Memory Lane with Kerry Godliman and Jen Brister - S03 E33: Kate Robbins

Episode Date: October 9, 2024

"Paul McCartney took that picture and he sent it to me... Emily does faces like that too..." This week we have the uber talented comedian / singer / writer / actor... (she's done it all) Kate Robbins on the show. What an absolute blast chatting about her unbelievable life from writing songs for Cilla Black to voicing the clips on Eurotrash, I'm not sure there's anything Kate hasn't done. AMAZING! Joe's podcast Things People Do is brilliant and well worth a listen and subscribe! We also have Kerry and Jen talking about being wound up by their children (and also how they mocked their mothers)... What goes around comes around.'. PHOTO 1: Cross eyed PHOTO 2: Dad doing his show at Butlins PHOTO 3: Mum PHOTO 4: Eurovision entry (came 3rd) PHOTO 5: The kids! PICS & MORE - https://www.instagram.com/memory_lane_podcast/ A Dot Dot Dot Production produced by Joel Porter Hosted by Jen Brister & Kerry Godliman Distributed by Keep It Light Media Sales and advertising enquiries: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Is it the macha or am I this energized from scoring three Sephora holiday gift sets? Definitely the sets. Full size and minis bundled together? What a steal. And that packaging? So cute. It practically wraps itself. And I know I should be giving them away, but I'm keeping the summer Fridays and rare beauty by Selena Gomez. I don't blame you. The best holiday beauty are only at Sephora. Gift sets from summer Fridays, rare beauty, way and more are going fast.

Get full-size favorites and must-have minis bundled for more value. Shop before they're gone. In-store online at Sephora.com. Hello and welcome to Memory Lane. I'm Jen Brister and I'm Kerry Godleman. Each week we'll be taking a trip down Memory Lane with our very special guest as they bring in four photos from their lives to talk about. To check out the photos we'd be having a natter with them about, they're on the episode image and you can also see them a little bit more clearly on our Instagram page. So have a little look at Memory Lane podcast. Come on, we can all be nosy together. Me and Elsie watched Kees the other day. We've watched two Ken Loach films in two, days. Fucking hell.

I feel like... Why did you watch that? Because she's studying social realism in film. So I said, let's watch I, Daniel Blake, because I'd never seen it. I, Daniel Blake, Kees, a taste of honey. I know.

Well, it's all available, isn't it? Yeah, get involved. These are all the kind of movies that... But I tell you what, you watch those films, especially Kears, and you think, well, at least you don't have that life, mate. Yeah. At least you don't have that.

to look forward to working in a pit and have a dead bird as a mate. Did you not make you watch it at school? I think I watched it at school. And I just remember, like, all of us were like, people were crying, kids were crying. Everyone was like, like the scream face. Oh, man, the things they made us watch at school. I had a teacher who made us watch threads. That is a totally not okay to show kids that film.

When I think that, I can't believe this teacher. disturbing. In fact, even now, I think that would be as an adult. Deeply traumatising. I would find that deeply traumatising. Deeply traumatising. We were about 14, 13, 14. And he was like, right, we're going to watch a really interesting, challenging film today. Threads. I mean, it is challenging. Yeah. It's traumatizing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I actually remember watching as a child, Bambi. Oh, yeah, that's got a love up. I didn't get past the first.

You didn't even get to the mum dying? No, I didn't get past the mum dying. I think I was absolutely, as a child, completely inconsolable. I had to be dragged out. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, those moments, one of the first films I saw at the pictures as a kid was apparently 101 Dalmatians. And I went apoplectic with upset about Corella DeVille.

I just couldn't deal with her. All of those evil witches or evil kind of... Women. Women. Queens. Well, all women, of course. All of them. So you're either, obviously in Disney, a beautiful princess, you're innocent, you're naive, probably not that bright.

Or you're a Machiavellian, fairy. Oh, like, yes, I thought it all out. I'm incredibly clever, but look how evil I am. And here's my face to demonstrate how evil. Representation of women in film, disgust. Off you go, mate. Well, we were talking about that yesterday, weren't we? Oh, how old are you?

I'm 49. I've got a great role for you. It's a 78-year-old grandmother. She's got six grandkids. Here's your shawl. Get into character. Here's your husband. Is your husband.

He's Sean Connery. Yeah. He died three. He's been dead a while, but he's your husband. Ryan Gosling. He's playing. He's playing. He's playing.

He's a age. He's allowed. He's a natural. Yeah. It's very, very, um, it's very emotional. It is emotional. But very tinctured. Yeah.

It's like a kind of homeopathy. Put it underneath the tongue. Yeah. It's a homeopathy tincture of what it is to be a human in extreme form. It sort of really hits the back of your throat that tincture. Like rescue remedy. It doesn't do anything. Yeah.

It doesn't do anything. You're like, I'm having a panic attack. Here, have a tincture of. something would you like to sniff some lemon balm I think I might be having a stroke this will really help would you like some lavender for your wrist

I've just created a little petulia for you do you know what I think I might go to the I might go to A&E well anyway I hope Elsie's all She was all right. She was all right. Just so far yesterday.

She took all these really cruel pictures of them. That's the new thing now. Her and her mates take pictures of their mum's sort of looking like shit and share them. Oh my God. Oh my God. Gabriel does that. He's constantly taking pictures of me. And then he'll go, Mom, I've got a great face with you.

And then it'll be me with six chins. And they're all taken because obviously he doesn't have a phone. So they're all on my phone. Oh, wow. And then Mike. camera would like to go, ugh, six months ago.

Oh, they come up in a montage. Yeah, here's a montage of you looking like a heifer. You're like, why do I need to be reminded of that?

What I have to remind myself is to delete the bloody things as soon as he takes them. But sometimes I see him with my phone and I can tell he's taking photo off of me because he can't stop laughing. He's laughing.

He's laughing. I said, why don't you do this to mommy? He said, oh, it's better with you. Yeah, I can see that. I can see that. If I was him,

I would do it with you. I actually might send you a montage of the pictures that you took of me. Maybe you could send me a montage. I'll send you the Tony Hart Gallery of horror. Like me, just, you know, just a camel toe, a few camel toe shots. Elsie loves it.

It's her favourite thing. And then her and I make to, and then I see ones of her friends' moms. I'm like, why have you done that to Joanna? Why have you done that to Gratia? Why have you done that? So now I have seen the other mums. She's like, look at this one.

It's just really cool. It is really cool. It's funny, isn't it? Because we are obviously amused. I could totally see how funny that is. But when you're the brunt of the joke, it is a bit much. It's a bit much. It's one of the billion downfalls of the development of smartphone.

I thought you could say one of the billion downfalls of being a parent. Well, yeah, there's that as well. But it's a problem that literally did that. exist over 20 years ago and now it very much exists. But had it existed, know that I would have done it to my mum. Oh, 100% would have done it to my mum. And she'd have absolutely killed me for it. Oh yeah. Oh, God, yeah.

If this comes out, you show these photoscraft or anybody. Yeah, my mum would have been like, oh, oh, you're so mean. You're so mean. Why you have to make fun of me all the time? Go play a game So it's come around What's what we're saying

Mum mocking Mum mocking The long pursuit of mum mocking Sure we didn't have a smartphone But we found other ways Oh there were always ways and means Yeah Me and my brother

When you get together with your siblings It's terrible isn't it I mean and then you and I took it on stage What are we like? Oh I've never done it as much as you You really yeah I've done it I think you have to be, it's a fine line.

I had to run everything past my mum before I did it. Did you? I didn't know that. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'd say to mum, I'd say to mum, oh, do you remember when you said that thing to me and she go, no? And I went, you did, mum. You said that thing to me and she went, no.

I went, well, anyway, do you mind if I say it on stage? Okay. Oh, that's all right, then that'll be that. Oh, yeah, no, I didn't do anything without asking my mum first. Did she quite like some of your more high profile routines? Of her? No. No, she never liked it, but she was like, do what you have to do to make money.

Oh, really? That's good. Yeah. Yeah. And as long as, as long as, you know, she wasn't really, like, I never, I tried to always make sure she was like the brunt of the joke. It was more like I was a bit of a dick. Yeah. And she was reasonable. And she was the reasonable one. I mean, dinner is dinner, which is a catchphrase in our house. Dinner is for dinner. Dinner is for dinner. Dinner is for dinner. that makes her look superior. She comes out of that on top.

She was always superior. And that's the thing. And I think that was just me trying to claw back some kind of agency with my mother. Right. But yeah. That is what that is. Do you get people saying your material back at you any time?

No, not really. I think you more so because, well, you're viral. And. No, not really. Occasionally, like the past a bit, my past a bit, occasionally people all throw that back at me. I got someone, I had someone come up to me, waitrose and go, dinner is for dinner.

And I was like, because I never shop in waitrose, so it's very rare that I'm there. And I was like, what? Oh, that's great. And then there was a look of panic on her face. Sorry, are you that comedian? Oh, that's brilliant. Yeah.

And I went, oh, yeah, yeah. She went, oh, good, oh, good. Yeah. Anyway, we love that routine in our house. I was like, oh, that's really lovely. So today, Kerry, tell me, who are we speaking to? Today, we are talking to and with the amazing Kate Robbins. We needed three episodes for this.

We've done Kate a disservice by just having the one episode because we've literally scratched the surface of her career. Absolutely. Now I do. I think this is the beginning of maybe her considering writing a memoir. That's my intention. Because she's had an extraordinary career in life. So good luck making sense of the chronology.

of these stories. Don't bother with the chronology, but just enjoy the stories. So here we are. Kerry Godderman, Jen Brist, talking to Kate Robbins. Can I just say now quickly, because I assume the one I'm going to talk about. Your career is amazing. It's almost too much to talk about. I've done everything.

You have done everything. You're from a showbiz family. It's extraordinary. I mean, I couldn't even, I thought, when I started reading your, I know most of your stuff anyway, but then what I thought, before we do today, I thought, I read her wiki page. I was like, we're never going to get to all this. I mean,

we're just not going to get through all this. So much stuff. I mean, my dad, the thing is, I love that picture of her because she was such a glamorous woman, but she was just, we were on a caravan holiday and she was giving water to Amy.

And it's just such a Nath picture, isn't it? You've seen the picture? Yeah, no, no, let's do them in order because if we talk about it when we come to it, we want to, because one of my favorite ever pictures

that I think anyone's ever sent us ever, ever for this podcast, is that one of you as a kid. Oh, this is an absolute, I love this picture. I had to pull faces when I was left off. Kate, what are you doing? I just thought it was the thing to do.

I thought every time when he takes picture, he goes, this is, and also, my kids do that, those faces. And you're like, can you? And the picture have you got? Two. Have you? And you got two, though. Yeah.

I mean, I can say to my kids, right, well, we'll take another one because we've all got phones. But back then, your parents would have taken the photograph. And they wouldn't have known you did that until they got it developed. But Paul McCartney took that picture. And he sent it to me. Because I had to get permission to use it.

On an album cover once, I had to get Paul's book. You put that on an album cover? Yeah. Oh my God. Just on the back very small. No one noticed. I was at Edinburgh and I was trying to sell albums. Photographer.

And the only thing anyone was interested was about, that's a picture on the band. It is a brilliant picture. Just you gurning in the back. How old are you in this picture? And Emily does faces like that. All my kids do. I'm 1, 2, 3, 4.5.

4 and 5. 4 and 5. And I was born in 58, so 58. And where were you born? I was born in Margate because my dad was doing the summer season. And your dad was a... He was a comedian stand-up. So you are proper showbiz?

Yeah. He was Mr. Showbiz. He's the one that Paul McConae writes about in the... He and John Lennon used to go and stay with mum and dad because my dad was the only showbiz person, Paul knew. And my dad used to give him right now. What do you do, son? You open up with a fast number.

And he used to... And he put them on at Reading, you know, in the pub. He put him and John on as the Nurk Twins. The Nurk Twins. There's a plaque. I open. revealed the plaque a few years ago. The Nerp Twins performed him.

My dad put John and Paul on when they were 16, and he said to them, and I rang Paul and I said, I don't suppose you remember your set list, he said, I do, and he told me the entire set list down the phone. Oh, wow. I can't remember it now.

It was all Vubab, Balubut type songs. Yeah. And he goes to him, and my dad said, start with her. He always said, do your set like a W. And Paul writes in the Beatles anthology, and years later, I thought about Mike Robbins when I was doing the sets

with the Beatles on stage, would start in a W. So start with a big one. Go slow, go medium. You know, like a double-year. It's a good performance tip? Yeah. You did.

Start big, Ben, break. But Paul also said, thank God it didn't take his advice when he used to say, and when you do the, whew-hoo, bit, stick the guitar or piece of his asses.

As if it's like you're doing a, oh, like he's gone from a bum. Paul said, no, we won't do that, Mike. Thank God they didn't, you know, they probably would never have, you know, so from when you were little, you just were used to seeing your dad

do comedy on stage. Well, yeah, that's just for you. of him the reason I love that picture is because I used to go down and see him we lived in buttlings various Bargay Batlins we live in all over they're all over the place I lived in mine head someone in mine four I lived in the twelie I lived in the twelie I lived in the winter months a bit depressing but I used to go down watch my dad do the opener which was stand-up wow and on my mum and dad's wedding day I've got the thing at home I couldn't find it

of course when they got married he had to go and do a gig that night because it's got the date of their wedding and it says Mike Robbins he's on with Hilda Baker and all people like that in the theatre you know yeah and he was called Mike Robbins and it just says almost a gentleman that was his so he obviously worked it a bit blue as my dad would say it was a bit of blue

everyone's like we'll go see that Robbins yeah but I've got some Almost a Gentleman Well that photograph I mean the reason I love it is my bobbly jumper Yeah the jumper's great I mean it was knitted for me I think my mum knit it

And I had that little brooch I think it's an umbrella broach, which I thought made me look rather glamorous. It does. But I had this thing where if anybody pointed a camera at me, I just had to do a face. It's just so brilliant. And I, I, and people you say, oh, you know, the wind changes you'll stick. You know, you'll look like that forever. I just think, heaven.

That's how I want to look for them. But I always told off doing those faces, but I don't know it. They just, my dad was always pulling faces. So I suppose I copied my dad. It wasn't my mum. because my dad was a comedian, you know. Well, he was a failed comedian, really, all his life. It didn't sound like it if he was playing Badlands.

Well, he was failed in that he always wanted to be sort of a big comedian, but he was always Uncle Mike at the Butlands. I know it's horrible the way they used to call them Uncle. It sounds a bit scary. Oh, is that right? I don't know about that. Yeah, at Butlands, if you were a red coat or at Pontins when you're a blue coat. My dad was at Pontins as well. We lived at Pontins in Morecam.

We lived at Butlins in Pothwellie. And I forget, honestly, I forget. I remember living on all these places. You've moved all around up to the age of six and I remember most of the moves, which made me really sociable person, you know, because I was always at these different schools and I could talk to anyone.

And you lived on a holiday camp? Yeah, I mean, I was born in Margate and everyone, you know, because I'm a northerner, but everyone goes like, well, you're not, you know, you're born in Margaret, but my dad was doing the summer season at the time. Yeah. And so, but my dad was missed a showbiz, you know,

and he was always wanting to be this successful comedian. He never really made it. Yeah, he wanted to, yeah. But was it the same like that we know the circuit and then there's telly? Was it the same kind of like... Well, he sort of, he tried the circuit. And so anyway, he settled to bring up his family because mum kept having babies, you know.

There was five of us in the end. But he just, you know, he did the buttlins and pontons routines, which was great because I used to go and watch him. And I thought he was the most famous man in the world watching my dad. Well, we'll come to that picture later. But pulling those faces was just something to do with the comedy, I suppose. My dad was always doing comedy and he was always trying to make me laugh

and so I always just You took it on You're like I'll do that That works Emily does that face now By the seven time world's Best Leisure Airline Champions Air Transat

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It's only when you look back, no, that's... But the thing about my dad was, you know, up until when he died, he was always Mr. Shobies. He always spoke in showbiz terms. like he'd be moaning about a woman in the chemist and he'd say, honestly, she's killing the front of house. Meaning she's not good for business in the chemist. And he'd go, go and see her, she's on now.

She's on now. She's on now. She's serving in the show. And did that mean that it was inevitable you were going to go into show business? It's just in your blood. Absolutely, yeah. And if you swore, it'd say, now you're working it a bit blue. Come on, don't work it blue.

I mean, stop swearing, you know. What a great way of saying stops wearing, though? Yes, great way, yeah. And I think just, I always knew that I just wanted to show off and write and play the piano. It was always music or comedy. Yeah, I was playing the piano from the age of six. Yeah. Did all my grades and all that sort of stuff.

That's incredible. I didn't realize that you were so good at writing music as well as I knew that you sang and that you. Well, I came to London, you know, when I was about, I don't know, I was in the Eurovision song contest. And so. Wait, what? Yeah, that's on the wiki page as well. Wait a second. That's coming up in a minute.

Oh my God, there's too much to get through. All right, okay. Number one he says on your wiki page. I sang on number one when I sang the crossroads song. Now I sang the chicken song on spitting image. But I got to number two with my own record. The chicken song. On spitting images.

The chicken in the air. Me and Michael Fenton and Stephen sang that. God. Terrible. That's why you were a quadruple threat. You are the actor, the musician. the comedian, the songwriter, really. Voice act, voice, you know.

I only had one hit with the song that I wrote for a very famous person, which became an iconic song, which was Surprise, Surprise, Surprise. Isn't that amazing? The unexpected hits you. Go on. Between the eyes. Go on. She's really funny.

Why don't make Kate do it, babe. She's got the voice. Joan, that was really good. Thank you, Kate. The more the world is changes. The more it stays safe. And years later, you know, I was doing an impression of Siller after she'd used my song on her series for years. About five years later, I'm doing an impression of her at ITV with Harry Enfield.

And I'm in the corridors and I'm practicing that. I think I was doing a blind date sketch with Harry Enfield, the scouts, you know. Yeah. And I'm standing in the corridor with the wig on and I'm going, Oh, lovely to see it. And Silla walks down the corridor. Remember, this is a woman I've written the theme. tune for years before.

Look, and she goes, is that you, Kate? Because I've got the orange ring on. And I'm going, oh, and I said, Hi, hi, Silla. And she just said, what are you doing? I've never done the impression on the telly before. Yeah.

And had the shoulder pads and everything. And I said, oh, I'm just doing a skit on something. And she didn't recognize you were doing her. No, no. But then after that, when she heard me going, Laura this and Laura that, because she'd never said that before. Right. She started using.

Laura this and a Lara. Oh right. So you gave her a hit song and her cat race. She was great, Silla. I loved her. Oh, wow. Brilliant woman. Absolutely brilliant.

Well, you did her better than she did us. I was going to say that is the best syllable. Do you know, question I've ever seen in my life? I honestly think she chose my song because there were a few people writing songs for that program. You know, Surprise Surprise was a massive show. Oh, it was huge. But there was no internet, you see. And so families were brought together as a surprise.

It was Friends Reunited before Friends You were United. Yeah, there was no internet. So it was all phone calls and get them on a plane from Australia. You're going to meet your dad. It was mad. So I knew the premise of the programme. And the very first line that I thought was, surprise, the unexpected hit you between the eyes.

I just thought of that straight away. Wrote the song, sent it to her because my publisher, I'd come to London with my songs. I was hauling my songs round, knocking on doors. Tim Pan Alley, sort of. Tim Pan Alley. And my publisher said, well, I do know. Silla Black and I can send it to her

because she's looking for something I thought, you know. Well, that's a pretty amazing content. That's not like, oh, I know someone who knows someone who knows someone. No, no, I wasn't looking for Silla. No, I know, but she's going to be a big, like, it's an inn. And I never thought any more about it. I recorded it in my little room in Ballam, where I lived. And I remember thinking I'll sing it a bit like her.

And then she'll think I can sing that song, you know. So I did the demo a bit, the more the world is changing. Just a little bit. You did a seal of three or four. You didn't go full ten. That came later. That's a five. There's definitely a five.

Can't suspect an image. Oh, I remember a lot. So this picture, so with the fagging out of mouth. Oh, my mother. Betty Robbins, yeah. What a woman. I mean, she was a smyrton for about 42 years, I think. Really?

Was she? She went off Christmas Day. She would all be sitting there. And she just disappeared and doing it. That is a great photo, isn't it? It is a brilliant photo. Well, it is. She hated it.

She said, oh, hope you get rid of that poor. Just because of the faggaining her? Yeah, of course. But, you know, in those days, you know, we didn't know that she was 45 there. How old she looks great? Wow, she looks so much younger. She's giving a drink from that, see that thing, we were in a caravan. It was a caravan, obviously, that plastic container had water in it.

And she was giving Amy, who is my actor, sister, Amy, went to Rada, brilliant actress. She's my youngest sister. Amy's the, I always call her the proper actor, you know, she went to Rada. Because of Rada. Yeah, yeah. She's now, I think she's now on the board of Rada. She's brilliant, absolutely brilliant. But that's Amy's a little baby.

And I just love it because she's got a fag hanging out of her mouth. And those days, obviously nobody thought about whether that was bad for you. Oh, everyone's smoke. One of my favorites comedy sketches is Harry Enfield, where they're all smoking on the football pitch. Everyone's chuffing away on playing football. No, no, it's a college. And the tutors would be smoking while they were teaching us and we all just were like in a fog of smoke.

Yeah. And I mean I hate smoking now if somebody smokes near my crud. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you're right, we didn't know as much then. And I just think that pictures of real... He smoked in the car with your kids? Wasn't there another comedy sketch where there was a fag literally hanging out? Was that on spitting image?

Where someone had a... It was glue or stuck too. Was it Doc Cotton? Yes, right, and it was almost a faggling. There's always a fagging. My little willie. Yeah. That was Ethel.

Oh, Edel had really. But I think what's lovely about the photo is that because there was no... All photographs now, we're all taking pictures of ourselves and we're all posing for them. But I love that because she wasn't posing. It was just a snap. No, it's a great picture. It's a real snap.

And she's glamorous. She was always... She's beautiful. And she was a sculptor. You know, our Jane, who I'll talk about. But Jane, R. Jane. We always call her R Jane. Yeah.

Anyway, mum was a sculptor. she was a musician and she could play the piano and she'd be a bit of guitar she was left-handed guitarist like paul who your second cousin something removed oh paul mccartney yeah yeah and and he writes about betty robins and mike robbins in um the beatles anthology and how important they were to him yeah influences they had because my mum introduced paul to um ravel and de bucci and said you need to listen to these composers as well as rock and roll wow that's huge you know don't just listen to Elvis, you know, listening to. And so because she was left-handed, she used to babysit him and, you know, Mike, his brother,

because their mom died when they were quite young. And everyone in the family used to help with the babysitting. But I think my mum was quite important part of his life because she was left-handed. She was musical. And she introduced him to aspects of music that he hadn't thought about before. Wow. Which I think probably affected the same. But we all appreciate that legacy.

It's with Pand Out well. Well, Ellen and Rigby might never have been born if he hadn't known about a bit of classical music as well. Absolutely. She was an amazing woman. She was, as I say, she sculpted and she painted and she, yeah. Right. My mum was a working class Liverpool girl, but who was educated in music and arts. And where did they meet?

Cheshire. They met at Butlands when my mum and her brother had gone there or a friend or something because their mum had died and they were just trying to cheer themselves up. And my dad was doing Tarzan going, uh-oh, right across on a rope which she thought he's funny. And he made a laugh. And then somebody said, oh, he's having a nap, you want to go and wake him up.

He said she went around because she was very beautiful. And that's how they fell in love, yeah? Oh, God, that's a great story. That is a great story. Did you always sort of know? You're like, well, this is what I want to do. I guess I'll work at Butlins. Oh, were you like that?

Was it showbiz? Like, I'm going to Hollywood, baby. I just go to London and I'll write songs for people and I'll get fame from that. So you didn't think about, like, comedy. or like you're so good at, you're so good at impressions. Impressions, yeah, they were just something I always did. Like most impressionists will tell you that. But the skill of it, I find it so, like you mentioning Tracy Olman,

I saw Ronnie Anacona in a thing recently and just, and who was the woman that used to do Maggie Thatcher when I was a kid on the tommy? Janet Brown used to do her. No, before Janet Brown. Oh, Steve Nellen. Oh, it's a bloke. No, there was a woman that was. Faith Brown.

Faith Brown. Faith Brown. Oh my God, I forgot about her. The skill of people that can just do it. Is it not a skill though, is it? Yes, it is. It is a skill. It's not a skill.

It's like doing caricatures. It's like people always enjoy them. No, it's not a skill to do the voice. The voice is a musical thing. You have to have a musical ear. Most impressionists are very musical. They can all sing. No, it's not, that's not skillful.

What is skillful is making the material funny. Because it's not funny to just do. Yeah, you need both. You need absolutely good material. And I never had good material. All I could do was go, oh, oh, but once you've got a spitting image scripting from you and a puppet, you look like that. Oh, I lived on that. Oh, I lived on that for years.

Yeah. Spitting image was fantastic for me. Spitting image was such a, it's a hard for me. Sorry. Yeah, no, sorry. I was just going to say the spitting image in the 80s. It was iconic. But it was huge.

It's hard to explain to people now. And I never realized when John Lloyd sort of interviewed me. I didn't realize it was an audition. Right. And this, you know, he was very gorgeous, John Lloyd still is. And he introduced. I introduced myself and he sort of said, so I know you've been doing a few voice.

Can you do it? You know, what do you think of? And then I sort of did Tina Turner. I did some singing ones for him on the spot, which I'm not going to do, no, it's embarrassing. And I think I might have gone. I couldn't resist it. And of course then, so I got this job on this.

I just got married and I remember saying to my husband, like, I've got a job on a puppet show. And he's like, oh, God. Well, yeah, because you said puppet show And that's kind of a showbiz joke Exactly And he's like Ian Sweet It's quite a puppet show

Talking of puppet shows Ted's got a mate My brother Ted who's comedian Fantastic comedian He was in Phoenix Knights He played Den Perry Who burned down the nightclub Yeah

With Peter Kay Ted fantastic comedian He's in a different league He's got a mate He does a puppet show He does a punch and Judy He still does it Up and down the country

I swear to God He said to him Not this year a few years ago he said to him, how's it going with punching duty? Did kids still like that sort of stuff? That domestic violence joke? Yeah, exactly.

No, yeah, exactly all that. He said, well, it goes down really well still. It's, you know, that old-fashioned thing. He says, apart from in Liverpool, he said, we couldn't get anything out. Because when the policeman came out and said, where's Mr. Punch? Or the case, well, don't know, we haven't seen it.

They wouldn't grass to the copper. Absolutely nothing. Kids would not grass. They go, don't know, not seen them, any of them. That's a strong open. It's funny, though, it's true. They would not speak to the copper. That is very funny.

But yeah, puppet shows, there you go. I was on an iconic. Everything I've done in my career has been, it's interesting because I've done things that have been at the beginning of something. Like I did, I did Euro trash, you know, all the voices on that. And it was my idea to do the regional accents instead of...

What's that? Your idea. Yeah, I got a format fee. That was the whole UST. I got a format fee. But I remember. loving that show and that's what I loved about it. Specifically, that was the whole gag.

But we'd have like a, you know, you'd have an old sex worker. And I'd make, I sound like a female Les Dawson, you know, like that. Because to make her, because the producer said to me, oh, she's French. Can you do like a rough French accent? And I said, no, it'd be funnier to make her sound like Les Dawson, you know. It was like the, but then Lee Francis, that was all that Lee Francis did later on. Yeah, with the, when he used to do like Mel B. Ah, yeah.

Yeah. Melby, yeah. You know. But it's more innovative, I thought, you know, because Eurichash was once again, it was before the internet. So we had all these clips of people being rude. And what it did was it dissipated the lewdness

and the prurias. But it also slightly, I remember liking it because the implication is always, if things are a bit sexy but they're French, then it's okay somehow. It's not as, it's not blue. And I said to the, it's French. And I said to the erotica. And then her voice coming in going,

You're an I-cock. Yes. But that's what made people laugh. Completely changed it. Maybe it's Maybe it's Maybe It's an iconic piece of music. Hit the check. Everyone in the studio that I worked on this jingle with all had childhood stories or memories.

Yeah, we're around either watching these commercials on TV or sitting with our mom. while they were doing their makeup, and it became really personal for us. Maybe it's Maple Lane. Tim's new Cravable Raps are made for the times your boss said the what now? Or your teacher mentions that thing of Mabob.

Need to pick me up. Snack back to reality with Tim's new Cravable Raps, available in Chipotle or Ranch. Plus tax at participating restaurants in Canada for a limited time. Is this around this time, this picture? Yeah, 1980. So is this the Eurovision sort of... Is this pre...

So that's 1980. the song we represented the UK we'd been chosen out of a contest you went in for a contest then and whoever the audience voted for we represented the UK we won a contest and we were all on diets

because we were told me of fat I mean I look how skinny I am in it I wish I had that figure now anyway we did it and I looked down at my feet just before we began and there was a list just one of the wires from you know all the

and the music and you can hear the conductor in those days we had an orchestra and a conductor. There was no backing tracks. It was an orchestra and I just heard the, you know, and they'd get them ready for the orchestra stuff. And it was right around my foot and I just quickly got it off. Otherwise, it would have been boom in front of 50 million.

And you had to do a dance routine and sing. Dance routine, three part harmonies. No, when we didn't have any backing tracks and we came third, yeah. Oh, I mean. Great experience for me, though, because once you've done that, honestly, nothing is scary. I want to get to a point where I understand a little bit of Kate's really. You won't.

Because I've tried with Kate. It's the most incredible career. It's the tendrils go into every genre. You've done so much stuff. Well, I did do trampolini. I was going to say we've done trampoline. I did Shakespeare on trampoline. Fucking out.

I haven't done Morris dancing. Haven't done Morris dancing. That's a yet. Can we put that out there? Kate Robbins hasn't managed to fulfill that dream. So once you've done the Eurovision, so then I got spotted. by who?

So I went back to singing in my band I had a band in the south of And Kate Bush was, you know, big at the time And I was jealous of her She was kind of my age and she was beautiful And long black hair and she had big knockers But you're only allowed to have one female singer-songwriter That's in there.

Call Kate. Yeah, call Kate. Call Kate. So it's only run for one. I called my band Kate's Bush. Comedy was calling, Kate. I don't know how he managed to fall into comedy, Kate. It's a mystery.

Oh, people go, is she on here? Was she on? No, it's Kate's Bush. There's a key letter in the middle of that. Well, we weren't allowed to do it for more than two weeks. But for two weeks, we were Kate's Bush. And I played with Alan Coates, who was in that band. I was in Eurovision. And I loved doing that.

And then I got spotted. And somebody said, can you act? And I said, of course, can. Didn't know whether I could. But of course, you go. And did you watch Nolly? The most fantastic thing about No God. That is on my watch list.

Yeah, yeah. It brought it all back to. Was that your time? Yeah. I mean, Noel Gordon hated me. Why? Oh, my. Because you were too talented, young, beautiful, talented woman.

No, because I came on, I mean, I called my acting wood do a disservice to trees. I mean, you know. But I mean, she was, everyone was wooden. She used to say things like, sorry, Noel, God forbid. I mean, she was brilliant. But she used to say things like, will someone close the, it? This is the script. Will someone close the window?

She put all WHs in where they weren't there. And I just thought that's really weird. Anyway, I made friends with her friend who played Adam Chance Tony Adams, his name is, he's still alive and in his 80s now, he must be, but I had to have a romance with him that happened to be a recording studio

in the basement of the motel and I was always coming in going Shalé 23 please, more than in love, you're a part of me, and I sang the song. Now the reason I kept singing the song was because the producer of the programme was on a cut of the royalties of the record.

Oh my God. So corrupt. So corrupt. Total racket. And he got a cut every time. If that record went, they'd done it before with Stephanie DeSyx.

Right. Born with a smile on my face. She sang that in the middle of Crossroads and he got to number one. Oh my gosh. We're like, we've done it once, we'll do it again.

So I'm walking in the motel. And I used to tell Victoria Wood, who was my mate, all this stuff. And then you know, Aicorn Antis. Yes, I know. I was going to ask you about Acorn Antis.

I remember the set moving. and Benny, that's the standout stuff for it. And I'm standing there hungover, because I've been out with this guy the night forward. Noel Gordon isn't speaking to me, but I didn't care. You're young and you're hung over, you don't care. You don't care. Life is just one big hangover. You don't care.

You just carry on. And the famous story, honestly, I have told this a million times, so you probably won't include this in the podcast. But I'm telling you it anyway. So I go on. And action, vacuum cleaner's going. It's so loud. I can't hear anything.

So the sound man's miming to me. I'm going, just pitching up, speaking out. I'm going to try. Charlie Trenchie, severed place. Over the,

back in cleaner. And then they got, stop tape, they used to say in those days. It wasn't a cut. Yeah. Stop tape. And the director comes running down the stairs.

Bad temper. I can't hear a fucking thing because that back in cleaner. And that's where his PA shouted through the speaker in the tube. I'm sorry, Mike, it's typing error on the script. It should say Mrs. Brownlow hovering in the back.

Ha ha. Kate, what incredible stories. I feel like we didn't really scratch the surface, actually. I've just been to see, have you seen the Gwyneth Paltrow Ski Trial Musical? Have you ever written a musical? Yes. Of course I have. What was it?

I'm in the process of the moment. Are you? I've got a sitcom, a musical and a documentary. Kate, bring it. You haven't got time to write the memoir. You're too busy. Exactly. He wants to read about me.

I watched in the doghouse the other day, and to be honest. Oh. Oh, Jen, Jen, Jen, Jen. It's my guilty pleasure. Good God. I cried. It's a program on Channel 4. Don't look at me like a sort of confused android.

It's... Why? I cried. Why? Look, it's a program about people being matched with dogs, rescue dogs. It's about heartbreak and then just healing. healing. It's so moving. It's about healing and dog healing. And it's people getting together. It's basically this place up north. I don't know where it is in the countryside. And then people

come with their life baggage and then they match them with a dog and then they're happy. And I love it. I love it. I love it. You love it. Oh. Watch it with the kids. Watch it with the kids. Okay. I'll watch it. What's it called again? In the dog house on Channel 4. In the dog house. Well, That'll be something that I'll... It's so powerful and moving. Is it powerful? Well, it is about... Powerful is quite a strong word, isn't it?

Powerful. Well, it's relative, isn't it? I mean, I am quite available to be moved in that way. At the moment, I'm quite pre-menstrual. So I'm like, move me. So I watch that program and I find it powerful. Right, okay. A bit of an open wound of like, I want to cry and that program does the job.

It facilitates that feeling. It's a workshop in feelings. It's a workshop in feelings. I don't need that workshop in feelings. I just have to open my phone and I'm like, oh, so many feelings. Oh, God, yeah. But that is a whole world of extreme upset. So this is a manageable.

Manageable amount of upset. I've got to go now. I've got a go. I've got a voiceover. Good. Luck, break a limb. I'm Max Rushden. I'm David O'Dardy.

And we'd like to invite you to listen to our new podcast, What Did You Do Yesterday? It's a show that asks guests the big question, quite literally, what did you do yesterday? That's it. That is it. Max, I'm still not sure. Where do we put the stress?

Is it, what did you do yesterday? What did you do yesterday? You know what did you do yesterday? I'm really downplaying it. Like, what did you do yesterday? Like, I'm just a guy. just asking a question, but do you think I should go bigger? What did you do yesterday? What did you do yesterday?

Every single word this time I'm going to try and make it like it is the killer word. What did you do yesterday? I think that's too much, isn't it? That is, that's over the top. What did you do yesterday? Available wherever you get your podcasts every Sunday.