4 minute read
Sandi Toksvig
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PICTURE: STEVE ULLATHORNE
A
Q& THE
Entertainment legend Sandi Toksvig has an enviable CV: TV host, comedian, writer, broadcaster, campaigner. Now she’s back in theatres across the country with her new show, Next Slide Please. In our Q&A, she talks mistaken identity and her love of splitting logs
Who would you like to see playing you in the movie about your life? Who do you think the casting people would choose?
I think Danny DeVito would be great but maybe casting people think only of sales and would go for Tom Cruise.
What’s the punchline to your favourite
joke? Don’t talk to the sheep, they’re all bloody liars.
If you were to return in a future life as an animal, what would it be? I would like to be a cockerpoo dog like my Mildred. She has an excellent life of soft beds and sausage rolls.
If you were playing in an escape room, name two other people (well-known or otherwise) you’d recruit to help you get
out? I’d only need Boris Johnson. He seems to be able to get out of anything.
When was the last time you were mistaken for someone else and what were the
circumstances? I was recently mistaken for a committee member at someone’s bowls club whilst trying to park my car. I was in a hurry so I simply agreed with them and said I looked forward to the next meeting. I did not go into any bowls detail as I have none.
Whose speaking voice soothes your ears?
My wife.
Tell us something you wish you had
discovered sooner in life? 1) That mostly everyday things are not worth worrying about. 2) Some people are just born annoying and there is nothing you can do about it.
Describe your perfect Saturday evening?
At home with my kids, my grandkids, my wife, the dog and about to head off for a sunset walk in the woods carrying some snacks and a drink.
If you could relive any day of your life,
which one would it be? The day I married my wife.
What’s your earliest recollection of
winning something? I’m not really a winner in standard races. I was always hopeless at sports because I mostly can’t see the point. I would watch children running ahead of me with their egg on a spoon and stop in amazement thinking I’d rather be eating the egg.
Did you have a nickname at school that you were ok with? And can you tell us a
nickname you hated? My nickname in my Danish childhood was Stump which means ‘tiny fragment’. I didn’t mind as it seemed to fit.
When were you most recently astonished
by something? Despite years of exposure to it, I remain repeatedly astonished by the everyday behaviour of our average politicians. The casual and persistent misogyny is staggering. The lack of thought for those less able to look after themselves is devastating. The arrogance is breathtaking. I would overhaul the entire system.
What tune do you find it impossible not to get up and dance to, whether in public or
private? Sadly, I don’t dance. I lack the skills but my wife is a marvel on the dancefloor.
Which famous person would be your
ideal holiday companion? I have never liked anyone just because they were famous. I have friends who happen to be famous and most frequently holiday with the delightful Australian novelist Kathy Lette who is the best of company.
As an adult, what has a child said to you
that made a powerful impact? You’re standing on my foot.
Tell us one thing about yourself that
would surprise people? I have a hydraulic log splitter which I love using.
What’s the most hi-tech item in your
What’s a skill you’d love to learn but never
got round to? Playing the piano so others can dance.
By decree of your local council, you’ve been ordered to destroy one room in your house and all of its contents. Which room
do you choose? I am not really destructive although I do have a hydraulic log splitter which I love using.
Sandi Toksvig: Next Slide Please, Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Sunday 26 June; Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, Monday 27 June.
NEXT TIME
In the July issue (no, we can’t believe we’re already talking about July either) we’ll be getting under the skin of new exhibition Anatomy: A Matter Of Life And Death at the National Museum Of Scotland, peering through our fingers at Jordan Peele’s latest cinematic creation Nope, and dissecting this year’s TRNSMT festival line-up, running at Glasgow Green from Friday 8–Sunday 10 July.
n Next copy of The List will be out
