John : Hello Trevor and Simon. First of all thank you for talking to us today.

Simon : A pleasure. Thank you for listening.

 

Trev : Pardon?

 

 

John : We are big fans of yours and watched you over the years on your various TV shows and love your work.

Simon : Thank you.

 

Trev : Thank you.

 

 

John : When you were growing up what were the TV shows that got you hooked watching them?

Simon : Hmmmm... was TV invented back then? I'll go for Pogle's Wood and Joe 90.

 

Trev : Belle and Sebastian (not the indie band) – a French/Swiss drama about a boy and his big white fluffy mountain dog. It was dubbed into English and black and white – kids today don’t know what they’re missing!

 

 

John : When did you first realise that you wanted to work in the world of television?

Simon : I guess when I started working in it. Before that, I don't think I ever really realised anything.

 

Trev : Seeing Rik Mayall and the Young Ones for the first time, made me think it would be fun to get into professional comedy but the whole Saturday morning TV thing happened by complete chance really, there was no plan.

 

 

John : How did you first meet and did you always have a passion for comedy?

Simon : We met at Manchester University in 1981. And yes, I always had a passion for comedy. My dad was a big comedy fan and, as I grew up, he would introduce me to his favourites; Spike Milligan, Monty Python, Benny Hill. Odd bedfellows, I know. And when I say "introduced" I mean we would all watch the telly together.

 

Trev : My experience was very similar. My dad enjoyed comedy and used to do impressions at parties to make people laugh. He also used to recite poems by Benny Hill. He wasn’t the most PC joke teller. It was the 1970s.

 

 

John : Do you remember your first day working on a TV show, what was the show and how did your first day go?

Simon : Ish. First month or so rather than first day. It was Going Live! I can't remember much of our first show. It was live though. I suspect, like all great trauma, the memory has been buried. I'm sure it was fine though. Yes, it was great. Ask Trev.

 

Trev : We were both nervous. I think a lot of fear was involved and a few drinks afterwards – but we had a load of fun too. It was very exciting. The first show went really well – although I wasn’t used to working in a live TV studio and was caught on camera for what felt like forever, staring the wrong way, like an idiot, when I was supposed to be talking to camera. We got away with it though and were still there 10 years later (staring in the right direction) so we must have done something right!

 

 

John : How did you find working and creating sketches on Going Live compared to Live and Kicking?

Simon : We wrote sketches for Going Live! on old rolls of wallpaper which was then collected by a bike courier to be taken to the BBC. By the time of Live and Kicking technology had kicked in and the BBC had bought us a fax.

 

Trev : I was laughing about this the other day – writing for shows like these, pre-computers and pre-email seems crazy now. The process had become more efficient by the time Live and Kicking happened and we knew a lot more about how TV worked. I think some of our characters and studio sketches became more TV based and a bit less theatrical maybe (except for Daniel Cakebread and Dominic Belle-Geddes from Art For ‘Em – who were a right pair of luvvies.

 

 

John : How did Swing Your Pants come about?

Simon : It was just something I did because I didn't have/ couldn't play a guitar. I had to do something, and Swinging my Pants seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

Trev : It was Bob Corner’s natural response to Don Singing's hypnotic guitar playing. They were both in a trance most of the time – the effect of too many of Donovan’s dried banana skins I think.

 

 

John : You are well known for your crazy comedy sketches and songs from over the years like World Of The Strange and The Draper Brothers' dry cleaning shop with their catchphrase "we don't do duvets!" but which are your favourite sketches out of them all?

Simon : We did one sketch called "Arthaus" where we played a couple of pretentious German art critics. We did it once and then our boss, Chris Bellinger, said, "never again lads". I don't know if it's my favourite but I like the idea of it and the possibility that it may have vanished forever.

 

Trev : I loved performing World of the Strange, investigating aliens and the paranormal – the whole idea of it was mad. We were starting to get more surreal with our comedy at this point. I’d just seen a very early Vic Reeves Big Night Out show pre-TV, at the Albany in Deptford and I think they were an inspiration. I also enjoyed making the short films like Ninja Day Off and The Looking Eye’s investigation into rival Elvis tribute acts in Streatham.

 

John : Who influenced you in your career and made you want to get into acting?

Simon : When I was about 11, before deciding on the comedy route, I wanted to be an actor like Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee. In other words, I wanted to be in horror films. Then, aged about 18, I wanted to be De Niro. Now, I'm mainly influenced by anyone in Holby City.

 

Trev : When I was very young I wanted to be a “pop star”. I think the Beatles movies and The Monkees influenced my enjoyment of “acting” and performing songs and music. I also wanted to be a stunt man like Evel Knievel. Maybe he helped me find the confidence to take the risks needed to be a comedian. I was a big fan of impressionists too when I was very young in the 1970s. My Ken Goodwin impression is legendary.

 

 

John : Over the years who has been the most famous person you have worked with or met?

Simon : The most famous would most likely be Paul McCartney. But then it's tricky when I have also met Cher, Elton John, Mel Brooks, Paul Simon, Liza Minelli, and Shakin' Stevens.

 

Trev : Very exciting that we did daft sketches with many of those big stars. Meeting Tom Jones was a big deal for me– my dad used to impersonate him too and sing like him in the car on long drives. I’m not sure I made the same impression on Tom though. I remember trying to explain our sketch idea to him in the studio, for a good couple of minutes and at the end he looked at me blankly and said “Huh?” Mike Myers even popped into the studio one Saturday morning. I think we were slightly in awe of him at the time. Can’t remember much about that – sorry!

 

 

John : What was the funniest thing that's happened or gone wrong while filming live that you remember and how did you react and carry on?

Simon : I think I laughed out loud when Andi Peters came into Don and Dougie Draper's launderette dressed as Demis Roussos , with a load of helium filled balloons shoved up his kaftan. (As an aside, Trev was Don Draper yonks before John Hamm nicked his name).

 

Trev : Ha! I’d forgotten that too! Very funny. It was also funny when the WWF (as it was then known) wrestler Hacksaw Jim Duggan smashed up our set and caused chaos in the studio (because we asked him too) He did it very well!

 

 

John : Being on children's TV shows in the past what do you make of the changes in children's TV shows from past to present do you think they still have the same spark as in previous years?

Simon : Saturday morning TV has changed a lot from past to present. Kids like cookery these days. The spark is different though; it needs to be to light those gas hobs.

 

Trev : My youngest son watches a lot of CBBC shows. From what I’ve seen, a lot of the spirit and approach to humour is the same really but it’s all a lot slicker these days. There’s still plenty of daft stuff out there to watch but I haven’t found a single programme in black and white and dubbed into English, about a big white fluffy dog in the Swiss mountains! Maybe I’ll find it on BBC4.

 

 

John : What projects are you currently working on and where can your fans see you next?

Simon : Our next big thing is Strangeness in Space; a fan funded comedy sci-fi audio series. Me and Trev are teaming up with Sophie Aldred (Ace from Dr Who), and Clare Eden (exec producer of The Minister of Chance) to have some hilarious and hair-raising space adventures. We're about to launch a crowd-funding campaign to finance the first few episodes and I can't wait to get going with it!

 

Trev : We’re also continuing to write scripts for other children’s TV shows – but it’s been a nice change writing for ourselves again for Strangeness in Space. There is a hint of 80s nostalgia about the whole thing and we get to play about with 80s synth pop in a similar way to how we explored 60s folk and psychedelia with The Singing Corner. Working with Sophie is Ace! (sorry!)

 

 

John : Thank you for talking to us today, we really appreciate it.

Simon : Thanks Johnathan.

 

Trev : Thanks Johnathan