Wolverhampton Literature Festival: Conversation brings forwards ideas of comedy and self-worth
A chat about comedy, near death experiences and how memories come back helped to bring Wolverhampton Literature Festival to an end.
The award-winning comedian and science presenter Robin Ince took to the virtual stage to talk about his life and his latest book 'I'm A Joke And So Are You' in front of a sold out audience.
He joined Willenhall-born comedian Susan Murray for a talk about the book, which he said he had written during a hiatus from doing stand-up comedy.
He said he had been thinking of doing a science book called 'The Shabby Curist' after a quote by WH Arden, but found it wouldn't have worked as it didn't have an algorithm title.
He said: "When it came to naming this book, it was a bit like the Infinite Monkey Cage, where when it came to me, I just thought it was the right name that fits in with what this book is about.
"I'm pleased to say that it's also very popular with seven-year-olds because a few people have interviewed me and said their kids have read it and found it funny."
The interview between the two gave the appearance more of a chat between friends in a cafe than an interview, with both trading jokes and talking about their comedy and their influences.
Mr Ince spoke about what began the writing of the book, with one instance being an episode of Inside Number Nine where someone felt something was going wrong with their life, when they were actually dying in a car crash.
Worries
It had brought back memories, he said, of a car crash he was involved in when he was two, which saw his mother hospitalised for months in a coma, and the memories it continued to bring up at the age of 51.
He said he found himself worrying about whether people are happy and if he had done something wrong, and how you can sometimes see the divide between a personality on stage and the person off it in private.
The conversation flowed between the two, with a joint love of Rik Mayall and his work over the years coming to the forefront and how both had paid their own tributes following his death.
After speaking about his conversations with therapists during the making of the book and his own subsequent visits to see one, Mr Ince answered questions regarding offensive comedy, story-telling, being yourself and the ideas of impostor syndrome.
The event ended with him saying if he was god, everyone would have a tail – and how he would like to see Michael McIntyre, Tom Allen and Adrian Chiles doing the 'balloon dance'.
Funny, irreverent and charming, Robin Ince is a man who loves to make people laugh and who enjoys being in a room where everyone is happy.
