shows with Australian comedians. We gave shorter answers so it was punchier for the live gig and we felt really rejuvenated coming back to the UK. We signed younger and newer comedians; we didn’t have to rely on old hands who’d done it before. It was really beneficial and it’s in good health now. As you say it’s in its 11th series and so we’ve still got 15 left to go.

So the plan is to go all the way to ‘Z’?

Well, whether we’ll be on the BBC doing that…we might be on the internet! But we’ll keep going on the BBC as long as they’ll have us.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve learnt from the show?

It all goes in one ear and out of the other! I can’t remember anything. My favourite one is about when the Vikings went exploring, they had a raven with them and they’d let it go and if it saw land, it would fly to it, and that was how they found land. If it didn’t see any land then obviously it would fly back because it couldn’t land on water. That’s the only thing I can remember from eleven years!

Many of our readers will have grown up watching you as Jonathan Creek; do you ever feel like he’s your second identity or alter ego?

I don’t know about that, but people do actually call me Jonathan Creek on the street. I have quite long gaps, but it’s very nice to have it back and to know that it’s still quite popular; I mean – it’s been 17 years!

What do you like to do on a Sunday?

I like to be with the kids. We’ve moved house near Hampstead Heath so I’m looking forward to lots of Sundays. I’ve been trying to fend off lots of dog owners, because with two small children and people letting their dogs off the lead… When my boy was one he got knocked over by a dog, he was quite upset and the owner was standing there like he was in the way. I told her to apologise and she said “Why should I apologise? It’s not my fault that your child is afraid of dogs.” So I said to her, “Well he’s only one.” And she said, “Well, the dog is six months.” So, that’s what you’re dealing with up there! I might take a sawn-off shotgun with me, next time…

By Charlotte Mellor