Firstly, can you tell me how the idea for doing the Collings and
Herrin podcasts came about? What did you want to get out of it, and
what opportunities has it presented that you might not otherwise have
had?
I used to go on Andrew's 6Music show and do half an hour on the papers. We did it for a year or so and it was always good fun. But the BBC wouldn't let us have a podcast back then as they were limited to how many they were allowed. Then they didn't even let Andrew have a radio show any more. We missed our weekly messing about and discussed carrying on on our own. It took about a year for us to get round to it. We really wanted to do it for the craic really, and because we knew there were a few people out there who'd enjoyed our chats. I suppose we also thought that possibly if we could make a good job of it then someone might offer us radio work together. But it was much more about having a go and seeing what happened.
It's hard to quantify what opportunities it has given us. I am certainly getting more work offers in the last year, but that could be down to several other factors. It is clear that a lot of people in the industry listen to it and some producers of shows I've been on have told me how much they have enjoyed it. I guess it proves that we can talk about stuff for 66 minutes and 35 seconds at least, and also reminds people you exist, so it can't have hurt in leading to other work. We did some stuff with the Radio Academy as a result and have had interest from some radio stations and newspapers, but so far they are only offering us a place to record it in return for having their name on it. It seems pointless to risk selling out if you're not even making any money out of it! And we're happy doing it in the attic for the time being.
We mainly do it for its own sake. Though personally it is helping my stand up to know that I can keep chatting with no script and no real idea of what I'm going to say for such a long time. I haven't really got any actual material out of it - though it allows me to have a dry run at new ideas, but it has helped me with my confidence to just talk.
- How far do you feel that you have more creative freedom in terms of
what you can talk about on the podcast than you would on TV or radio?
We have total creative freedom and that is a marvelous thing, especially in the current over cautious environment at the radio - see warming up from 28th Jan 2009 -
http://www.richardherring.com/warmingup/warmingup.php?id=2280
We can talk about anything that we want to and delight in pushing things and seeing how far we end up going. I think people understand this is the environment we're working in and forgive is if we overstep the mark or aren't that funny. But on the same day that Frankie Boyle was criticised for saying the queen's pussy was haunted, I was (coincidentally) talking about Princess Anne coming out the Queen's ravaged cunt. Not that I am particularly proud of that. It just shows how far we are allowed to go. Because no one can sack us and we're not getting wages to dock our only real limits are legal and based on our own moral systems. We have edited out a couple of things over the course of the year. Once we went too far with John Gaunt baiting, once I mentioned something that Andrew didn't want mentioned (nothing too embarrassing), once Andrew said something that was too offensive and it was easy to lose and once I libeled Cliff Richard.
Also because it's not being broadcast on a proper channel and is free it means neither of us feel bad about just starting something up and seeing where it goes and then leaving it in even if it fails or is embarrassing. I think this actually makes for a creative environment. We are freed from scripts, censorship and even the need to succeed and thus can take real risks and see where we end up and consequently have come up with some really interesting stuff. And the fact that some of it isn't as good just proves it's all (as) live and makes the general high quality of chat all the more remarkable.
But it's disposable too, like stand up and about people enjoying it in the moment. I love that kind of entertainment.
- Obviously podcasts offer an alternative avenue for comedians to try
out new material, or an opportunity to try a different type of work.
What advantages do you think that kind of format holds for established
comedians such as yourself, and also new writers/performers seeking to
improve their craft or find an audience?
Like I've said gives you the chance to practice just making stuff up. My ultimate goal is to do stand up without a script and just be effortlessly amusing and engaging. This really helps hone that skill. But also even just voicing an idea adn getting feedback helps you decide if its worth pursuing more. It also keeps people interested and attracts new punters to my stand up shows. For newer people I think any opportunity to perform is an opportunity to learn and improve (I am still learning and improving of course). And as with many things on the internet, if you do something funny then it gets spread around, both potential audience and employers. It can be a bit of a public place to make your mistakes, but ones amount of notoreity should hopefully match up with experience. The best way to become better as a comic or writer is to perfrom and write and the internet lets people do that. And also to slowly build an audience, which is the way to do it.
- How far do you think the Internet has made it harder for new
writers/performers to stand out, due to the sheer number of people
using it to showcase their efforts?
It's always been hard to do that. And at least now there is somewhere to put your material and test reactions. Though it takes time I think generally the cream rises and if you can consistently produce good material then people will sit up and take notice eventually. This is what people want. Talent and reliability. If you have a five year track record on a podcast or blog you have something to show people. Plus you can get clips of your good gigs on Youtube and then direct interested parties to look at it. So if you're good this is a good thing. If you're not good then it might help people realise this earlier. But if you're not good, then probably best you get found out - and realise this fact yourself. I really like the fact that you don't have to go through a committee or a controller and can just put on things that you think are funny. Previously a lot of projects got stymied before they had even started because one person didn't get it. Nowadays there are more outlets to get your stuff out there. And it might take time but if it's good someone will see it and spread the word
- What kind of impact do you think the internet has had on comedy in
terms of building and having conversations with your audience? There
are plenty of videos of you on YouTube, for example, and you keep in
contact with fans via your blog. How much attention do you pay to
social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook etc?
Yeah loads. It's great that all the old Lee and herring stuff is up there and stuff like the Youtube thing of me with a heckler has certainly got me new fans who weren't even aware of me before. It's great to be able to keep people reminded of your existence through blogs and social networking and of course you can also publicise gigs and merch etc while you're about it. But I am still trying to build a live audience and without a regular TV show the internet is the best way to do it. I always like to get feedback from people - good and bad - and again if you have stuff up on the internet people who have only vaguely heard of you can check you out and people who liked you years ago and wonder what you're up to now can find out readily. The blog, the podcast and selling my DVDs at www.gofasterstripe are the three things that have probably totally changed my career of late, and yet none of them are real moneyspinners. But hopefully they encourage people to come to see me live and to keep supporting my endeavours. I am mainly getting good audiences on tour and this is thanks to these things because of my low TV profile. But then if I am on something liek Buzzcocks anyone who liked me on it will find out lots more about me very easily.
- What's your take on how possible it is for comedians to make money
from doing things such as podcasts? There are a few examples of people
who have charged for podcasts, most notably Ricky Gervais, but most
seem to be free. Is it more important to you that you're able to
constantly create new stuff and bring it to a wide audience online?
I think they should probably stay free on the whole. Of if you charge they have to be of professional quality in content, which would kinda spoil the point. I am considering trying to put together a weekly podcast sketch/stand up show which maybe you could charge a small fee for, but better probably to charge the live audience. There comes a point where we do have to make some money to survive, and the idea of making radio and TV style shows for the internet does appeal to me - but these would have to be funded somehow
- Can you tell me how you came to be involved with Go Faster Stripe?
What opportunities has that offered to you, in terms of documenting
shows and enabling fans to buy merchandise?
Basically they did Stew's DVD and he seemed happy with it and then they asked me. It's a very simple set up and I liked the fact that it was about preserving shows that might otherwise have disappeared into the ether rather than about making money. All the Lee and herring live shows and my previous edinburgh shows were never officially recorded and it's a shame. And an act at my level can not wait for a big production company to come along. PLus costs are low and the products are cheap and that appealed to me. the go faster boys are fans primarily, but have the technical know how to make good, unshowy, shows. It's good to be a part of this little cottage industry that is only made possible by the internet. I can hope to sell around about 2000 units of everything I do, which would be useless for any big company, but for GFS means they make enough to fund DVDs of other acts who can't sell quite that many, but who deserve to have their work seen. The revenue created for me, though not great, is probably enough to justify doing a new show every year. I don't make much touring and doing edinburgh, but this extra cash makes it financially worthwhile. But I mainly just wanted a record of the shows. It's great that new fans can catch up on older shows and nice for me to have something to prove that the show existed - also I forget my material, so it's cool to go back and check!
I am very much into doing stuff for the love of comedy and not the cash and luckily I make a good living from my writing work and occasional TV and radio appearances, which allows me to spend the majority of time on stuff I do for little or nothing. GFS have just published a collection of my blog entries, which I think is a really ace book, but which proper publishers did not want to touch. We've covered costs. Again this means there is a great element of control over all material and no one fucking it up or telling me I can't say something. GFS is ace
- What other notable examples have you seen of fellow comedians doing
similar online?
I really like Graham Linehan's blog, adam and joe's podcast (though just their radio show essentially), michael legge's blog
http://www.michaelleggesblog.blogspot.com/, stephen fry's podcast and webpages are great too..... there aren't loads of things out there, but like the sketches that are springing up here and there for the internet only. I also enjoy Mustard Magazine, which is more of an old school well produced fanzine/comedy mag, but again gets a life from like-minded people finding out about it on the internet. Another little cottage industry about comedy not money
- Are there any ways in which you think the Internet presents
disadvantages for you (for instance, the fact that video clips and
recordings of your shows may turn up online), or distracts you from
your work?
I am constantly on line procrastinating and I think the internet might have contributed to a general difficulty in productivity, but I just dicked around with video games or whatever before. It's such a useful research tool and that can really help with producing ideas espeically for a themed project. You can also check and see if an idea has been done before quite quickly. But wikipedia and google mean that you have info at your hands that would have taken days of research ten years ago. PLus loads of insane people to inspire ideas.
I slightly worry about people in the audience filming a gig, either to bootleg it or just to put on youtube, which makes me a bit conscious of the fact that a bad gig or an inadvisable bit of adlibbing or something offensive might end up online. Again the freedom and intimacy of a stand up gig means you sometimes say things that taken out of context might look awful - and which might not work. The heckler video is an interesting example, though my permission was sought and granted for putting it up. In the end that has probably helped raise my profile, but another gig I might have lost it more, or done badly and it would be crap if that ended up being seen by 350000 people.
- What kind of plans do you have in store for the future, in terms of
how you'd like to be able to use the Internet for distributing your
work?
Well thinking of doing a sketch show as I say, where I can say what I like and get it online almost immediately and not be censored or have to go through the palaver of getting it commissioned. Would ideally love to do the same with some of my filmed ideas, but at the moment it's too expensive and I don't have the expertise. I imagine I'll just be carrying on with the blog and podcast and gfs stuff mainly. I am hopeful that the internet will usurp TV in the next five years, making room for both mainstream smashes, but also stuff with limited appeal. These are, as we once said taking the piss, exciting times for comedy.
