TV

Alan Davies admits changes to QI filming due to the pandemic were ‘hard’ and ‘very strange’


The comedian talked to Metro about his memoir, the pandemic and QI (Picture: Getty)

The comedian, 55, on Harry Hill and Barry Manilow on the M6, filming QI in the pandemic, As Yet Untitled and getting a dog during lockdown.

How have the lockdowns been for you?

I was quite preoccupied last year because I wrote a memoir that came out in September. I’d wanted to go to book festivals but interacted with readers online instead.

Quite a lot of the work I was hoping to do got postponed – QI halfway through the series, As Yet Untitled three times.

I got asked to do a show for Comedy Central titled Guessable, which was conceived and made in the pandemic.

How has QI changed due to the pandemic?

We didn’t have an audience, which was very strange. The rhythm of that show is built around a live audience, particularly for Sandi Toksvig.

If she needs to finish a round she can fire off an insulting remark, usually at me, which gets a big laugh and then she’s able to move it on.

Then suddenly no one’s there and that’s hard. The panel really liked it, though.

The lack of live audience in the QI studio made it harder for host Sandi Toksvig to make fun of Alan (Picture: Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Do you have any stories about your comedian friends?

Harry Hill and I were friends in the ’90s and used to gig together.

One night I was driving back from Birmingham and Harry was in the passenger seat with a couple of other comedians in the back.

We were on the M6 and there were two huge limousines in the middle lane of
an empty motorway, nose to tail like a mini convoy.

We got alongside the first one and there was just a chauffeur so we got alongside the second and driving was Barry Manilow! His profile is very recognisable.

Harry used to break into pop songs in his act so he launched into ‘you write songs that make the whole world sing’!

Then we all sang but, of course, all Barry could see was a Vauxhall Cavalier with four men in their 20s pointing and shouting at him. He must have accelerated to 120mph.

Have you found out anything about your mates on As Yet Untitled that you didn’t know before?

I had a nice chat with Richard Ayoade and I was finding out about how his father and mother, who are Nigerian and Norwegian, met.

He’s a person who’s really nice to talk to – he’s always got a quip.

We had Joanne McNally too. She’s a brilliant comedian but she also talks about overcoming anorexia and tries to help young women with eating disorders.

It takes a lot of will and effort to be that person so it’s impressive.

Harry and Alan were comedy pals in the 90s (Picture: Roberto Ricciuti/Getty Images)

In your memoir, Just Ignore Him, you wrote about how you were abused by your dad – that took will and effort.

A surprising amount of people have contacted me and said they have had similar experiences but never told anyone.

And then people contact me who work with victims of abuse or children to say this is essential reading to understand what it’s like.

I feel I’ve done something worthwhile with a really s***ty experience. I hoped I’d help people be able to tell someone if they had some terrible burden of shame and secrecy they were carrying.

You don’t have to carry it, you didn’t do anything wrong, you were a child.

You started your podcast Seven Pillars as well…

I’ve been podcasting quite a lot in the pandemic – like everyone else! It’s been really nice because it’s a little bit like Untitled but it’s one guest.

You get someone who you know is smart, interesting and funny and has a story.

You got a dog during lockdown. You were resisting that for a while…

I was but the dog was a mental health pet. When the schools closed, my middle child was so down and upset.

I just looked at him and thought, ‘This is too miserable.’ So we got a dog and every day without fail when the kids see her in the morning, there’s an explosion of excitement.

There are pros and cons – there’s a lot of poo to pick up and you don’t always want to take her for a walk, and ours is an energetic dog that needs a good amount of exercise.

Has it made you more passionate about doing Dog Rescuers?

I don’t think we’ll be doing any more Dog Rescuers. It was impossible to do during Covid.

The RSPCA and all the animal charities had a terrible hit. You couldn’t go into any of the animal centres or hospitals.

What are you most looking forward to now restrictions are lifted?

I hope the Edinburgh Festival comes back. We’ve taken our kids up there six years in a row and there are certain performers they love to see.

A sell-out run at the Fringe for some of those guys is their bread and butter so it’s been catastrophic.

I look forward to going to anything that involves being in a place with people – the cinema, going to see Arsenal play, going to the Hackney Empire with the kids for the panto.

Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled starts on Dave on Tuesday. Catch up on UKTV Play


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