Lloyd Langford interview
At the vanguard of the flood of Welsh talent currently appearing on our screens and on the radiowaves of comedy, Lloyd Langford is coming to town! He talks time travel, improvising and superpowers with Victoria Nangle
Hi Lloyd, how are you today?
I’ve been waiting in all day for a package to be delivered. They told me it left the depot at 8am. It’s now 6pm, it still hasn’t arrived, and I’m now trying to see if it has tracking so I can find the delivery driver and kill him with a hitman.
Your show is called ‘Old-Fashioned’. If today’s world is bamboozling, what era in time and in which location would you most like to live?
Maybe Rome at the height of the empire. That looked like a lot of fun. If you weren’t a Christian.
And what would be your favourite activity/adventure in that time and place?
It would be between bumming and watching Christians get eaten by lions.
As much as bygone days were good, what modern contraption would you like to be invented that would make your life easier?
(One that doesn’t already exist)
There should be a universal plug socket. Everyone would have the same plugs and sockets. I still can’t believe we haven’t sorted that yet.
Despite being ‘old-fashioned’, you still get referred to as ‘little Lloyd Langford’ by Rhod on his radio show, which does seem to irk you. If you could call him any name and it would stick for years, what would it be, bearing in mind this is a family magazine?
Ha ha, it doesn’t really irk me. He’s also repeatedly suggested that I’ve had intimate relations with Timmy Mallett, which is a bit more troubling. Rhod has taken to wearing a Stetson hat everywhere, which I think looks pretty funny, so maybe “Cowboy” Rhod Gilbert.
He’s also repeatedly suggested that I’ve had intimate relations with Timmy Mallett …
Your ‘Git’ show with Jon Richardson and Dan Atkinson sounds like a blast – improvising and riffing off each other. Any chance you might tour it, or perhaps run some Edinburgh previews for it in sunny East Sussex?
It’s incredibly fun to do, but there’s a hell of a lot of preparation for it as each of us creates and hosts a third of the show. With our diaries and everything else, we usually end up doing it once a year. We’re always talking about doing a few around the country, so watch this space I guess!
As lovely as it is to see your face on the telly, you seem to be very active on the BBC airwaves, even recording your own radio sitcom pilot. Do you think that radio lends itself more to the flights of fancy of comedy than television?
I really love doing radio and I think it invites the listener to use their imagination, in a way television can’t. I wouldn’t say it’s better suited to comedy than television, but as you’re just hearing the voices, it heightens the intimacy I think.
Do you ever swim in the sea in the UK? If so, what makes a British day suitable for swimming, in your book?
I regularly swim in the British sea. The last time I went in was on January 1st and I talk about it in the show!
If you could have any super power, what would it be, and what would your superhero’s name be?
To be able to speak and understand every language. Name would be Great-To-Go-On-Holiday-With Man.
What’s the best thing about being ‘old-fashioned’ right now?
Second hand book shops. British museums. The recorded works of Muddy Waters. Evan Williams bourbon. The list is endless …
Lloyd Langford – Old-Fashioned, Komedia, Friday 20 February 2015, £12/10, 01273 709709, www.komedia.co.uk/brighton
Picture: Andy Hollingworth
