I walked up to TV Centre in my suit in the hot October sun to appear on the pilot for the TV version of Banter, which has now been renamed (by me as it happens) "Rule of Three". I was going up there early ostensibly to help with any script writing that needed to be done (for the links - the main body of the show is pretty much all improvised), but as it turned out I wasn't needed, so I passed the afternoon sitting by the Roy Castle fountain (as I call it because as anyone over 40 will recall it's where Record Breakers staged the largest number of people tap dancing together). It's no longer used as a fountain though, supposedly because (and a tour guide I overheard confirmed this story) the sound of the water echoed round the doughnut shaped complex and made everyone working in the offices want to go for a wee.
Even after 20 years in this business (and I really can't believe it's that long, but On The Hour is celebrating its 20th anniversary this week, which actually means I have been working professionally as a comedian and writer for 21 years) I am still excited to come to TV Centre, which seemed like this magical, faraway, unreachable place when I was a kid and watching Swap Shop or Record Breakers. And now it has memories for me from my actual life - there's the lift where I saw Jeremy Paxman and touched his briefcase with one of my hands, we recorded Fist of Fun here and today I got my make up put on in the same room as we'd been made up for Celebrity Mastermind, which gave me unsettling flashbacks to that traumatic day. The future of the building is uncertain - it's up for sale, but I don't know if it will carry on being used as TV studios or whether the whole place will be converted to flats for wankers. It is an utterly historic place and the ghosts of our TV greats wander down those confusing corridors, so I hope it will remain a place where TV is made.
I sat outside in the sunshine, watching the world go by. There was mild excitement in the air as the flagship show "Strictly Come Dancing" was recording tonight and so all the celebs and dancers were milling around. I saw Ian from McFly in real life. It was very exciting. Even though I don't watch the programme or like it. It was still hard not to get caught up in it.
The male judges came outside at one point and I was amazed to see that two of them were smoking. And to prove to the world that this was the case I papped them on my cameraphone. It's not a great shot and you can't tell which two are smoking, but I was some distance away so it's impressive considering that. This is probably why I don't work more on TV though. I think proper TV stars don't pap each other or reveal each other's terrible secrets. And they mainly remain all cool and unaffected by being in the presence of people who are on TV or by being near the fountain where Roy Castle tap danced. But I am glad to be uncool and not to participate in the huge lie of unaffectedness. They are all just as excited as I was and just trying to pretend that this is the most natural thing in the world.
I always loved Banter and am glad it's getting a chance at a TV outing, even if I have been usurped from my position as a regular. The show we recorded this evening will not make it on to TV, but will be edited down and viewed by execs who will decide if they want to put it on telly. I hope they do. It was a lot of fun to be a part of and as with the radio show, a lovely opportunity to mess around with other funny people in a non-competitive environment. It's quite unusual to see everyone enjoying each other's stuff quite so much, but there was lots of laughter on set as well as in the crowd.
I had mooted the title "Rule of 3" at the last dry run two weeks ago, so it was quite extraordinary to see that name made into a logo and also in huge illuminated and flashing letters on the set. This again was one of the things I most enjoyed about working on TV in the 90s - you'd come up with a crazy or stupid idea and then serious, hard-working people would give their all to make these things a reality.
It's cool to be a part of all of this after over two decades, though the On The Hour anniversary did make me wonder about whether I had made the most of the last 20 years. Have I achieved as much as I might have done? What is the state of my career? It would feel reasonably successful, if I didn't have to compare myself to the incredibly people I worked with back on my first main writing job: Armando Iannucci, Chris Morris, Steve Coogan, Stewart Lee, Rebecca Front, Patrick Marber..... But let's give it another 20 years before we decide who has done the best. All those guys I have listed are just flashes in the pan. You'll see.
