Stephen Grant interview
Photographer Diana Frangi meets comedian Stephen Grant
If Stephen Grant’s career as a stand-up falters, he knows he can always go back to his first love, software design (he created his first game, Dieste, at the age of 13!). But billed as the ‘Renaissance man of comedy’ and definitely coming to a crest of public acclaim, he can let his computer gather dust for a while yet.
Born and still living in Brighton, he cut his comedy teeth at the Good Companions pub in the late ‘90s. Moving on to the Edinburgh Festival, he was spotted by BBC Radio, who took him on as a writer. Now he’s busy performing around the country to rave reviews. We can catch him on Wednesday 16 July at the Komedia starting at 9pm. www.komedia.co.uk
How did you get your break?
There’s not really ‘breaks’ in comedy, like there is in acting, dance etc. It’s a hard profession, but if you’re any good, you’ll always work.
The ‘breakthrough’, as such, came when I got a job writing jokes for Radio 1, which meant I could leave my day job and concentrate entirely on comedy.
What would you be doing had you not become a comedian?
Probably still working with computers. I enjoyed it and I wasn’t that bad at it.
Which famous person would you like to be?
I’m quite happy just being myself, but assuming it was only for a day, I’d like to be Richard Hammond. You have to come and see my latest one-man show to find out why.
What is your biggest regret?
Getting married. My divorce has already lasted longer than the entire marriage and shows no sign of ending. It’s a bottomless pit of comedy ideas though.
Which song do you like to sing when you are in the shower?
Whatever I last heard on my car stereo. I have this terrible ability to keep songs going in my head long after the source has stopped playing. When I park the car I have to let the song playing finish or it’s stuck there – sometimes for days.
If I gave you £200,000 tomorrow, what would you do with it?
Give it back. I can’t imagine anyone having that amount of money legitimately, and anyway, have you tried buying anything with cash nowadays? No bugger wants it. I can’t put more than a grand in the bank now without the cashier asking me exactly where it came from. But if it was all above board, I’d live off half of it for two years while writing a book and a movie, and with the rest, I’d fly first class to Vegas, and put it on red. No, black. No, red. Argggh.
