Walking The Dog with Emily Dean - Nina Conti (Part One)

Episode Date: October 28, 2025

This week Emily and Ray take a walk with the brilliant Nina Conti, comedian, actress and ventriloquist extraordinaire.They meet on Hampstead Heath, where Nina grew up with her parents, actor Tom Conti and writer Kara Wilson, and Emily hears about her fascinating childhood (which happened to include David Bowie at one of her birthday parties). Nina talks about starting out in the RSC before finding her true calling in comedy and ventriloquism with her much-loved sidekick, Monkey.She tells Emily about her hit live show Whose Face Is It Anyway?, which has been extended due to popular demand, tickets are available at ninaontour.com, and her brilliant new film Sunlight, a darkly funny and unconventional love story she co-wrote, directed and stars in. It’s in cinemas now and available to pre-order on Apple TV ahead of its digital release in November.It’s a warm, funny and utterly charming chat with one of Britain’s most inventive performers (and features the unforgettable moment Nina gives Raymond his very own ventriloquist voice).Follow Emily:Instagram: @emilyrebeccadeanX: @divine_miss_emWalking The Dog is produced by Will NicholsMusic: Rich JarmanArtwork: Alice LudlamPhotography: Karla Gowlett Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

And Hugh Grant was there and I must have really been like really obvious because he went straight to my dad and he said, I think your daughter fancies me. This week on Walking the Dog, Ray and I took a stroll with super talented comedian, actress and ventriloquist Nina Conti. We met up with Nina on Hampstead Heath, which is the area she grew up in with her mum Kara and her actor dad Tom Conti.

And she had a fascinating childhood, which I couldn't wait to hear all about. partly as it involved David Bowie turning up to one of her birthday parties. We also talked about how she initially started out as an actor in the RSC, but ended up having slight misgivings around it, partly due to her dad already being so famous in that world, but also because she struggled to keep a straight face a lot of the time. And I'm personally very glad she did make the move into comedy because she's hilarious.

She's become very well known, of course, for her ventriloquism with her sidekick monkey, performing sellout shows with him all over the world and she's recently been touring her critically acclaimed live show whose face is it anyway. It's been so successful, the dates have been extended so to find out more about any remaining tickets for this show and future tours, go to ninaontore.com. Nina has also co-written and directed a fantastic new film

which she also stars in called Sunlight. It's a kind of darkly funny and very unconventional love story set on a road trip. It's had incredible reviews and they're all richly deserved as I absolutely loved it and I know you will too so do make sure to catch it in cinemas now or you can pre-order it on Apple TV before its digital release in November. I have to say Ray and I love Nina. As well as being very funny she's also got this very gentle calm energy about her and watching her turn Ray into a ventriloquist dummy and come up with a voice for him

was genuinely one of the greatest moments of my life and I cannot wait for you to hear it I'll stop talking now and hand over to the brilliant woman herself here's Nina and Reywai I had someone kiss me on the head the other day I didn't react at all well did you? A woman

kissed me on the head I'm not going to name them but I thought hang on it made me feel so small and cross yes I find it It's almost quite biblical kissing you on the head. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, anointing.

Yeah, it is. Yeah. It is, but it's also, it's got, if it had a caption, it would be there, there. And I can't like there, there. I get, I get so kind of, I had naughty, like, in response. Like, no, no, not, don't try to calm me. I always hated when I was younger. I had a real aversion to being called deer by people.

I don't know where it started, but I found, even when I was a very young child, people would say, it's all right, dear. I hated it, Nina. There's so much in that word. There really is, isn't there? It was just slightly Missed Jean Brody, and I thought,

you were approaching me with a formality that just isn't appropriate for my personality. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Like, I don't want to do life like that. And it's an unknown sort of familiarity and it's false, it's false affection, which is really destabilising. I don't love it. Well, I'm not going to have to be false with you because I'm such a fan of yours.

And I have been for a long time. And Raymond, who's just met you, he came running towards you. It was very romantic the way he embraced you, Nina. What do you make of him? I love him. I love him. I don't have any desire to make him talk, though. I've got to get, make that clear straight away. You can speak for yourself, Raymond. I really like the shape of his head. It's just right for the hand. It's quite dome-like, isn't it? Yeah. No, he's fantastic. He's absolutely fantastic. I, um, I don't think I've ever met one of him before. I don't, I don't know this look of a dog. I don't know what that is. I love I don't know this look of a dog. He is a bit of an unusual one, but you know what, Nina, that's why I liked him.

Yeah, totally. Because he didn't look like a dog really. He looked more like, well, to be frank, I'm going to call it your friend, not your puppet. Monkey. Right, monkey, yes. There is some crossover, definitely. He's like if monkey had a one-night stand with an Ewok. Yeah, exactly.

this is what we're talking about maybe that's what happened so we're on Hampstead Heath which is your manner and has always been really hasn't it you sort of grew up in these parts yeah I did I grew up in these parts from about the age 11 I've been stomping these fields but I still can I can just about still get lost yeah me too I grew up in North London right or around the corner not far from here actually I grew up in a place called Holly Village which is a weird That's sweet up there. Yeah, gothic sort of weird places.

But I am the same. But I feel... Does this area really feel like home to you then? I suppose it really must have. Well, do you know what? We're about to come up on a tree. It's just around the corner. My mum sat there when she found out she was pregnant with me.

So that's a long time ago. Half a century ago. And I took a picture of it the other day. I thought I might paint it because the bench is still there. That's the tree that we can see. thing out there. Wow that's so lovely having that heist. So I sat there. That's probably the first park I ever went to. Existed that. If she just found out she was pregnant and went and sat on that bench that was a very early introduction to the heath for me. I think

that's a sign you've had a happy childhood if you stay in the area you were raised in, don't you? Or a lack of courage. of me we are failure to launch we are codependent with our parents I know I made it to East Finchley for a while when I came back again but it's no it's so special to Heath there's no there's no city park like it I mean you can't even believe it's in a city look at this little fella oh how's this gonna go Oh. Well, look how far behind Ray is he said. Ray!

Oh, poor thing. Raymond! Come on. So did you have dogs growing up with your... No, I've never had a dog. And I would really love a dog, but I just can't. I just can't because I'm on tour and I'm always moving. I have a cat, which we can just about manage. But, yeah, I really want one.

I'll get one eventually. And was that a similar reason to why your parents? parents didn't get one because they were actors and presumably just away a lot and not practical? I think so. I think because you just can't, I couldn't bear to have an unhappy dog. If I wasn't there enough, that would, I just can't take any more guilt. I've got my critical mess. So no, not a pet household growing up. I had two cats. Oh, you had the cats growing up. And what were the cats called? They were called Minow and Midge. They were named that because they turned up. stray in Scotland in a sort of country cottage that we were having a holiday at and they

got dropped off I think they were just dropped on the doorstep come to think of it this feels not very true but that's what I was told as a kid it's like the end of the usual suspects when you drop the coffee mug and you realise the lies your parents told you about the animal living on the farm or whatever yeah I don't know anyway they showed up and they were very sweet. My dad didn't want to have pets because he just thought the notion of pets is immoral he thought. That's so interesting what because you're, I know what your dad means. You should say your dad is obviously very well-known actor and brilliant actor Tom Conti and your mum is Cara Wilson who's also a very talented actor and I find that really interesting what

your dad says because sometimes I really am struck by this. that Nina that I think I've taken him into my home sort of against my will against his against his will yeah sorry just the morality of it that he had no choice yeah do you know what I mean there wasn't a court case where he was able to say oh yes I like I elect to live with this woman I took him off his mother her oh I know I feel that about my cat I know do you feel that sometimes I know I feel really sad when I think about his siblings and his mom and everyone he doesn't get to see anymore He probably wouldn't, but that should be his choice.

But yeah, it's a strange thing, and the thought of him being bored is sad as well, and then you just, like, throw a little toy across the floor once, and, you know, he needs to be played with more. He's a brilliant little cat. That's quite interesting that that tells me a bit about your childhood, like quite a philosophical approach to having pets, which I've rather like in your house.

Do you know what I mean? Let's weigh up the morality of this. Yeah, I mean, the thing I found out to my surprise is I have a Siberian cat. And that's because my sons have asthma, so I didn't want to have an allergic kind of cat. So this cat is apparently not allergenic, but that's a lie also.

I know people say Ray's hypoallergenic, but is he? No, my cat is like a sneeze machine. And so, yeah, I can't remember what I was saying. Oh, yes, but he's Siberian. And I thought he belongs in Siberian, the snow and what we're doing with him in this house. And, you know, he needs, but then he's been domesticated since anything traceable. So apparently, I shouldn't worry too much. You wouldn't know what to...

They wouldn't know what to do. It's best this way, Nina. It's... Yeah. So, I want to know a bit about the Nina Conti origin story and you, obviously as we've established, grew up in North London and were you quite a... Are you always sort of funny as a kid?

Was that clear that was a talent that you had or possibly an area you might end up going into? Well, I wasn't... I wasn't funny at school. I was sort of undercover funny. My mum and dad knew I was funny. Yeah. Well they found me funny but like that's a that's possibly indulgent so you can't go on that alone. But I felt like I felt like they made me feel like I had some funny. Yeah, definitely. But I was quite shy. Were you? Yeah, I was pretty shy at school. I found the difference between home socially and school.

It was so different. I couldn't bring my full self from one to the other. Try and walk for a bit, Ray. It's interesting that you were saying you felt you would show that side of you being funny, I suppose that more performing side to your parents. Yes, and then I would disappear at school. Why do you think that was?

Oh, gosh, it's just way harder. It's a much harder crowd. It's a much harder crowd than your mom and dad. No unconditional love with that audience, yeah. No, no, that's like going from a sort of arts venue to a football pitch. Did you ever find it, were you shy about the fact that your dad was well-known? Yeah, I did have a, I had a lot of embarrassment about that. I was really embarrassed about that.

My dad would use, well, still does actually, drive a Rolls-Royce. And you love that, well, I, I... It's just very classy old school, Jane. Well, I can love it now, but I back then was mortified, mortified, and he was also very protective and wanted to know I was safe, so he would... I just sound like such an idiot being unhappy about this, because it's obviously enormously privileged, but getting dropped off outside directly at the door of places and stepping out of rolls. I couldn't stand it.

I couldn't stand it, and I would beg him not to drop me out front. Isn't that a bit ridiculous? You live in hamster dying. You just got out of the car. It's fine. Like, oh my God, you've just ruined my life. But you know what it is, Nina? Do you think it's partly that when you're that age as well, you just want to kind of disappear.

And I think when my parents, my mum was an actor and my dad worked for the BBC, and they were very noisy and lots of dinner parties. And I remember, I said, can't you just be like the accountants? Like, I remember saying to my dad once, people can hear you. People always hear you. I thought, well, how come we're on a plane like you don't hear the other dad? It's like booming Shakespeare voices. I found it mortifying.

Yeah. And then you get older and you love it. I know. You know? Well, you stop trying to reinvent yourself. You just, you know, become who become who's come out now. on now you never saw it i love the rolls royce i think that's so cute oh god no i'm still i'm it's triggering i'm still i'm still it's not cute everyone's going to hate me it's like that

what was that victoria beckham thing you should buy that t-shirt exactly exactly what did the t-shirt say that victoria beckham had because david beckham she says we weren't rich or we weren't and he said what car did your dad drive yeah it's something about the rolls royce anyway my dad had a rose royce yeah i saw that clip hit me like a knife excuse me this is very triggering for me i've no idea i had so much in common but you also and i heard i've heard you talking about this on uh my friend adam buxton's podcast i loved listening to you on that and you have the most brilliant time as a kid from anyone else looking in. It was like because David Bowie was at your birthday parties. No, I know. It was very, very, very lucky. And it's because your dad was working

with him on Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, and he became, he sort of got to know him, didn't he? Yeah. But how many him turn up at the party? Oh, come on. That was a real coup. I think that was my mum's workings, you know, to get him to come to the party. And I've played table tennis with his son. Yeah, I really love David Bowie and to meet him was massive. It was amazing. And so, yeah, I did. There were people like, there was John Candy was also another big one.

And Arthur Miller, those kind of people came over. And I can't imagine if I saw a video of it now, I think I would just be silent and wide-eyed. And, yeah, I... It's sort of like a short film or something. if you saw a video of it now, it would be like some extraordinary short film that, just the night when all these people came together. There were different nights, but yes, I mean, yeah, amazing.

But just getting to experience, you know. What's funny, I don't know who put that in me this, like, shame about it. Like, no one must know I have this great life. I was scared of being picked on for it or something. So it's weird. I could have enjoyed it. I could have enjoyed that more. I look back and I go, that was amazing.

Maybe that's, maybe that's, it's, it's just survival instinct. You don't want to be exiled, you know, like as a kid, you just want to put in. You don't care, you know, as long as you put in. Yeah, but I can't help feeling, even though it was horrible for you to feel like that. Oh, it wasn't, I should get over it. It was totally fine. But I can't help feeling it's probably a sign that you'll maybe a nice, the person because you're not the kind of obnoxious kids say oh my god my dad is in this

film yes I suppose I'm not boasting no trying to pretend it's not the case yeah it's weird but yeah and I was shy and I was an only child maybe that's also why it was difficult to enter school because I just wasn't used to other kids I didn't know what they were and so it was kind of it was a real shock when I went to school and I was really really unwell with it I was so shy really yeah so I mean if you fast forward the fact that I end up talking to dolls and everything is no surprise I would I but I didn't do it at the time I didn't like sit and talk to my teddy's or anything that wasn't I didn't know I needed that yet

took me a long time to work out I needed a doll Yeah. But I know what you mean is that when you're experiencing, and there is something different, I didn't have it anywhere like your level, but just working, you know, having parents who was sort of in the business and you were often in unusual situations, meeting sort of slightly different people or well-known people. I had my sister to sort of navigate that with me. And so you'd go, that was weird, wasn't it? Like when we went to that party and this happened and now we're going into school. Do you know what to me? Yeah, yeah, yeah. My mum was like you because my god mom was a singer who your parents knew actually Lindsay and I can remember she was going out with an actor called James Coben who was a big American movie star

and he came back from a trip and he bought us a diamond necklace because he didn't know that was a bit weird to buy a two seven year olds in North London Diamond E! My sister got on art and I was writing the school diary and I never forgot the scene and my mum said darling don't write James Cobain bought me a diamond

in your diary it's a bit showy but I wasn't like you I wanted to boast and I think that's why it's right that you had that childhood like a lot of people would be a nightmare with your childhood and you haven't turned into one well that's nice let's hope not I mean I've just remembered another one

which was a huge one which was Hugh Grant when he was really young really new I think he'd only just made Morris or Maurice and let's do Morris keeps them down to earth

I love you but keep it down to earth you Morris Maurice anyway my dad at the time was trying to mount an old

cow of play as a film right bloody Harvey Weinstein was the producer can you believe it and so we're talking about a long long ago

sort of 90 90 maybe or younger maybe I don't know late 80s yeah late 80s yeah late 80s I think we're talking about late 80s anyway there was a big read-through and I made a kind of trick-a-law salad for lunch for everyone and Hugh Grant was there and I must have really been like really obvious because he went straight to my dad and he said I think your daughter fancies me And was he right? Oh yeah, he was, yeah, he was definitely right about that.

I mean, how could you not? No. No, I know. I think your daughter, Fancy said. I know. It's so funny. Oh, God. Oh, dear me.

Yeah. So, you were sort of a slightly strange life to everyone else, obviously very normal to you, But kind of, I don't know if I'd use the word painfully shy, but shy, definitely. Just taking my time to work out who I was and how to be. Yes. Definitely. Yeah, didn't know at all. Yeah. And were you secretly thinking, I want to be a performer?

Yes. Yes, I was thinking. Were you embarrassed to admit that you wanted to be a performer? Yeah, because that was already what my dad did, so it was going to look like I was I was just following without any proper impetus of my own. Yeah. And it was true, actually, because I was just sort of hoping to go. I didn't go to drama school. I went to, I did philosophy at the university instead.

You went to University of East Anglia, didn't you? Yeah, I did. But I didn't really, I didn't really, I don't know. I don't know, I think I was thinking if I, I shouldn't go to drama school because that's too obvious. or something but it's actually what I wanted to do so I was just like sidling around the profession of acting going is it all right if I come in and then I think that's what that's the attitude I wore to auditions which doesn't work is it

all right if they come in and didn't get very far so yeah I am I was very grateful to go a different route and you're you're dad helped you initially sort of launch into the business when you did think, okay, I'm going to give acting a try. But you've said, which I thought was very soon, you said, I was sort of embarrassed again because he'd helped get me an agent and... Yeah. Yeah. But anyone would, but obviously you'd do that, you know? Yes, obviously he would do that because you want to help your kids for long, don't you? But I mean, I don't even think the agent that he got me very pleased to have me either. I think it was just like a favour to him. And she gave you to go for you.

for a while and then she said it's not really working you know I think yeah it I was too unformed really dough yeah dog owners please read Nina you've got a lovely voice what does it say this area is currently a designated dog swimming area oh that's good to know wow it's positive news oh I love those glasses they're lovely those nicest glasses I've seen I'm annoyed about that you know you see something that annoys you want it I'll tell you how I came about it them they are they're not fancy they are from the sunglasses range in specksavers but they put normal glass in them she even goes to spec savers I did

I put this all down to that Rolls Royce Tom and you were with the RSC for a bit yeah I did get into the RSC and and that was after I'd started what what happened was I started working with Ken Campbell who I liked because I was studying philosophy and he was doing sort of philosophy in his shows and I thought this guy's really exciting really onto something. And he was, in case anyone doesn't know,

he's incredibly famous sort of innovative director and, you know. Yes, he was really a maverick. Yeah, he never did things the normal way and totally original thinker. And he was, so I sought him out and just turned up a show that he was rehearsing which was a huge show,

four hours long anyone could be in it but you just had to commit and it was like this crazy underground more of a cult than the show so i got involved in all that scene and that's kind of where i learned all my performing skills was through ken campbell and being in that company yeah um and so then actually with everything i'd learned there then i went for an addition at the rSC and i kind knew who i was a bit more and i had a bit more bite yeah and that's kind of how i got in there And did you find, but did you sort of know, because you've got such funny bones, you know, you're someone who's, I don't take this wrong way, but you make me laugh the minute. I see you're, you know, you're someone who's just funny inherently.

That's great. I didn't know that. Yeah, I think you are. Like when you walk on stage and I see you, like you're very infectious, when you start to laugh, I really start to laugh. I don't know what it is about you, but you've got that thing. And I wonder, how did that, was that difficult at the RSC where you sort of realised? particularly having worked with someone like Kane Campbell already that you're thinking this is great that I'm doing this but I don't know if this is the right fit for me I'll tell you what was the right fit was Audrey and as you like it because I had um false teeth and a big false backside yeah and I was a clown in that yeah a joint eyebrows and everything and but then I was the

cortis and in comedy various and I had to be sexy and I had to work it that was not for me and they kept saying work it more work it I'm like what do you mean work it that's so embarrassing I can't also I don't like the middle-aged director telling the young beautiful girl to work it it's a bit grim I don't like I'm sure he meant well so yeah I can see that what happened at the RSC that you're starting to think actually you can't sort of unopened that door in a way once you started to see that there's a A way of doing things is a little bit more avant-garde and irregular maybe. Yeah, and you start to disapprove of the normal stuff.

Yeah. Obviously, I'm not sure I approve of all this serious thing. And, well, that's not true. It's just that if there's any part of it that is denying a funny truth, then it feels pompous. And that's dishonest. Yeah. That's not to say I only like comedy.

I mean, I watch, probably watch serious things more than I watch comedy actually. But for me and for being amongst it all then, I would rather be in the clown space. But then comedy comes out of truth, doesn't it, a lot of the time? Yeah, exactly. Yes, it does. And so they're sort of in, so connected those two things that you're talking about. I understand that that once you've gone down that road of something, saying I slightly reject artifice and, you know, there's a, it's interesting, I can, I can really see how that would have appealed to you. And also, I wonder Nina as well, if it was also

appealing to you, because everything you've said about feeling, not wanting to be fearing those charges of nepotism or just feeling a bit like I want to carve my own path. Was there an element of that? Yes. Maybe. The main thing was I was just interested in that. It was more fun. Yeah. It was more fun, definitely. And like a level of misbehaviour that was like the right amount.

Which way should we go? This is exciting over here. Look at that. And was it? Isn't it lovely? And was it Ken Campbell, the director, who first suggested you should do ventriloquism? Or you should incorporate that into your comedy? He was always sending me off to weird things,

like learning tooth and chanting or getting these false teeth made or whatever. He was always just trying to break me into something else a bit looser. But no, I'd slightly parted company when he got into ventriloquism. And he brought hundreds of puppets and gave them to loads of people and was like, we have to bring back this lost art form. And I thought, I'm not going to get on this bus with him. I'm getting off the Ken Campbell bus for this stop. And I can't really remember what got me back on it.

I was, yeah, I was at the RSC then. So, yeah, he wanted to write a book about acting. He sent me postcards that I was supposed to write questions on to send back to him so that his book could be a letter to an actor. Like a young actor, the RSC has these questions about acting. That was going to be the format for his book. And I only really got as far as one question on a postcard, which was Cisbury of the voice department,

doesn't like my voice, what can I do? And then that's when he said, learn ventriloquism and become a vocal acrobat. And that was actually, that's amazing, actually, because he really, that kind of has happened. Yeah. I think I've added a lower octave to my register and a higher one, probably,

from having done all these voices all the time. Isn't that fascinating? When you think about the people you've met in your life and how they've sort of impacted it and changed it as well. Yeah. I know, you know, he was extraordinary. No one really ever... When did he die, Neen?

Like him. 2008, I think. And you've been very honest about the fact you guys had a relationship and there was inevitably an age gap. A big one. Bit of a big one. How many, how many, you were 20?

I don't know exactly, but I was in my 20, late 20s. He was somewhere around 60, somewhere like that. It was a big one. And mom and dad. And Tom and Cara don't know. Mom and Dad don't know at this point. At that point, Mom knows. Mums know everything, don't know.

Yeah, Mom knows everything. Mum was a little bit You're lucky to be on the planet at the same time It's it, Bobby, darling It wouldn't be the case today I don't think there was no way that would happen today There's no way I love it, it's a very actors approach though

It's ridiculous I mean, yeah And so who knows if I I mean Dad's probably suspected maybe but just chose to let you get on with it, maybe? I don't know, no, he just wasn't in the sphere of thinking about that at all. I think I was...

I think extraordinary mushrooms look. Isn't that amazing? I don't think it would happen today, but... And whatever about it, I'm glad it's part of my life, you know? Well, it's also how you realise that actually in some ways... yeah it's that relationship you had to do is your work and stuff as well what a huge impact that's had yeah and I own it as well I went I walked right in that eye of that storm I did that I mean it's definitely the choice that I made had

agency in it and it was partly because I was a little I felt a little bland so I thought go go get some weird you know date a man nearly 17 yeah go for it fine find out a thing or two but it's interesting I can see how that's really must be strange in some ways that when you say that to people now obviously their first response and you must get this an awful lot or not in fact I've heard you being not grill but people say well hang on the age gap and da da da and obviously it does feel like that now it feels like you would people would question that more. Oh, totally. Totally. I would be, I would take a very dim view of it was my daughter. Yeah, totally. So do you remember the first time you did

stand up and was it with monkey or some version of monkey? Yes, it was with monkey. Yes, it was with monkey. Yeah, I did a five-minute spot at the Ball and Banana in Bedford. and the Bedford Arms, I think it's called. And I, I sort of won the competition of the night. It was an open mic night that they gave 25 quid to the winner or something like that. And that was my first gig. And I was really scared. I was terrified.

But I really came away going, oh, wow, I did it, I did. You know, it was like really exciting. So it really was a big, big night for me that. And again, I know you get asked about this a lot, but you'll have to forgive the likes of us who don't know much about this from a technical point of view. Because it is fascinating how just the, I suppose, the technicalities of ventriloquism. Was that something, is that a sort of 10,000 hours thing in some ways that the more you do it, the better you get? Or is it a case of also not overthinking the technique? I think it does take some thought.

You have to concentrate very hard at the beginning or you'll end up mouthing or at least showing the emotion of your puppet on your own face, which really looks stupid. That's so interesting. So you have to learn to be impassive, don't you? Yes, you have to disengage like your own eyebrows or tension in the jaw or whatever, you know. whatever, you know, and it also keep your face moving enough that you haven't become frozen inanimate, you know. So that's the rubbing your stomach and patting your head bit and that's the hard bit. I mean, you know, saying B is bloody hard actually. I still sort of... It's B hard, yeah.

Yeah, I still feel like I've horse running up to a jump and go, oh, I didn't approach it right. I'll say another word instead. Yeah, it's like I imagine Mariah Carey probably feels these days when she has to sing emotions and it's like, ah, ah, because it's just that stuff, there is, it's, you know, it's tough, isn't it? I can imagine, because I would look at you and think, you've been doing it for so long, but you're still doing, you've, I suppose like you say, there's still that technique stuff and you've got practical stuff to remember as well as being funny in the moment, you know? Yes. Yeah, there's practical. There's, yeah, there's loads of practical stuff. But it has become like driving. Yes. It's secondhand now. I've done it. Yeah, and for whatever many, 10,000 hours I probably do have by now. How did you develop the monkey character?

Because I kind of love him and I don't know what that says about me. I'm funny. Young women like to respond to him. It's funny. How did you develop him? Because he's... it's hard to I can't remember he came fully formed I didn't develop him he just came along isn't that interesting his face just looked like that and I just did that voice for him and then it just I don't know it came alive I don't think I tried a different voice first either yeah we used to speak very slowly me nah like that

I think he said that for a long time before he... Yeah, but that was just him. It just looked like him. I don't know. Some faces invite that, don't they? You sort of feel like you know who they are. I really loved that. He wasn't one of these horrible wooden mannequins.

Do they give you the croupes, those? Or how do you feel about... I think they get wrong, the crates, don't they? No, some of them, I suppose, are kind of sweet. Some of them are all right. But I just thought I don't want that kind of act. I don't want to be in an act that looks like that. That's not an aesthetic.

It's not cool. It didn't seem cool to me. So I was really happy to have something that was much more akin to a Muppet. Well, I think also what's great about Monkey and why it works so well, the dynamic between you two. I personally wonder if it allows you to push him a bit further. because of the way he looks. Yeah, yeah. And there's this incredible dichotomy between,

you think, oh, little monkey, it would be like if Ray suddenly says, come on, lump, or something. Exactly, yeah, yeah. It's where a lot of, you know, there's so much comedy in that. And I wonder if you have, like you say, the wooden puppet in a little suit

who's creepy enough anyway. So I'm not surprised he's... Yeah, I mean, he'd look like a child catcher or something. someone runs a sweet shop or something just not a good vibe um yeah i i i did have one for a bit and i i did talk to him a bit but i i was because that's all i saw he was just like a creepy he said creepy things yeah i thought this is no fun um it's just like having a horrible boyfriend horrible yeah yeah and it wasn't kind of unpleasant yeah had bitter taste so yeah i'm really relieved i don't I thought I had that monkey because I didn't go looking for him I happened to have him already.

Did you have them already? I had him already and I thought I wonder if that monkey, that lovely monkey puppet I've got has an opening mouth. And he doesn't really, you have to force it. But yeah, it does now. Is it the same monkey or do you have to have backup? I've been through a few, I get through them. I've probably been through about five now. Oh, Ray, don't listen to that.

Don't listen to that. She's been to five monkeys. She's been to five monkeys. of this week's Walking the Dog if you want to hear the second part of our chat it'll be out on Thursday so whatever you do don't miss it and remember to subscribe so you can join us on our walks every week