Interview: Sue Perkins

From cakes to spectacles, comic Sue Perkins brings her book and her comedy to town

What prompted you to hit the road with your new tour, “LIVE! in Spectacles”?
It’s a good time to look back on my life so far. I fully intend to live to the age of 92, so this is half-time. Essentially this tour is handing out the orange segments.

Tell us more.
Writing a memoir begins a process that doesn’t necessarily end with publication. You begin to think about family life and stories and relationships, and those are ongoing. Once the book was published, I thought, “There is so much more still to say without necessarily writing another book. Why not animate the book with a live tour?”. It’s like a companion volume, I guess. A big, technicolour puke of thoughts. Perhaps I should put that on the poster…

You have always relished live performance, haven’t you?
Yes, I love live. I really enjoy playing with an audience. At book events, I do Q&As, and it’s often then that the madness starts. It often feels like an anarchic version of Question Time.

What do you particularly like about interacting with the audience?
It enriches me. Performing live challenges you to be more engaged. And the great thing is, each venue is completely different. What I have done lately has been TV-based, so I haven’t had the same feedback as I get live, and that’s what I love. I adore the raw surprise of someone asking a question you would never have expected. I love the spontaneity of it. I don’t encourage hecklers, but sometimes a heckler is the funniest person in the room – why not embrace that? The audience is a big pool of fun you can swim around in. But remember – no petting.

You will be giving each ticket-holder a copy of your book, “Spectacles”. What’s the thinking behind that?
It gives me the opportunity to meet the whole audience one by one afterwards during the signings. A gig is a two-way street. It’s not about me broadcasting. It’s not, “This is what I’ve got to say about this.” It’s as much about how people respond to the material. My memoir is a story of family and childhood, and everyone has had one of those. Mine is not the definitive version of childhood, but it’s a great way to start a conversation. I love it when someone says, “It’s weird. I lived next to an electricity substation for 20 years as well.” Or, “We had a cat that dragged our turkey across the room at Christmas and we had to eat boiled eggs for our lunch instead.” The book is a recorded history of my life so far, but the tour brings extra stuff to it. The audience adds so much on top of that. It’s important to have that double act thing going on with them.

So what subjects will you be covering in the show?
Births, deaths, lemon drizzle and getting fondled by a Cambodian hermit. I’ll talk a lot about the catastrophising that went on in my family. There was always a sense that something awful, that imminent doom, was around the corner. It came from my mum – she’s a worrier. Everything was a potential trip to A & E!

Why do you think The Great British Bake Off has proved so popular?
I think the chemistry between the four of us – Mary, Paul, Mel and I – works so well. We’re all big kids at heart. We’re all very playful. We don’t approach it as a job. We approach it as a day out at a country fair! But the real reason why the show is so successful is the 12 people who come to bake every year. Although we four have received a lot of attention, I really do believe that the bakers are where the magic is.

Sue Perkins Live! in Spectacles will be at Brighton Dome on Sat 10 September at 7.30pm, please call the box office on 01273 709709 or go to brightondome.org to book tickets