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The prodigal son
me. o h s e m o c Tim Key n a i d e m o c Poet and
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Hay Fever / Jason Mraz / Sam Smith / Jon Richardson
26 | September 25, 2014 | cambridge-news.co.uk | Cambridge News
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THE HEADLINER: COMEDY
Tim Key is a marvel in the worlds of comedy and poetry. ELLA WALKER quizzes him on his misspent Cambridge youth, working with Steve Coogan and, um, pornographic playing cards…
Tim Key: “Working with Steve Coogan is constantly surreal”
Editor: Ella Walker email: ella.walker@cambridgenews.co.uk For breaking entertainment news for the city, visit cambridge-news. co.uk/whatson Follow @CamWhatsOn on Twitter
Tim Key: Single White Slut, HOT TICKETS WHAT’S ON Cambridge Junction, Saturday, WHAT’S ON HOT TICKETS September 27 at 7pm and 9.15pm. HOT WHAT’S Tickets TICKETS £16 from (01223) 511511ON / junction.co.uk. WHAT’S ON HOT TICKETS
Cambridge News | cambridge-news.co.uk | September 25, 2014 | 27
THE HEADLINER: COMEDY
‘CONSTANTLY SURREAL’: Tim Key and Steve Coogan in a scene from Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa
I
ONCE watched Tim Key shake up a can of beer and tip it out into his pockets. He was wearing a suit, quite a nice suit in fact, and he just poured the sticky, frothing mess all over the place, practically showering in it, before unceremoniously carrying on with his performance. It was at Latitude 2013 in the cabaret tent where he induced serious face ache and made brains scrunch up in bemusement (weirdly the 38-year-old has graced Latitude’s poetry, theatre and cabaret stages in the past, but so far no comedy tent slot – what are they playing at?!). As Key talked – snippets of bizarre poetry, crazy one-liners, strewn with more jackanory moments – laminated cards with his jokes and verses written on them spun out on to the floor. It was all rather odd, but brilliant, and strangely beautiful. The comedian, poet and actor grew up in Impington – more of which later – went to Hills Road Sixth Form College, worked at
‘I auditioned for Footlights. And that was my in. If I was from anywhere else apart from Cambridge there’s NO CHANCE I would be doing this’ Cambridge Arts Picturehouse for a while and ended up in Footlights after studying Russian at Sheffield University. Since then his life has become a whirl of touring, Edinburgh Festival Award nominations (he finally won in 2009), becoming Alan Partridge’s sidekick in the web series Mid Morning Matters, radio appearances (you’ll regularly find him on BBC Radio 4 making documentaries and working with fellow bearded comedian Mark Watson), and now he’s playing two homecoming gigs at Cambridge Junction. So Tim, what should we expect from your latest show, Single White Slut? “There’s some poetry you have
to get past, and then some basic talking and a bit of shouting and frowning. There’s also a dance element. And I have a bed on stage. It’s a safety net, somewhere to lay if it all gets a bit too much. It’s a fairly interesting show, in my opinion.” What feeling do you want people to walk out with at the end of it? “Hopefully they will have laughed. But if I was feeling really ambitious I’d say I’d like them to mutter something like ‘that was a bit different’.” Why the continued “slut” theme in your shows [Tim’s previous shows have included The Slutcracker and Masterslut]? “Ha! Not really a theme so
much as an unfortunate branding, which I stumbled into. That word features in the titles; less so in the show. The show’s more about things like tooth fairies and failed romances.” How did growing up in Cambridge impact on your career? “Actually it was very important. I finished university (in Sheffield) and was all set to start some kind of career doing something or other vaguely connected to my degree. I came back to my family in Impington and stayed there whilst I worked out what kind of a job I could do. And whilst I was doing that I auditioned for Footlights. And that was my in. If I was from anywhere else
28 | September 25, 2014 | cambridge-news.co.uk | Cambridge News
THE HEADLINER: COMEDY apart from Cambridge there’s NO CHANCE I would be doing this.” If you hadn’t broken into Footlights [he was never actually a Cambridge student so shouldn’t have been allowed to audition, he just said his university email address hadn’t come through and kept schtum], what do you think you’d have ended up doing? “Mm. Not sure. I was doing things like applying for The Home Office but I don’t think that would have been for me. A frustrated writer maybe. Journalism course. God knows. Move to Ukraine. I think I might have been a bit of a rudderless mess, if I’m honest. Lucky to have fallen into this, really.” What do you love about Cambridge? Do you have any particularly vivid memories of living here? “Millions. I was born there and didn’t really flee the nest till I was surprisingly far into my 20s. My memories are what you’d expect, I suppose. Punting as a little boy, and then punting with beers as a
teenager. Fun nights in the pubs: Anchor/Eagle/Mill; sweaty, romantically unsuccessful nights in the Junction. Cycling about, playing lots of football, trying to get my head round Snowy Farr. That sort of thing.” Are you still writing poems on pornographic playing cards? What originally prompted that? “Well, it’s not just pornographic ones. I have an array. For every pornographic one there is one depicting The Lake District or Riga. The porn came into play in my last show. It did actually have a point to it, if you can believe it. The cards are very important for me. They’re a great way to develop a show; chucking down the ones that me and the audience don’t like; keeping the ones we do.” How far does the Tim Key on stage match the Tim Key off stage? “The one off stage is more measured. More shy. Less selfassured. Sometimes I’d like to be more like him; but actually I think it would be pretty unsustainable.” How did your first gig go? “Terrible, terrible, terrible. I couldn’t work out how to use the mic. It kept IS THIS TIM’S popping. Blank faces everywhere. One bit BEST JOKE that worked. I built on EVER? that as best I could.” “Drive Thru McDonalds What is was more expensive than I thought ... once you’ve hired the car ...” – it came fourth in the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe top 10 jokes list.
guaranteed to make you laugh? “Obvious stuff I’m afraid. The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Jeeves and Wooster. I watched some very nice live stuff up in Edinburgh last month. Alex Horne was on the form of his life. Nick Mohammed, a madman, was very funny. Mark Watson, Daniel Kitson, Simon Amstell. And John Kearns. He’s currently on fire.” What inspires you about your fellow comedians? “When you see someone has put together something unbelievably good, that can be inspiring. It’s always a good sign when you feel jealous. I watched a show by Kim Noble in Edinburgh. Very different from what I do but, yes, very inspiring. His show was incredibly ambitious and very personal. It made me think I needed to have a good think about what I do next, make sure it’s good! Alex Horne’s show did the same. I always admire hard work. That’s what those shows had in common; allied to a touch of genius of course.” What has been the maddest moment of your career so far? “Working with Steve Coogan is constantly surreal. I’ll never get used to it. There was one episode, were he’s giving me a dressing down and it lasted about a minute. His veins were popping and he
‘If I wasn’t a comedian I would have been… trying to perfect my Russian, possibly living somewhere Russian’
was really, really laying into me. That’s surreal. Your comedy hero giving it to you with both barrels. Yes. Utterly mad. And a bit damaging.” How would you like to be remembered? “God knows. I’d like to make something at some stage that people continue to watch sometimes once I’m all dead. Like a film or something. If not, the next best thing is that people remember a show I did with any fondness at all.” What would you like to work on next, if there were no restrictions and you could collaborate with anyone? “I’m fortunate. I’m working with who I want to. Right now Alex Horne, Daniel Kitson, Mark Watson and Tom Basden. So it’s all fine at the moment. I guess I’d like to be in a Shane Meadows film. Or just meet Hugh Laurie or something.” And what do you actually have planned next? “I’m writing my radio show at the moment. It’s a poetry thing with Tom Basden playing guitar and questioning me throughout. Then there’s some stuff that’s not confirmed so I don’t think I can say. Hopefully more Mid-Morning Matters. I keep checking my emails. I can just watch sport until something comes along.”
HAPPY MEMORIES: Tim loved growing up in Cambridge, in particular, punting, drinking, cycling, going to the Junction and “trying to get my head round Snowy Farr”