Sarah Millican interview
Sarah Millican is back with her mega-selling tour Home Bird – She talks to Latest 7 about not being a diva, Matt Le Blanc and tomatoes
You’ve been a comedian now for nine years. What would you say is your unique selling point?
“I think it’s that I could be sitting beside you in the audience. So many people go, ‘Oh my God, my auntie’s just like you’ or, ‘My neighbour’s just like you,’ and I take that as a real compliment. I’m a kind of Everywoman – I don’t look like a star or behave like a star, so there’s not that big chasm or moat between us. I’m talking about things that have happened to me, and it’s stuff they can relate to, because I’m not Elton John – although I did once buy a seven-pack of socks and wear a new pair of socks every day for a week and felt a little bit like Elton John. I can see why he does it, because they just slide on.”
“I’m not Elton John – although I did once buy a seven-pack of socks…”
Who makes you laugh?
“I love Frank Skinner. He’s so naturally funny. I did a few episodes of Frank Skinner’s Opinionated, and you know you’ve really made him laugh when he slaps his leg. When he does that, I’m thinking, ‘I’ve got him!’ I also think Jo Brand is wonderful – I did a gig with her in December last year, and the audience was so excited she was there. There’s a lot of love for her.”
What are your favourite sitcoms?
“I love watching old Blackadders and Father Teds. I think Graham Linehan is a comedy genius, ifyou think that he wrote three of the best sitcoms ever: Black Books, Father Ted, and The IT Crowd. They’re all so different and yet all came from the mind of one man.”
How do you get inspiration for your comedy?
“By living a bit more of a real life to be able to relate to my audience, not to mention for your sanity. Now I’ve got a house [in Cheshire] I think I can’t be away too long because I’ve got two cats and a lot of tomatoes that need looking after. Oh my God, if I’m away for a couple of days it makes me so happy to go into my little greenhouse and see if the plants have changed. I’m also learning to cook, at last, and my attempts are making their way into my comedy.
I also get inspiration from other comedians: I’ve just been listening to Tig Notaro, an American who did a set immediately after she found out she had breast cancer in both breasts. She went straight from the appointment on to her gig. It’s been released on iTunes and it’s an astonishing piece of comedy. Something like that just blows my bloody socks off..”
What did you grow up watching?
“A lot of Victoria Wood. Whenever she was together with Julie Walters, it was wondrous. And people didn’t watch Victoria Wood and go, ‘Oh, she’s a woman’ – they just watched her because she’s hilarious. I love her.”
Was a she a role model for you when you considered taking up comedy?
“Not really. It was circumstances – my divorce in 2004 – that got me onstage, rather than other comedians. I just got up and had a go. I didn’t really know it was stand up at the beginning. I was just talking to people about my divorce.”
Tell us five things we didn’t know about Sarah…
1. She loves to wave
2. She has never been able to ride a bike. She had an imaginary library so didn’t need to go outside
3. She can’t remember her natural hair colour
4. She sometimes just shaves the fronts of her legs
5. Her favourite song is David Bowie’s Dancing in the Street
And your new cat…
“For my boyfriend’s birthday, he chose to go to a secret but alarmingly well-signposted nuclear bunker (don’t ask). There was a beautiful and affectionate cat there that I stroked and cuddled while he sat in the air raid shelter. That day, we decided to get another cat. We rang our vet who said they had a cat who needed rehoming. She had been abandoned outside the vet’s two-and-a-half months earlier and when we visited her, was the purriest cat in the world. A week later she was at our house. Three weeks after that she stopped shouting at her new brother and started spooning him instead.”
We heard you met your Favourite ‘Friend’.
“At the BAFTAS, as I didn’t win an award [which Stephen Mangan and Matt Le Blanc were presenting]. I was at the after-show party and said to lovely Stephen, “Take me to Matt Le Blanc.” He did, bless him, and I stood in the queue of women patiently waiting for a bit of Joey. When I got to the front, I was polite and he was lovely. We had our photo taken together and as a parting shot, I said to Stephen within Matt’s earshot, “I told you I wouldn’t embarrass myself by saying I watch Friends every day. Ah, shit.”
What show would you most like to appear in?
“Glee. Just putting the chairs out for the nerds who can actually sing and dance.”
Who is your favourite comedian?
“Rhod Gilbert. He’s always hilarious and a sweet man.”
Who would play you in the movie of your life?
“David Walliams, because he looks better in a dress than I do and I bet he can do a good Geordie accent.”
