Gyles Brandreth, Scrabble expert, murder mystery writer and ex MP, best known for his radio and tv appearances on programmes like Just a Minute and Countdown tells Brian Butler about acting lessons from Sir Roger Moore, and the vital importance of words.
GYLES Brandreth’s current one-man show, due in Brighton later in April, had its very beginnings at school. He went to a preparatory school in Kent and his maths master was an ex-military man of discipline one Major Douch.
Now it turned out that Major Douch had trained a military recruit who turned out to be a big star of television called Roger Moore.
So it was that the 10-year-old Gyles first met the star of The Saint, who later became one of the most popular James Bonds on the big screen.
“Roger gave me a masterclass in acting with his eyebrows – for which he was famous. He could raise both independently. I could only manage the left one. His answer to me was simple – that I was only half the actor he was !” says Gyles.
And that anecdote along with many others know features in his theatre-story show Break a Leg.
“I have met so many delightful people in show business and been influenced by them and others – Donald Sinden, Kenneth Williams, Frankie Howerd and June Whitfield to name only a few.”
Indeed June best remembered for Ab Fab, recorded a song with Gyles just before her death last year. “She features in my show – we hear her recording and I sing along live,” he said.
I put it to the comic performer and writer that words were everything. “Yes, they are. They are my obsession. My latest book Have you eaten Grandma ? deals with that.”
“I am a bit of a word nerd – and did you know that word was conjured by Dr Seuss in 1953, he invented a character called Nerd.”
‘Words are fundamental.You can do a lot with an emoji but language is everything.’
I asked him if he prepared for appearances on Radio 4’s long-running Just a Minute where the celebrities have to talk for 60 seconds without hesitation, repetition or deviation: “You can’t prepare. It’s recorded in real-time and the audience can see the clock ticking down. It’s a great adrenaline rush. That’s why I love live TV.”
And it’s why he loves doing live stage shows. “People are coughing, fainting, walking out. I tell the audience to leave their mobiles on. Any interruption I get might be the best bit of the show.”
He has done so many different things in his life from writing murder mystery novels to his love of Scrabble and Monopoly, teddy bears and the works of Oscar Wilde. “But my career was not planned. I’m still trying to work out what I should be doing with my life. Really I have not yet left school. I’m doing exactly what I did there 60 years ago.”
Asked what advice he would give to the young Gyles he says; “Find a life plan and change your name – no-one can ever spell it. The three most valuable words are – don’t dabble; focus . I don’t regret dabbling but a focus might have helped.”
Break a Leg has some improvised elements – including some audience participation. And he readily admits that’s the fun – especially when it goes wrong.
In one performance a heckler shouted out “What about the fish? Where’s the fish?” It turned out that the man had misread the ticket website and thought he’d come to see a de-boning demonstration by celebrity chef Rick Stein.
He’s even had the unfortunate experience of an audience member collapsing, being carried out and unsuccessfully given the kiss of life.
His love of Oscar Wilde has led him to write seven murder mysteries with Oscar and his friend Arthur Conan Doyle as the detectives. The latest one features the Jack the Ripper case. “Oscar lived in the same street as the Ripper case detective.” adds Gyles who hopes the books will be taken up for TV or films.
His life-long ambition to go into politics was achieved in 1992 when he was elected MP for Chester and eventually became a Government Whip – a period he describes in his book Breaking the Code. But the Blair landslide of ‘97 saw him lose his seat, his political career came to an end and he decided the Tories would be out of office for so long he had better get on doing something else.
Asked about current politics he is enigmatic but on one thing adamant “I give my audience a guarantee that the show is a Brexit-free zone. It isn’ t funny any longer, we’ve had enough of it. Even President Trump is ceasing to be amusing.
“When you’re out of politics as I am, you are out. I’m rising above it. I don’t read the newspapers or watch the news, because life goes on. It’s like in the Second World War – shows went on; people did panto with the bombs dropping around them. It’s the same with Brexit. We will survive it. I’m looking at the sunny uplands.”
Break a Leg is at the Komedia in Brighton on Monday, April 15.
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