The Interview : Sue Perkins
Making a spectacle of herself
Sue Perkins is best known for being one half of double act Mel and Sue . In 2008 she won the BBC show Maestro culminating in her conducting at The Last Night of the Proms . She has collaborated with food-critic Giles Coren on the Supersizers series , created the acclaimed travel documentary The Mekong River with Sue Perkins and is a regular contributor to Have I Got News For You , Just a Minute , Qi and The News Quiz . Oh , and apparently she does some cake show on BBC1 . She brings her new stand-up show Spectacles to Reading ’ s Hexagon on Tuesday September 20 .
What prompted you to hit the road with your new tour , “ LIVE ! in Spectacles ”? It ’ s a good time to look back on my life so far . I fully intend to live to the age of 92 , so this is half-time . Essentially this tour is handing out the orange segments . Tell us more . Writing a memoir begins a process that doesn ’ t necessarily end with publication . You begin to think about family life and stories and relationships , and those are ongoing . Once the book was published , I thought , “ There is so much more still to say without necessarily writing another book . Why not animate the book with a live tour ?” It ’ s like a companion volume , I guess . A big , technicolour puke of thoughts . Perhaps I should put that on the poster … You have always relished live performance , haven ’ t you ? Yes , I love live . I really enjoy playing with an audience . At book events , I do Q & As , and it ’ s often then that the madness starts . It often feels like an anarchic version of Question Time . What do you particularly like about interacting with the audience ? It enriches me . Performing live challenges you to be more engaged . And the great thing is , each venue is
24 www . theocelot . co . uk completely different . What I have done lately has been TV-based , so I haven ’ t had the same feedback as I get live , and that ’ s what I love . I adore the raw surprise someone of asking a question you would never have expected . I love the spontaneity of it . I don ’ t encourage hecklers , but sometimes a heckler is the funniest person in the room - why not embrace that ? The audience is a big pool of fun you can swim around in . But remember - no petting . You will be giving each ticket-holder a copy of your book , “ Spectacles ”. What ’ s the thinking behind that ? It gives me the opportunity to meet the whole audience one by one afterwards during the signings . A gig is a two-way street . It ’ s not about me broadcasting . It ’ s not , “ This is what I ’ ve got to say about this .” It ’ s as much about how people respond to the material . My memoir is a story of family and childhood , and everyone has had one of those . Mine is not the definitive version of childhood , but it ’ s a great way to start a conversation . I love it when someone says , “ It ’ s weird . I lived next to an electricity substation for 20 years as well .” Or , “ We had a cat that dragged our turkey across the room at Christmas and we had to eat boiled eggs for our lunch instead .” The book is a recorded history of my life so far ,