#improv magic

And then there is a pretty abrupt cut to this super close-up of Hugh

and it turns out there is a reason for that...

From Armando Iannucci’s interview with James O’Brien in October 2017:

Jim: You love talent. Armando: I love finding the right thing for them, do you know what I mean? And then I love being surprised. Because if you've found the right thing for them then they feel confident about filling that space and trying out some stuff themselves. And if they're confident, then some really good stuff comes out and good stuff comes out that you haven't expected.

There's a moment in the first episode of The Thick of It where Malcolm says to Hugh Abbott -- the minister -- something like that thing that you announced earlier today you DIDN’T announce and he says, Well, Malcolm, I DID and there were people watching me doing it and after several takes I said, Oh, just free it up and Peter launched into this, he says:

You *didn't* do it. You DID do it, they KNOW you did it, but they also know you *didn't* do it when I tell them that you didn't do it. Because if they DO say that you did it when I tell them you didn't do it, then they won't know what it is you do tomorrow or the next day when I tell them what it is you're going to do tomorrow or the next day.

And it was just this whole magnificent summation of the complete absurdity of the situation that just spilled out of Peter and as soon as he finished saying it, he burst out laughing because he just thought it was just so absurd. We managed to, you know, in the programme, get the cut just before he burst out laughing. Because he had NO idea where this was coming from--

Jim: It was just completely natural. Armando: And it was this immersion in the character.

So, there you have it. Peter has always downplayed his improv abilities as Malcolm, but here is proper Word of God proof about how good he really was at it. Not that it’s a huge shock -- I mean, Peter essentially channeling Malcolm in thought, word, and deed was absolutely a thing from the moment he auditioned -- but it’s still awesome to see it confirmed in aired scene that made so much of an impression on Armando that he could still more or less recite Malcolm’s lines off the top of his head TWELVE PLUS YEARS LATER!

And (of course), speaking of years...

Today in PCAP history:

Happy birthday Peter! It’s a big one too,so extra c*nt cake for everyone!

Also, here’s a bonus extra highly relevant Peter quote from an interview he did with The Glasgow Herald (as was) back in the long ago year of 1990 (the year of Chain and Zeno!) when he was just 32:

I have now reached the age when it is time to make a move. I don't want to find myself at the age of 60 waiting by the telephone for someone else to decide if I am capable of being in what might be a crummy TV production.