#mark phoenix

This is better than what I originally planned to draw

We caught up with actor and improv comedy teacher Mark Phoenix

What is the last thing that made you laugh out loud?

Children being brought up on stage for a pantomime.

What is your own favourite joke?

Duck goes into a chemist and asks for grapes. The chemist says this is not a greengrocers, you need to go down the road, turn left and you will see it. Next day same thing.  ... Repeated ad nauseum until the chemist says ' if you ask for grapes once more, I'm going to nail your little webbed feet to the floor'. Next day the duck comes in to the chemist and says 'have you got any nails?' 'No.' have you got any grapes!

What book changed your life?

No one book has had a massive impact, but the reading of many books accumulates small impacts.

What books are currently on your bedside table?

'Hallucinations' by Oliver Sachs. '3rd QI Book of General Ignorance' and 'Einstein's Riddle' by Jeremy Stangroom.

What is your favourite one-liner?

My own line- actors are society's emotional front-line troops. Not funny but its one line

Do you have a comedy writing routine?

I don't write comedy per se.

What keeps you awake during the night?

Mind-worms

When did you know you were going to be comedian?

1987 but I still am not one

Who is your comedy inspiration?

Spike, Python or Tim Minchin

What is your most memorable heckle experience?

I once heckled Alexi Sayle and Keith Allen. I was invited on stage by them told them i had often felt one in the dark but not actually seen one before, i.e. calling them a c***.

What is the best and worst thing of being a comedian?

The worst thing about not being a comedian, is the lack of forum for making a point. The best thing about not being a comedian is not having to hang around self-obsessed loners..

What is your take on life and death?

Music is the interruption of silence, dance is the interruption of stillness, so life is the interruption of nothingness.

Famous last words?

No more mr nice guy.

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