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Damn its hot in the UK at the moment, I've got a sweat on and all I'm wearing is a thong and my watch still, it means lots of swimming and tennis and all that good stuff. I've got to get in shape, because Aus and NZ were all about touring and getting up at stupid hours of the day to do interviews with incredibly awake morning jocks Hey its 5 30 on Zap fm we're broadcasting from our front door all the way to the KF C near the highway..and then it gets kinda fuzzy, but anyway, we're coming to you live except for the records, because obviously, the bands make them in a studio, put them on, like a disc and then the record company sends that to us, which means we can play it but hey, enougha my yakkin here's Celine Dion' Aggggh! Its 5.30, how come you're so awake ? I think early morning DJ's sleep in the studio, they're on an intravenous drip of neat caffeine for an hour before they begin and then just before they go on air the producer hits them in the face with a piece of two by four BAM ! Wake up fool you're on in two minutes!'..I'm probably being a bit unkind here I was immensely well supported throughout the tour by all the DJ's and MC's out there, some of em very good there's a lot of comedian's on the radio in Australia and NZ, I think its something that's happening more and more now. You can imagine the board meetings we need someone who's desperate to be loved, has a compulsive need to be funny all day, who we can pay with beer and sandwiches'. My only worry about comedic interviewers is that when they interview comics it feels like you're in a war. Very frustrating you just want to PLUG THE SHOW you don't want to do Improv death match.
I was glad we had the web site up and running, I was putting things onto the blog one day and the next day someone would ask me about an event that had only happened the day before. I was like Are you clairvoyant ? Have you been listening to my dreams?' Then I realised Ah-you have a website, you're writing down all your personal thoughts they've got you tagged big boy.' For research purposes I would definitely recommend this website much better than doing all that cut and paste stuff with the clippings, its also much better than doing those interviews when they go OK, so lets go back to the very beginning ' I'm sitting there going No, I've been there I don't want to go back I'm happy with now, thanks..'
Questions that were most often asked :
At number ten So, you were one of three black kids at your primary school what was that like? ( I don't know, they didn't tell us we were black until we were 9)
At number 9 Is it true you began as an impressionist ?Go ondo Frank Spencer ( I don't do impressions any more, and If was going to, I wouldn't choose a thirty year old reference- I tend to do more made up characters and stand up)
At number 8 : When's Chef coming back ? ( I don't think it is, although we were thinking maybe we should do a movie I'd love to work with Peter Tilbury again)
At number 7 You went to Hollywood and it didn't work out what did that feel like ? ( uh shit-move on.)
At number 6 Do you ever bounce ideas off your wife ? ( Sometimes they just say, do you ever bounce off your wife, which is unfortunate to say the least---the answer's Yes sometimes, but not always, she's got enough to be getting on with thanks very much')
At number 5 Do you ever feel that people will get tired of giving money to Comic Relief (the answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT ! The British Public are brilliant they have an infinite generosity which never ceases to amaze me. We've raised over 3oo million since 1985 and the next Red Nose day's going to be bigger and even better than the last! )At number four : Why don't you sing more/make a record ? (because I'm not a singer my hat goes off to anyone who sings live for a living that's a tough job. Big respect I like singing, but its not my job)
At number 3 Are you gonna do any more straight acting ?( no I insist on doing only bendy acting from now on.)
At number 2 What does your daughter think of having comedians for parents ? ( there was a point in her life when she thought that her mom was a vicar and her dad was a chef. .and it suited her fine.
And at number one in the top ten questions that Len got a bit cheesed off with during his last round of press for So Much Things To Say' is
So you live with Dawn French ?(always tempted to say Do I? Oh MY God!) I bet it's hilarious in your house? ..( The answer to this is a bit dull, I'm afraid. We try to leave work
at the front door when we go home otherwise it'd be a pain in the bum for everyone around us if we were just trying to raise a laugh all the time. Of course when something funny presents itself there is a bit of a race to see who can come up with the funny line .Dawnfrenchoffthetelly usually wins because she's a comic Genius I'm just a squirrel tryin' to git a nut.)
So the mix tape of the tour was weird :
Digable planets first album up to return of the slick
Then '20 minutes of voice exercises'
Then Kate Bush :Hounds of love from track 4 and then through to all the weird stuff I dream of Sheep and all that
Then Musicology' Prince
Boogie 2nite :Tweet
Sometimes I'd throw Led zeppelin Rock and Roll into the mix
Then a bit of Parliament/Funkadelic live usually the Say something nasty' track
Just before I went on Prince from the Rainbow Children Willing to do the work'
And then it was time to go on.
In the interval : Brian Eno : Discreet Music track one
And then after the show : something calm down-y like Caetano Veloso's Fina Estampa' CD now, if you've never heard of this guy, go out and get some stuff as soon as possible. He's the bloke who sings in the backyard in the middle of Pedro Almodovar's Talk to Her. .a great movie and a wonderful singer-Check him out.
The great thing about coming home is all the mail ! There's tons of it it was my birthday on the 29 th of August (thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone btw..) and so there were all the cards to open but best of all a massive package from Nostalgia and comics in Birmingham. All the comics I'd missed out on while I'd been away and there's some fantastic stuff in there I'm liking Wildstorm's Ex Machina, an extraordinary comic about a guy called Mitchell Hundred who possesses the power to communicate with machines. He decides to become a superhero of course, but then after a while gives that up and decides to run for mayor of New Yorkas an independent. .its all very Post 9/11, adult themes abound, excellent art work, prodigous swearing and controversy up the wazoo in this reality Hundred was able to stop the second plane flying into the twin towersworth checking out, I think.
I'm also loving Morrison and Quitely's We3. This is about Animal Experiments gone mad the military have been working on a special project : Cybernetically enhanced animals, trained to kill for their country. The story begins as the project is decommissioned, and the three star performers, a Dog, a Cat and a Rabbit wearing lethal robotic suits, escape and make their way home' A hip swipe at those cutesy Disney movies where the Dogs and the cat find their way home when the family move house. .only these pets are packin' baby watch out! Can't wait for the next one. Astro City remains interesting wonderful covers and genuinely interesting stories. Brian Micheal Bendis continues to amaze with Powers, with the whole Retro Girl thing starting all over again, Daredevil is still great will he shack up with the Black Widow (Rowr) or will he pursue Milla, his now, ex wife, I'm enjoying The Pulse-but you know what ? Its nowhere near as good as Alias Jessica just seems weaker in this storyline. Where's the swearing? The insecurity ? Ok so she's got a guy now, she's having a baby but, what? She can't punch Mofo out once in a while? Damn. Alan Moore's run on Promethea is coming to an end, if you haven't been checking it out, please get the trade paperbacks and treat yourself. .its hard to explain, but she's basically a Goddess, summoned by the creativity of various writers throughout recent history. It's all about the future baby loads of good jokes at the expense of Marvel /DC superheroes and villains and she's pretty hot looking too, which doesn't hoit.
Some good news for the die hard fans : Coast to Coast may get a screening in London this month. .I don't know why, but Sandy Johnson the director called me and said he's trying to hook it up keep a look out and I'll let you know when its happening.
I've got to do a Comedy Heroes', this is a programme where various people in the business choose video clips and talk about why they like certain funny people.
Guess who's gonna be in mine? Go on
I'll print a sneak list as soon as I've done the show
The UK tour of So much things to Say' begins soon, in Dublin and then rolls on until early December, (Check the where's Len page for booking details) and while I'm doing that, I'll be working on the new series of the Lenny Henry show- for BBC. we got loads of ideas for new stuff, new musical parodies, new characters and more stand up for yo' ass, so hang in there
I think I'm going to be on the radio- there's a very nice man from Radio 2 who keeps asking me to do a show for them. So maybe I will. What do you think?
I've got some scripts to read a drama series for the BBC is being considered, plus a one off film, also a sit com. So things are looking good.
Thanks for being so responsive to the website, I really appreciate your comments about the shows and alla that, so keep writing in.
Anyway, I've got to go now I've got to write 2000 words about two sonnets, Gentlemen start your engines!
Peace
Lenny Henry