Unmissable show?
Louie. I think it’s the best thing ever. Observational comedy is a bit of dirty phrase to most comedy fanatics, but I think it depends on what the observations are, and the ones that Louis CK makes in Louie are almost dreamlike. It’s an incredibly naturalistic show but then it’s also the most surreal show on TV.
Earliest TV memory?
I have very distinct memories of me and my sister [comic Natasha Demetriou] watching Sesame Street and finding the exact same things funny then that we do now. Any time we see a puppet’s mouth slightly ajar it’s cause for hilarity. I feel like 90% of the gags in the Muppets are to do with their mouths being not quite closed. Just permanent gormlessness. Also, I remember the obligatory Saturday night watching of Blind Date with a jacket potato, not really understanding what was going on.
Bring back…
I desperately want them to bring the old Pop Idol/Popstars format back. I have Popstars on DVD, and me and my sisters and my friends watch it religiously. The room auditions felt like an observation on British mundanity. All the auditions took place in an old community hall with stacked boxes of Hula Hoops in the background. There’s one shot where they’re telling people their fate outside a toilet. So when they walk away from the table going “thank you very much for this opportunity”, they have to then walk into a toilet. It’s incredible.
Pitch us a TV show…
There is nothing I find funnier in the world than people smelling really badly. So my dream is an hour a week of something about some people who stink and people responding to that really badly. I think it could be a massive hit. The new Gogglebox. It’ll be called Common Scents.
Mastermind specialist subject?
Is “what goes nicely with pesto” a specialist subject? Because I’d be great at that. What goes nicely with pesto? Most stuff, really.
People Time is on BBC iPlayer
