Around Ealing Spring 2014 | Page 26

Ealing Summer Festivals Fame: It’s weird Five nights of stand-up comedy will be making audiences laugh, snigger and chuckle in Walpole Park for this year’s Ealing Comedy Festival – including David Baddiel. T he festival sees the return of some Ealing Summer favourites in the shape of Milton Jones and Stephen K Amos. As well as these familiar faces, audiences attending the opening gala night on Friday, 11 July will get to see a snippet from David Baddiel’s brand new stand-up tour titled Fame: Not The Musical. 26 around ealing Summer 2014 David Baddiel took time out of his busy schedule to talk to us about his part-stand-up, part-autobiographicalmonologue which outlines his daily experiences of living with fame. When he takes to the Ealing Comedy stage, David will be telling tales of trolls and groupies and how being recognised can be both a pleasure and a pain. to comedy. Im really happy to be back touring with Fame: Not The Musical and am looking forward to performing at the Ealing Comedy Festival’s opening gala.” David will be followed on the stage this year by performances from other well-known comedians, including Boy With Tape On His Face, Paul Chaudhry, Shappi Khorsandi and Kerry Godliman. WHAT THE WEIRDNESS DOES “I wanted to do a comic narrative about fame and the weirdness of it and what it does to a person,” he said. “I was actually surprised by how many laughs it got. The funniest thing is, I might start believing I am ‘famous’ and then someone will mistake me for Alan Yentob or Ben Elton – brings you back to Earth pretty fast. I am coming back to stand-up comedy after a long time away and it’s interesting how funny people are finding all the weirdness that goes with being famous and what it does to a person. “I don’t look anything like the young, over-styled hair, skinny-jean-wearing male comics out there at the moment. None of that was necessary when I started performing in the 90s – programmes like The Mary Whitehouse Experience with Rob Newman, and Fantasy Football with Frank Skinner, were just us being us. “It’s always fun to come and perform in a town known for its comedy heritage and being at a festival which has been around more than 20 years is an honour. I hope the Ealing audiences are ready for a new me – with a new approach WHERE – AND HOW The comedy takes