David Mitchell

David Mitchell in two separate images, both with his knuckle in his mouth trying not to laugh.

Robert Wilson / Radio Times

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You’re not a stand-up, so was it hard facing off with comedians on this series?

I suppose in a way it might have made it easier for me, because I’ve done more comedy in situations where no one laughs. You know, a show like Peep Show – no one’s laughing. And that’s no reflection on the script.

Did you have any tactics?

I did consider trying to contract diarrhoea, because I thought desperately trying not to s**t yourself is quite a good way of not being amused by anything.

Who are your comedy heroes?

I was obsessed with Monty Python. I loved Blackadder. I used to have tapes of The Goon Show. I loved Peter Cook. I also did love Reeves and Mortimer, so it’s amazing to have worked with Bob so much, when I watched him as a teenager growing up. That’s not to make him feel old – he beat me in an arm wrestle yesterday. And I’ve got to have a think about that.

Is there anything you just don’t find funny?

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I’m very ignorant of pop music and music in general. Quite often there are bits on Would I Lie to You? when Rob [Brydon] and Lee [Mack] start doing, in some circumstances, an apposite lyric. And I never quite know when it’s over, because they might say an apparently quite normal phrase, and then the audience will inexplicably laugh, and I go, “That’s another f***ing lyric.”

Authors

Radio Times commissioning editor Huw Fullerton. He sits in front of a shelving unit, looking at the camera and smiling. He wears glasses and has a moustache

Huw FullertonCommissioning editor

Huw Fullerton is a commissioning editor for Radio Times magazine handling comedy, entertainment and specialist drama. In a previous regeneration, he covered all things sci-fi and fantasy for RadioTimes.com.

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