Interview: Andy Hamilton

Credit: Steve Ullathorne

Award-winning comedian and comedy writer – Outnumbered, Ballot Monkeys, Drop The Dead Donkey, to name a few – Andy Hamilton hits the road with a new show and speaks with Victoria Nangle

Hi Andy, how are you today?
Very good, thank you. How are you?

I’m good too, thanks. ‘Change Management’, the title of your new show, sounds like what we’ve recently gone through – although not necessarily to the management everybody was keen on. Why is change necessary?
Well, without change we wouldn’t be here. We’d still be single-celled organisms at the bottom of the ocean, which would be quite boring.

Why do you think that we have become so scared of change?
I think people have always been scared of it. Dickens thought that trains were the work of the devil.

Fangirl declaration here. I’m utterly enjoying the repeats of Old Harry’s Game and Revolting People on BBC Radio 4. Is there any chance of either of these coming back with new episodes?
Yes, there is a chance, but I don’t know when.

My comedy often involves a lack of laughter, though not intentionally

Religion, history, philosophy, family – your attention turns to sacred cows and yet always seems to lampoon affectionately. Where is your mind consistently being drawn to these days for comic scrutiny, and might this lead to a new radio sitcom?
Erm… ooh… erm… ideas sort of descend on me when I’m not looking, so they could lead me anywhere. Getting a broadcaster to say yes is the crucial bit.

Would it be fair to say that your comedy writing uses lack of laughter just as much as laughter to kick-start its listeners to think? I’m thinking particularly when Satan makes a point about mankind in Old Harry’s Game.

My comedy often involves a lack of laughter, though not intentionally.

Drop The Dead Donkey and Old Harry’s Game conclude almost bleakly, and Ballot Monkeys works sharply. Is there hope for this bunch of self-obsessed primates?
I have no problem with self-obsessed primates, I’m one myself. I expect humanity to muddle through for at least three more weeks.

Congratulations on your debut novel, The Star Witness. Do you think that developing social media platforms are blurring the lines as to where the media ends and reality begins?
After 2016, I’ve completely lost track of where reality begins.

Who’s the better News Quiz host – Sandi or Miles (show your workings)?
I’m not stupid enough to answer this.

Who’s the better QI host – Stephen or Sandi (more workings, please)?
See above.

What is your favourite way to give yourself a treat?
To go on a boat trip. Or watch birds. Or cabbage out watching telly.

Andy Hamilton: Change Management, Connaught Theatre, Worthing, Saturday 6 May 2017, 7.30pm, £20/18