Abigoliah: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to All British Comedy Explained, the podcast where I, Abigoliah – an American – finally learn about all the British comedy I have been missing out on. But before we get into the meat of this episode, I want to say All British Comedy doesn’t just happen on TV. The day this podcast comes out, a great play is coming out. Tom Salinsky, tell me about In the Print.
Tom: In the Print is the story of the Wapping print strike, which I am old enough to remember and many of our listeners may not be. But in 1986, Rupert Murdoch sacked 5,000 print workers. These are the people who are printing The Sun and The Times and The Sunday Times in Fleet Street. And he seamlessly transitioned production to his new computerized print works in Wapping. I think he imagined that if the unions did kick off, then the dispute would be over with in a matter of days or weeks. But in fact one print union in particular – SOGAT – stuck it out for nearly a year. And that union was the only union in the country being run by a woman. Her name is Brenda Dean, and this play is basically the story of Brenda Dean versus Rupert Murdoch. And it’s on at the King’s Head from yesterday until the first weekend of May. And tickets are available now, and I’ll put a link in the show notes.
Abigoliah: Yeah, the King’s Head in Islington specifically.
Tom: That’s the one, yes. There are multiple King’s Heads. And the King’s Head used to be one of London’s very oldest pub theatres, but last year they reopened in a brand new facility just around the corner from the pub. And it’s now a beautiful, purpose-built, 200-seat theatre. It’s absolutely gorgeous and we’re going to have a good time there.
Abigoliah: It’s stunning. I can’t wait to see the play after hearing you talk about it for so long. But yeah, please go check that out. And on the podcast today, we have a very special interview for you all. One of the cast members from Absolutely Fabulous is on the podcast now.
James Lance is a British actor known for a wide-ranging career across television, film, and comedy roles. He was in Teachers and Spooks, and his much-loved turn as Trent Crimm in the global hit Ted Lasso – Trent Crimm, The Independent – I think we all know who we’re talking about. He’s built a reputation for sharp and often understated performances across both comedy and drama, and as part of the Ted Lasso ensemble he shared in the show’s Screen Actors Guild Award wins.
Earlier in his career, one of the first things he ever did, he made a memorable appearance in Absolutely Fabulous, which we will be talking about today. Guys, this was a really, really fun interview to film.
Tom: Yep. Here’s us talking to James Lance.
Abigoliah: There we go.
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Abigoliah: So thank you so much for coming on the podcast, James. This is my official “we’re starting” voice. So – you were in Absolutely Fabulous. Was this one of the first roles that you got cast for television?
James: It was probably the first role that kind of inspired my career, I would say. I was – yeah, I was 18. And it was in the first series. And I think my episode was called “Iso Tank.” And yeah – so yeah, it was – it put me on the comedy radar.
Tom: So were you already at drama school, or is drama school for suckers and losers and you didn’t bother with it?
James: I always really wanted to go to drama school, but because I actually started working, lots of people advised me not to go to drama school because they were like, “You’ve already got an agent, you’re working, just get out there.” But I started acting when I was ten years old. I grew up in Somerset – in the fields of Somerset – and I always knew I wanted to be an actor.
And the BBC was shooting a film in a village nearby, and they were auditioning some local kids for a few roles in it. And after three days of auditions I got the role and stepped on set, and that was it. I just fell completely and utterly in love with filming. And then I met these magical beings called theatre school kids.
Tom: We’re familiar.
James: Yeah.
Abigoliah: I’m one of them.
James: And I was like, “What? I want to be one of these.” And did a little digging around. Flunked out at school. And then my mum finally said, “Okay, look, you can go to theatre school if you get in.” And I auditioned for Sylvia Young, and I got in. And then I moved to London and lived with a family in East London and just started, you know, acting and auditioning and all that kind of stuff from the age of 12 in town. Yeah.
Abigoliah: Whoa.
Tom: So what do you remember about getting that part? Were you already familiar with French and Saunders? Did you know what you were signing up for? Did they send you a script? Tell us what happened.
James: Well, I was very familiar with French and Saunders, big fan. But this was sort of a breakout thing really for Jennifer Saunders, as I remember. They were very much French and Saunders. I think it was the first big thing that I can think of that she did after that.
And it was the first series. I can’t really remember the audition. I just know I really wanted to do it. And then I got the role. I don’t really remember the audition, but I do remember the week of rehearsals. And when I first read the script – you know, black and white on the page – it sort of, they’re calling each other “sweetie” and “darling” and all that kind of thing, and I just assumed, being a naive 18-year-old lad, that they were in a relationship. I had a completely different read of the situation.
And we had a whole week of rehearsals at Wood Lane, BBC rehearsal rooms – which I don’t think exist anymore. I mean, almost rehearsals don’t exist anymore, let alone rehearsal rooms. And there was a whole week of playing around with it. And then I kind of saw what they were doing coming together over the week before we filmed it live on the Friday night. And that was fascinating. It was amazing to see how that all came together.
Abigoliah: In the rehearsals, were you given a lot of direction by Jennifer or the director, or did everyone just kind of let you find your own path with the character?
James: They kind of let us find our own way, from how I remember it. Yeah, they did. He was – yeah, I think it was Bob – was it Bob Spiers who directed that?
Tom: That’s right.
James: It was, yeah. He was, you know, amazing. Comedy director. Yeah, it just all came together. I mean, it was kind of there on the page really. The lines are brilliant. Every single one’s a zinger.
Tom: Other actors have talked about the fact that Jennifer Saunders would often rewrite scripts deep into the rehearsal process. Was that something that was already happening on series one?
James: I think it was, yeah. Yeah. The final script came on the last day, as far as I remember, which was very exciting. I mean, filming a sitcom – situation comedy – in front of a live audience is truly one of the most exciting things I’ve done in my career. I’ve done it a couple of times. Partridge was also in front of an audience, which not everybody is aware of that because of the documentary element to it. But they would bring in a fourth wall for that, and the audience were there, so you could hear the laughter.
James: But, you know, it’s like a mini repertory company kind of thing, though you’re only doing one show. You’re rehearsing all week and then you’re on on the Friday night. My main takeout that I can remember about that – well, there’s a couple actually. One was that I got the most gorgeous card just sort of slid underneath my dressing room door from Jennifer Saunders, which I’ve got somewhere. And she was so lovely in this card. It was really very kind words.
But the big takeaway that I remember is that Joanna Lumley did the warm-up before the show.
Abigoliah: Oh, I would have loved to have seen that.
James: She did the whole warm-up. You know, you have like a warm-up guy doing all the jokes and everything – Joanna Lumley did it.
Tom: Presumably she wasn’t available to come in during recording breaks, so was there another comedian?
James: I think there was someone kind of running it in between, yeah, exactly, as the show was going on. But in the initial sort of warming the crowd up, Joanna Lumley did it. She did this brilliant routine about getting out of a very low car in a mini dress. That’s why I remember. It was excellent.
Abigoliah: That’s amazing. Something that you just touched on – which was a question I had – because you’ve done stuff like Absolutely Fabulous that is filmed in front of a live studio audience, and then you’ve done stuff like Ted Lasso, which is not filmed in front of a live studio audience – both comedies. Is there a preference there, as far as what you like better to do? Because I do a lot of live performing, so for me the audience is what you feed off of, and if that’s taken away, it seems terrifying. But how do you find them, how they’re different?
James: Well, I mean, even if you do it without a live audience, you’ve still got an audience there with the crew, with the director, with your fellow cast members. And you can just feel it when it hits. So you do get that feedback. I would say you just feel it, and it’s just a little more subtle than a huge laugh – or no laugh – and you just do it again.
So the buzz is kind of the same, I think. But hearing a full studio audience roar with laughter – I mean, you can’t really beat that. It’s really good fun. And it affects the timing as well and all that kind of stuff. So I do like that feeling of riding the laugh and all that kind of thing. But equally, just in a straightforward studio without an audience – it’s brilliant. I just love it.
I mean, working with Jason Sudeikis or people like that – they’re such a high calibre. I always say it’s like playing tennis with someone like Federer. You’re just happy to get the ball back over the net, really.
Tom: So as you said, at this stage Jennifer Saunders is basically known as one half of French and Saunders. The sketch show is big, but she hasn’t done anything on her own yet. But when this show hit, it was enormous. So when you’re shooting it, do you have a sense that this might be the next big thing?
James: I had no idea. I mean, it was the next big thing for me because I was an usher at the Palladium at the time. That was how I was making my money. So no, I did not know that it was going to be the phenomenon that it became. I had no idea.
Tom: Did you know you were being directed by the man who directed the second series of Fawlty Towers?
James: Yeah, I did know that Bob did that, right?
Tom: Yes.
James: That’s right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I knew the calibre was high. That was really good. Yeah. I mean, that’s pretty cool, isn’t it?
Tom: Really cool.
James: Yeah.
Abigoliah: Once you got in front of the live studio audience, was there corpsing and stuff on set, or was everyone pretty much nailed down by then?
James: No, there was corpsing, I would say. And it was a riot. It was an absolute riot. It had that energy – it was so anarchic. It had that energy of, you know, like The Young Ones. I’m trying to think of some other comedies before Ab Fab, but it was provocative, I think, and pushed a few buttons. It just had a real riotous party feel that you would get from Patsy and Edina.
In terms of the corpsing – so all week I’ve been rehearsing with Joanna Lumley. In the scene they say, “Oh, this is Danny,” and then she says, “Oh, hello Danny,” and it goes like that all week. And then on the night, in front of the audience, they say, “Oh, this is Danny,” and Joanna just locks on and then does her line – “Hello, Danny.”
And just sort of somehow kind of vaporised me in that moment. And I’m drinking at that point – you see it in the scene – I’m sipping a beer and the beer froths up and I sort of just slightly choke, which was completely what happened to me. James Lance was having Joanna Lumley look at me like that in that moment.
I was not expecting it at all. I thought she was going to do it the same way she’d done all week. She was clearly marking it all week, and then she turned it on for the camera and it took me by surprise.
Tom: I don’t know if this is true or not – and Abigoliah hasn’t seen this episode yet – but it is said that when Rik Mayall made his guest appearance in the second series of Blackadder, he gave them almost nothing for the entire rehearsal week, and then in front of the audience he suddenly exploded and the rest of the cast just had to deal with it.
James: Oh my – god, I love that.
Tom: You can see his moustache is coming off. But evidently they just kept the first take. Because how could you do that again?
James: Oh, that’s so good. I mean – yeah, Flashheart, right?
Tom: Exactly right.
James: Yeah, I mean that’s just – it had, you know, these guys are from that era, so it had that kind of rock and roll comedy energy to it. It was just the best. I love that. One of my favourite characters of all time in comedy – Flashheart, I think has to be. Woof.
Tom: Absolutely amazing. So were you a comedy fan growing up? Had you been watching – were you watching Fawlty Towers? What else was on your radar before you stepped into this world of television comedy?
James: All comedy, to be honest with you. All comedy. I mean, ranging – I mean, I was a bit obsessed – this is going to sound really bizarre – with George Burns.
Tom: Oh really?
Abigoliah: Okay.
James: I love George Burns. I kind of discovered him – he was a double act, wasn’t he?
Tom: Gracie Allen, yeah. I was going to say, is this George Burns as in Oh, God! or George Burns as in George and Gracie?
James: All of it. All of it. Because I came into being attracted to George Burns from something like Oh, God!, and then there’s a sequel to that as well, and I just thought he was great. But I think I saw him on chat shows – probably something like Parkinson or something – and just being hilarious.
And then Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy – you know, all of those earlier black-and-white amazing double acts. I was really into double acts in particular. But all comedy. The Young Ones was the most exciting thing on TV when I was a young boy. And I used to sort of – that and The A-Team. I loved The A-Team. Murdock’s very funny in that. Oh, they’re all very funny actually – they’re great.
But I became totally and utterly enchanted with comedy from a very early age. And I still am, actually – just as much now as I was then.
Abigoliah: Because you mentioned how Ab Fab, being so early on in your career, inspired your career – is there anything you took away from the process of being on that set, in that rehearsal, that you’ve carried on into other aspects of your career? Be it a way of working or approaching a scene or anything like that?
James: That’s a really lovely question. I never thought about it, but what I would probably say is when you’re working with people like that – and certainly from my age, at such a young age – you are invited into a sort of secret world, right? You step into the TV and you get shown around how it all gets put together. Because I was still a young guy at that point, I had no idea really how this was done or what the right attitude would be.
And people like Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders – they are so nice and so relaxed and so playful and seemingly completely at ease, that the idea of being some kind of tortured artist who has to ring yourself through all this sort of rigmarole in order to get a performance was probably just completely wiped out. You just see them gently bubble along in the rehearsal process and see it come together in a very relaxed, playful, really fun, cooperative way.
So I reckon I’ve noticed that those at the top of their game – like those guys – they’re often the nicest. They’re often the most generally cool, interested in everybody around them, treating everybody well, and just having a nice time. Just having a nice time, really.
Abigoliah: Yeah.
Tom: I do think relaxation is key. I remember the great improvisation teacher Keith Johnstone saying that he thought stage fright was something that actors used as a shield to hide behind. He said if you were going up on one of those cherry pickers and having to clean things very, very high up, you’d be pretty nervous on your first day. But if after three months you’re still quaking with fear, people will say, “I think you’re in the wrong job.” But there are some actors who hang on to that anxiety and that neurosis for their whole careers.
James: I guess – I don’t know of any off the top of my head that still do that. They must be around. I have had stage fright, but it was a long, long, long time ago. I don’t have it anymore. I was on set the other day and I was thinking I kind of feel like I ought to be really nervous, but then I check in with it and I go, is it nerves or is it actually just excitement? Am I just really happy to be here? And be brave enough to go, no – I’m just happy. Happy to be here.
Abigoliah: I find that I’ve experienced that shift. When you first start, you’re nervous. But now I still sometimes get butterflies in my stomach before a show, but it’s not because I’m scared – it’s because it’s like, here we go. It’s that excitement.
James: Yeah, I think it would be a bit unnatural not to have a sense of that.
Abigoliah: Yeah. But I will say – I know you can’t think of people off the top of your head – but I know some comedians where it’s like part of their process is just to be Tom: Do you remember it going out?
James: I do, yeah. And I remember it – oh, I just remember – it was probably, what, there were only four channels at that time, possibly five. It was a big hit. It was a big moment. People were loving it. So I do remember it going out, and I remember it being very well received.
Tom: Did you have a party? Did people come round to watch your episode? I think that’s what I would have done.
Abigoliah: Yeah, that’s totally –
Tom: What I would have done.
James: You know, I can’t remember. But TV was different then, because there was no catch-up, no streaming. The whole thing – it was a weekly event. So it still had that excitement about it. I don’t remember who I watched it with – we’re talking a really long time ago. I mean, what am I, 51 now? So what’s that – oh God – was it 33 years ago? Good lord. No, I don’t remember.
Abigoliah: Does anyone ever bring up Absolutely Fabulous to you nowadays? We are a famous podcast for getting in touch with people and being like, “Remember the thing you did when you were 20? We only want to talk about that.” But does anyone else reach out to you or want to talk to you about that time in your life?
James: Very occasionally someone will say to me, “Hello, Danny,” I’ll get that. And I’m just amazed that they can recognise me from that. But yeah, every now and again.
Abigoliah: That’s awesome.
Tom: Now, of course, people are much more likely to recognise you as Trent Crimm.
James: Yeah. Especially Americans in particular – it’s just so big out there.
Tom: Now I’m going to do that awful American chat show thing – “I understand there’s a kind of interesting story about how you got that part…” But how did you get started?
Abigoliah: Trent Crimm – because I don’t know this story. How did you get Trent Crimm?
James: Okay. Well, my manager in America sent me the script and said, “I think there’s a role in here that you might like,” which was the role of Higgins, played eventually by Jeremy Swift. And I read the pilot episode and I was like, I’m just not going to get this role. This is not going to go my way. I could feel it.
And there was this character name – Trent Crimm – he was in one scene, and his first line was “Trent Crimm, The Independent.” And I just laughed, and I could hear his voice. And I got in touch with my manager and said, “I’m not going to get Higgins, but please let them know I’d be really interested in this smaller role.”
He said, “Are you sure?” And I said, “Yeah, yeah – it looks like only a day player, but I’d like to do that.” Didn’t hear anything for about six months. Then they got in touch, I got an audition, I put it down on tape, and I just knew I had to pin it to the wall with the way he delivers this sort of preposterously arrogant tone.
And I was thinking of characters a bit like – well, like characters – real people. A little bit like Hitchens and – oh, who’s that brilliant writer whose name I’ve forgotten? His first name’s Will. English writer, not Shakespeare.
Tom: Oh. Will Self.
James: Will Self, yes. And, you know, just that self-assuredness that only certain Brits can sort of pull off. Real self-assured –
Tom: Well Self-assured
James: Yeah, exactly. Will Self-assured. And I found that tone and just did it. And the casting director just howled with laughter and said, “Can you do that again?” And I did it again, and then I got the role. And that was that.
Abigoliah: I don’t know if we would consider Ted Lasso a British show, but because it’s set here and most of the cast is British, I’m gonna say it is. And because the conceit of this whole podcast is I’ve seen no British comedy – except I have seen Ted Lasso. And I’ve got to say, when you just did the line, I was like – “He did it. He said it.”
James: Yeah. I’ve had a lot of people say it to me back since.
Abigoliah: Whenever they say it to you – like if people come up and are like “Trent Crimm, The Independent” – are you like, “Thank you, but you did it wrong”?
James: No, I give it to them. It’s great. The strangest one is when I’m in – I have a little boy – and I’m in soft play, in the ball pit, and I live near an American air force base. And I’ve been recognised quite a few times in a ball pit by Americans who are like, “I just can’t believe Trent Crimm is in a ball pit in Suffolk.”
Tom: So it’s a very different process. Technically, you’re shooting with high-definition cameras, you’re not in front of an audience, it’s part studio, part location. Any other differences you could pull out – from how you felt or what was actually going on – if you compare 18-year-old James Lance playing Danny in Absolutely Fabulous to 51-year-old James Lance playing Trent Crimm in Ted Lasso?
James: I think the stakes are as high. They’re always as high. You always want to deliver, right? You just want to absolutely hit your marks, get all the lines in the right order, and hopefully land it. For your fellow castmates as well.
So the stakes are the same. Differences – I don’t know, they feel really similar. Back then I was thinking, “God, I’ve got to get this right.” Same thing now.
But maybe the difference is how I approach the work. I think there was a lot more neurosis and anxiety at 18 than there is now. Now I think I trust myself more. I trust everything that’s around me – the work that’s been done – and my instinct.
I actually looked back at the Ab Fab episode the other day and really laughed. I thought it was very funny. There was a line – when they say, “Where do you live?” and he says “Chelsea.” I remember panicking at the time, thinking I wasn’t posh enough or wouldn’t deliver it properly. But I watched it recently and thought, “Oh no, that worked.”
Abigoliah: When you go back and look at it now, are you enjoying it almost like you’re watching a different person?
James: Yeah. I can see that he’s got the whole world ahead of him. I can feel that excitement in him. I like that – that’s a nice feeling.
Abigoliah: And just going back real quick – what’s your process now? Are you someone who keeps the character in you all the time, or are you more relaxed? Do you know every line before you go on? What’s it like?
James: I did a stage play a couple of years ago – Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya.
Tom: And I came to see it.
James: You did, yeah – thanks for that. It was Trevor Nunn directing, which is a pretty big deal. And it was in the round, and it was my first major heavyweight lead role. And I thought, I have no idea how I’m going to do this.
I spoke to an acting coach and said, “I don’t know how I’m going to do this. Can I ask loads of really dumb questions?” And he said yes.
So I said, “How do you think I should learn all these lines?” And he said, “Don’t learn them. Learning lines is a parlour trick. Just keep rereading the script.”
So I did that. I didn’t learn my lines in advance. I just read it and read it and read it. And by the time the curtain went up, it was all there.
It took enormous courage and trust to do that. But the lines went in differently. I wasn’t reaching for them. They became familiar, then innate. And then I just responded.
And now that’s basically my process – I read it and read it and trust it will be there.
Abigoliah: When you say you read it over and over again, do you read it out loud?
James: Yeah, out loud – but not testing yourself. Just reading it again and again.
And another technique – this is very Actor’s Studio – but whisper it. Just whisper it as quietly as you can. Because it connects the meaning differently. You’re not performing it – you’re letting it reveal itself.
Abigoliah: That’s so cool.
Tom: You’re not learning it as performed – you’re internalising the meaning. At the Orange Tree, we feel like we’re kind of in the room with you. And one of the things I noticed – and I think I might have said to you afterwards – is it just felt like eavesdropping on incredibly natural conversations. None of it felt forced or stylised. And I’m a big fan of great big over-the-top performances in the right piece, but this needed to be really, really small, and I thought it was so effective.
James: Oh, I love that. I love that.
Abigoliah: Yeah – sorry, James, I’m just feeling a bit – one, first of all, like, wow. Because the fact that you took this chance on not learning lines in a play where there isn’t a chance to do a reshoot – you trusted that process. But when you say you read it over and over again, did you read it out loud or were you just reading it – reading it over and over again out loud? But not like – then looking away and making sure you had the line, and looking back – you’re just reading the script over and over again?
James: Yeah, just take little sections, or little pieces. Maybe just one page initially, and just sort of – just keep reading it. And then you find it just goes in. And then just sort of building on from there.
I have another – I mean, this is now really an Actor’s Studio for a second –
Abigoliah: This is what I want. I’m like, teach me, James, teach me everything.
James: I can share with you – I wouldn’t teach you, but I can share –
Abigoliah: Everything.
James: I can share this with you, because I was working with someone the other day and she gave me an amazing technique, which I’m now doing. She’d given it to me years ago and I’d sort of forgotten it a little bit.
Which is – when you read the script, whisper it. Just whisper it. Just whisper it as quietly as you possibly can. Because there’s something about doing that that connects the meaning of the words in a completely different way, as opposed to when you’re putting your voice on top of it, because you sort of think you know how you’re going to say it.
Whereas if you just whisper it, somehow it illuminates the line in a way that tells you how to say the line.
Abigoliah: Oh, whoa, that’s so cool.
James: Or offers it up to you in a different way.
Tom: You aren’t learning it as performed in a particular way. You’re just internalising the line – the meaning.
Yeah, I do have a friend of mine who’s an actor – this is years ago now – he was in a soap, so his stock was rising. And he was offered the lead in Macbeth. He was very keen to do it. I think it was a regional production. But he was in such demand for filming he could only join them for the last two weeks of rehearsals.
So they said, okay, we can accommodate this, if when you arrive in the rehearsal room you are completely off book.
James: Wow. No pressure.
Tom: He had to learn the whole of Macbeth in his spare time while filming, in order to – which I believe he did. I didn’t see that production, but I did see some very nice reviews.
James: Wow.
Tom: He’s good casting as Macbeth as well.
James: Whatever gets you through the night, yes.
Tom: All right, so, James – what’s left to do? What are the things that you’re looking forward to in your career that you haven’t tackled yet?
James: Oh wow. You know what – I think I just love playing lots of different characters. I really do. I like not knowing, oddly. I mean, thank goodness I don’t know any other way, because I’ve been doing this all my life – my career, my whole life.
So I like not knowing what I’m going to be doing, and then if I’m lucky, I then like what I’m doing. There’s a million roles I’d love to still play. I feel like I’m only just getting started. I’d love to do some more Chekhov. I’d love to do some more theatre – probably not for a little while, because my little boy is eight and I kind of want to be around.
But yeah, I do love the buzz of theatre. But I like it all. I love screen, I love doing it all.
Tom: Are you still drawn to comedy, or is it variety – comedy and drama both?
James: All of it. I don’t really differentiate between the two. That’s why I enjoyed playing Uncle Vanya. It’s tragic – but the more tragic it is, the funnier it is, and the funnier it is, the more tragic it is.
Even going back to Ab Fab for a second – the way he says “Chelsea” – he’s got no idea how privileged he is.
James: And that’s just – it’s just bloody funny. But it’s tragic. It’s only funny because it’s tragic that he’s that unaware.
Tom: So I regret to inform you, James, we can’t pay you for this appearance. But what we can do is ask – is there a charity that you support that we can encourage our listeners to donate to?
James: Oh – well, the NSPCC is the charity that I love and adore, and I think they’re very important. Anything to go there would be great.
Tom: And then we’re just at the very beginning of our journey – I’m taking Abigoliah through comedy classics. Is there anything else you think we should be watching? Especially anything that doesn’t get the credit it deserves?
James: Oh my goodness. Okay – well, I will mention something that I was in, because for years I used to make my mates laugh about it, because I used to say, “I played twins, I played twins” – you know, like –
Tom: Listen, it worked for Michael B. Jordan.
James: The show I adored that I was in was called The Book Group. It’s now on Channel 4 catch-up. I checked it out the other week – I rarely watch old stuff – but it really stands up. It’s really, really funny.
It’s written and directed by Annie Griffin. It’s about an American who moves to Glasgow and sets up a book group. I just thought it was an inspired, hilarious show.
Tom: That sounds brilliant.
Abigoliah: Yeah, that sounds really great.
James: It’s a little gem.
Abigoliah: I know what I’m doing tonight.
James: My mates are going to laugh if they see this.
Abigoliah: I can’t wait. American transplanted in the UK makes a book group – I love to read – I’m American – I’m going to watch it.
James: You might like it.
Abigoliah: I think I will. Well, thank you so much for taking time to come on the podcast.
James: It’s lovely to be here.
Tom: Thank you so much, James. See you soon, I hope.
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Tom: I’ve known Jimmy, as he’s sometimes called, for a while. He’s a really, really sweet guy. He’s a lovely, lovely actor. He’s got that quality that you never see him sort of pushing. So it was really interesting to hear that story about him putting himself up for the role of Trent Crimm, because that needs a certain zing and zip. Someone who just said the lines and didn’t give it anything wouldn’t have got the part. But equally, someone who said, “This show is all about me, I’m trying to turn Ted Lasso into the Trent Crimm story” – that wouldn’t have worked either. And he just hit a bull’s-eye. He’s such a clever man.
Abigoliah: And just in the very beginning of Ted Lasso, when his character doesn’t play as big of a role – we see more Trent Crimm as the show goes on – but he is very like, “Who is that guy?” And with very few lines, he immediately becomes memorable as a character. And I think – especially in a show where there’s so much zaniness going on, especially if you think about how Jason Sudeikis plays Ted Lasso – just to have the instincts and intelligence to pull it back. Oh God, what a brilliant, brilliant comedic actor.
Tom: I think some actors are really only comfortable playing leading roles. Even if John Cleese is doing a cameo, for the time he’s on screen it’s all about him. And there are other actors who are much more comfortable being in support, who will just turn up, do their bit, shine a light on the lead, and that’s where they’re comfortable. And what’s so remarkable about James Lance is I think he can do both and make them both look incredibly easy. And we know that they aren’t.
Abigoliah: Yeah, so true. Oh, he’s brilliant. I’m so glad we had him on the podcast.
Guys, as always, thank you so much for listening to All British Comedy Explained. If you are enjoying the podcast, please recommend it to a friend. Go into your podcatcher app, give us a five-star review – a little review helps other people find the podcast.
We have a Patreon now, and some people have signed up – if you’ve signed up, thank you so much. If you haven’t, you absolutely can. Do you want to tell them the goodies on Patreon?
Tom: You get ad-free episodes at the lowest tier. If you’re willing to cough up just a tiny bit more, then you also get bonus episodes. So at the end of each of our regular recordings, we have a little extra chat where we raise some question that’s come up during the main conversation and go into that in a bit more depth. And there are a few other little bonuses as well. So when Disney+ put out the new episode of The Muppets, we convened to talk about that, and we’ve just put out an episode where we talk about the history of Saturday Night Live and then review the first episode of the UK version.
Abigoliah: Yeah, and we’ll be talking a little bit more about the UK SNL as it’s airing. We’ll just drop in every once in a while to talk about it. It won’t be weekly, but please do check it out. So £3 – ad-free; £5 – you get extra content. But guys, as always, thank you so much for listening to All British Comedy Explained.
Tom: Cheerio.
Abigoliah: Bye-bye.