Chris Addison talks to London Student

I first saw Chris Addison as a bewildered fresher, live at ‘Live at the Apollo’ in November 2009, and I have fondly remembered his energetic, if not artful performance. That it was his first appearance on the BBC’s flagship stand-up show should not beguile you into thinking that Addison was new on the comedy scene. Indeed, Addison has been treading the boards of stand-up for almost twenty years, but has arguably only come of age in the last few years. So what has been the effect of his rise in fame and fortune? “I talk about this in my new show, how in the last few years, it’s been more and more of; ‘it’s you!’ in the street. I think I’ve found my way of living – though life now has a level of recognition – but it’s definitely a nice time being a comic, it pays the bills.”

Chris’s current show; The Time is Now, Again, apparently doesn’t have a theme, though this may be something of a creative break. “I used to do shows based on big themes, but increasingly, during the last five years or so, I’ve been finding that I just don’t have the time. I wanted to just write something straight, that I could just get up and do.” The title of Addison’s current show may be a pointed way of stating where he sees himself in terms of his career, with his stock continuing to rise. “Also, I’ve had to re-think how I write and perform my shows, as with all the increased television exposure, I’m having to re-introduce myself to people who’d just seen or come across me for the first time.”

Addison has recently become a regular team member on Mock the Week, finding himself, however dauntingly, in Frankie Boyle’s former chair, though the looming legacy of the divisive scot doesn’t faze him. “It was indeed Frankie’s chair! But really, becoming a regular has been tremendous. It’s strange, as for years I’d avoided doing panel shows – including Mock the Week – mostly out of fear. I eventually got over myself, mostly so I could sell more tickets… but seriously, it’s been great! I’d already been on the show eleven times before becoming a regular, including a few appearances on Frankie’s team, so there was no issue really, no pressure.”

The recent Direct Line commercials have seen Chris pop up on our boxes at prime-time, though if you glimpsed you might have missed him. The straight man routine that Addison plays with Alexander Armstrong’s funny man makes for hilarious viewing, but how much input does Addison have? “Oh, Alex and I do have input, of course, but they are put together by a very funny team in the first place.” Indeed, the level of backroom talent involved in these ads is surprising. “Graham Linehan (Father Ted and The I.T Crowd) did the first set of ads, and this current series is written by Victoria Pile (Green Wing and Campus), who have both done brilliant jobs, as it’s not easy to be funny and memorable in such short snippets. These ads are for a designed purpose though, and though I do say it myself, I think they work! When I was a kid, there’d be John Cleese, Fry & Laurie doing these ads, and whilst I thought these brilliant, I never knew what they were advertising , but now when I think about it, I do. That’s the whole point of the thing.”

Though it might not come immediately to mind, one of Chris’s best known roles is as special adviser Ollie Reeder in the hit sitcom The Thick of It. He’s also had acting roles in In the Loop and Skins, and so is no stranger to acting, but what’s its cross-over with stand-up? “The whole process of stand-up, once you take away the comedy, is performing, pure and simple. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s all there is to it – some stand-ups are great at acting, and some are crap!” Addison readily admits that his stints in acting have undoubtedly changed his stand-up style, in more ways than one, and this helps to explain his furtive, and yet energetic, stage persona. “I’d never acted before The Thick of It – I’d had no formal training, but when I went back to stand-up, my persona on stage had changed, I was doing more voices, doing more characters, there was more emphasis on performance than talking. If you look at Tim Vine, he’s a completely different person on stage. Al Murray is playing a part. Milton Jones is playing a part, and so you can see just how important it is to master the art of performance in stand-up, and I think my acting roles have massively helped with that.”

So where does Addison’s inspiration lie? “I’ve always looked up in awe at Billy Connolly, he remains my favourite, and in my view, he’s the greatest stand-up we’ve ever had. He seems to consistently do something new, which is unbelievable when you consider how long he’s been around for.” It’s fair to say that Addison is nearer the ‘elder-statesmen’ than rookie stage of his career, so who then, does he like the look of in the up-and-coming crop of funny-men? “I think there’s a really good bunch of people who are on the up. I’m a huge fan of Joe Wilkinson and Roisin Conaty. Wilkinson is great, really special, and Roisin is a proper ‘funny bones’ kind of person.”

Though Chris went to university, stand-up was not something he fully engaged in until a few years after graduation, though his advice to budding student comics is both wise and pertinent. “Write five minutes of stuff, take it to an open-mic night, and look your audience in the eye. Confidence is just as important as material, so you’ve got to have a thick skin. How you come across is just as important as what you say.”

So, with a wide-range of engagements, what does the future hold for Chris? “The plan is to start rehearsing for the new series of The Thick of It in about two months’ time, which will then allow us to revise and iron out any issues with the scripts, which I’m sure there won’t be, as Armando (Iannucci) is finalising them as we speak! I also might have a think about doing a show at Edinburgh in August, as I’ve only done the one show there in the last seven years”. Though an infrequent visitor to Edinburgh should be considered sacrilege in the world of comedy, Addison is so engaged, he is unlikely to fret not one bit. In terms of Addison being at the peak of his powers, it would seem that the time is now, again.

Chris Addison is currently on national tour with The Time is Now, Again. He plays the Hammersmith Apollo on February 29.