Walking The Dog with Emily Dean - Simon Brodkin (Part One)

Episode Date: June 18, 2024

This week on Walking The Dog, we’re taking a sunny North London stroll with Simon Brodkin! Simon is a brilliant stand up comedian, well known and loved for creating the characters Lee Nelson and Jason Bent, as well his hugely publicised stunts, which include throwing golf balls at Donald Trump and handing Theresa May a P45. In recent years, Simon has started performing stand up as himself, and he is currently touring his show Screwed Up. Simon is a cat lover - he has two Lilac Burmese cats at home, but we think he and Ray really hit it off! Simon tells us about his childhood in Hampstead Garden Suburb, as part of a family where he felt like the black sheep - then how he went on to become a doctor and later made the switch to comedy. Simon had a later in life ADHD diagnosis and he explains how the diagnosis has helped illuminate parts of his earlier life. Simon has added final extra dates to his stand up tour Screwed Up - including two extra shows at London's Hammersmith Apollo. Tickets are selling fast, so head to simonbrodkin.com for dates and more details. Follow Simon on Instagram and TikTok! Follow Emily: Instagram - @emilyrebeccadeanX - @divine_miss_emWalking The Dog is produced by Faye LawrenceMusic: Rich Jarman Artwork: Alice LudlamPhotography: Karla Gowlett  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I found it easier to get around the CIA and the FBI and the Secret Service and no problem. But you want me to make dinner for my kids at 6.30? No, no! This week on Walking the Dog, Raymond and I went for a North London stroll with comedian Simon Brodkin. Simon was, of course, the man behind the hugely popular character Lee Nelson, as well as footballer Jason Bent. And he's also pulled off some legendary hoaxes. He handed Theresa May her P-45 at the Tory Popper.

party conference. He showered Donald Trump with golf balls. He's even performed as a faux competitor on Britain's Got Talent. But more recently, he started performing stand-up purely as himself to enormous critical acclaim. Simon is such a funny and fascinating person to go for a walk with. We chatted about pretty much everything, from the shift he made from medical school to comedy, to his success as a performer and his adult diagnosis of ADHD, which you get the sense has really helped him make sense of a lot of his life experiences. Ray and I just adored Simon, and I really think you will too. If you want to go see him live, you're in luck because he's now added some extra dates to his sellout tour screwed up, including two nights at the London Hammersmith

Apollo. So do get your tickets before they go at simonbrodkin.com. And you can obviously catch up with all his latest goings on via his Instagram and TikTok at Simon Brodkin. I'll stop talking now and hand over to the brilliant man himself. Here's Simon and Ray Ray. Raymond is just looking every inch, the hamster teeth carried dog. I'm surprised you haven't

got one of those, what is it? What they call? Sedans? What they call? The big chairs that they carry royalty back in the day. He certainly looks the pampered pooch. Do you know, he's got shawking energy. And I love that for him.

And I wanted to meet earlier, but I know he doesn't get a bed before one. I will put him down at one point. Like, let's walk here. You've got to be careful with how you say that. Dogs can interpret that in a very different way. Raymond, she doesn't mean it that way. She means places you on the floor, not take you to the vet.

Simon, I have to say, you're looking so sporty. Thank you. If you can't see me, I've got my full England kit on. No. Well, it's a warm day. and I've got great legs so hey let's get them out though it's I've got me

we've got my trainers on I've got my shorts on and I'm pumped for this walk I'm not a big walker oh are you not for me it's like a sort of lazy man's run I think you're quite a sort of type A fast-paced

sprinter aren't you yeah there's not a podcast I haven't listened to in times two well I'm so thrilled to be with you today We're on hamster teeth. I'm with the wonderful comedian Simon Brodkin. And I've got my dog Ray.

Simon has turned up dogless, but I still think he's great. Thank you for affording me respect, despite not owning a pooch. Yeah, cats. I mean, I'm sorry to bring up the C word so early in the podcast. I'm sure you'll bleep that. But yes, I've got two cats. They're at home. and this is a great podcast for you

and you literally are you thinking you know what got this bloody dog to walk every day let's invite people long and turn it into a podcast I was thinking of doing Simon Brodkin does kitchen cleaning with oh oh

what's happened sorry Simon we're going to have to go back for my dog no we've just been called back by the producer's recording this what's happened there's a poo There's poo. I love the way Ray's not claiming it. There's a poo and Ray happened to be in the area crouching at the time but is claiming innocence. Oh I hope I've got poo bags. I've got a harrowbow packet. Pop it in. I might have to use a harrowbow packet. Is this a test for the people

you've got? Is this like a common sense test to see what the guests do? I'll use my sock. Where's the poo, Simon? I'm not... Well, I'm not... First of all, I'm not a dog poo spotter because I haven't got one, also I'm colourblind. Oh, there it is. I nearly walked in it. Do you get interviewed often and asked where's the poo, Simon? That's normally question three. You don't get this on Graham Norton, do you? I think there it lies one of my motivations for not being massively enamoured with getting a doggy.

I don't know. It's just the picking up their poop in a bag of sweets. Does it worry you that side of it? Does it worry you? Well, I am interested in why people are more cats than dog. Because David Bedil, who's been on this podcast and lives not far from here, he is very much team cats. And he puts up some quite persuasive arguments. Tell me about your cats.

I think trying to persuade anyone, it's an emotional response to have to these animals, right? A lot of the time, it's the animals we were brought with. But cats, first of all, it's an honest lag off Raymond, because he's lovely, despite he nearly stepping on his excrement. I still got a lot of respect for the lad. But for me, the cats are beautiful to look at. They remind me of tigers and lions and cheetahs and feline majesty. And I'm not saying the dogs look a lot different, but I don't have that sort of natural. aesthetic connection with them.

You say my dog's ugly? No. And then there is, I guess, also the looking after you. There's a lot of care going on in looking after a doggy. Not only from picking up its, you know what? Cats are much more, it's much more friends with benefits relationship, I find. Those dogs, you've really got to put a ring on it. Different cats, different cats, different breeds.

Yeah, we've had Burmese breeds, which are incredibly friendly and more dog-like cats. But yeah, I know some of them can be a little distant, should we say, to the point of starting to just live with the neighbour because they offer better food. I get it. There might not be that connection with some cats. What was your history with pets growing up then? Because you grew up in North London, not too far from here.

And did you have animals growing up? Yeah, well, I grew up in not far from here, very run-down part of North London. called Hampster Garden Suburb. You can imagine what it was like around there. And what is it for anyone who doesn't know? How would you describe that area? Because it's sort of suburban. It looks like a bit of a model village

because it's got strict rules as to what can and can't be built, which looks lovely, but it's an absolute pain in the neck when you're trying to fix your broken roof and they won't let you, you know, use glue. So everything is. looks beautiful and uniform but they're not they don't allow shops and and that's so that it's not

exactly a vibrant area but it is I guess fairly idyllic for family and there's green and there's heath it has a village feel to it did you have cats in that house then yeah always cats and what were they called well we went through loads crispin Cameron Xanthropus yeah yeah but they were brought from breed and my parents have kept the name. Lafayette. Very, very, very, very, very posh names. Well, at the moment we've got two, Bobby and Marley.

They are lilac Burmese and beautiful. They're really, yeah, we had Burmese when I was growing up. Oh really? So you are... Have you swapped sides? Have you swapped allegiance? This is... I really loved our cats, but I think I just always wanted a dog. Come on. So what was it that to take?

turned you from the cats to the dogs. I'd always kind of want to one, because what I loved about dogs, and what I still love about them, is they're sort of almost slightly irrational happiness. It's like living with this very uncomplicated extrovert. Yes.

It's like dogs aren't like, oh, what's wrong with you? I'm just really annoyed about something you did in 1997. Do you know what I mean? Cats are a bit more like that. Yeah, dogs just seem to have a very, very low bar for what makes them incredibly excited. Yeah, they're a bit stupid.

A little bit, a little bit dim, and all the happier for it. Do you know what we need to do, Simon, is get him on the grass, because I really want you to see him in action. In action, that sounds like you turn on a button. It's a bit like that. What does he do on grass? Oh, he just really runs. He lives his best life on grass.

Amazing. He's like Black Pew, so you're going to love it. Let's see him go. Let's get him off the cobbles and onto the grass. So I want to know more about the Simon Brodkin origin story. This was in, as we say, it was in North London in Hampstead Garden Suburb. Your parents, are they both solicitors? My parents are both solicitors, you know, not like flash, you know, city solicitors.

My dad did legal aid immigration work. Yeah, my mum, convincing. And it was this real crappy office in Kentish Town. I can say that now. don't work there anymore. Just my dad and my mum. That was the company. Lovely, very nice, straight-laced.

My dad has got a great sense of humour and that's probably where I got the comedy from. Always making jokes. He's a great, actually great writer. He used to win a lot of caption competitions. Of course you can pet him. I was hoping the first person to ask for some attention

would be me, not Raymond, but there is currently a host of people surrounding Raymond and I'm being utterly ignored. We've got about seven children all asking to stroke Raymond. He's lovely, isn't he? Do you like him?

He's so cute and fluffy. You wait until you see him on grass. Bye-bye. Lovely to meet you guys. Oh, his face is so sweet. a celebrity yeah all right don't rub it in wow it's the last time I'm walking with Raymond right I think I'm gonna just head back now cheers Ray I'm the guest Raymond you are the host if that Simon I do apologize it was Chris amazing do you know children love Raymond yeah there is something

slightly Disney about him he looks a bit like something out of George Lucas He does, he does, he looks sort of workshop where they sort of abandoned him I think as an early prototype he's a bit too weird so you were telling me before those lovely kids

showered Raymond with attention Yes You were telling me about your family I'm glad you didn't offer them a haribo With a shit in it I'm saving that for Halloween when they knock on the door But you were telling me about your folks

And I like the sound with it Moretti You were saying your dad's got quite a good sense of humour They, yeah, they're lovely. I mean, as I always tell people, everyone in my family is just nicer than me. Nice and generous and kind and selfless. And then there's me, the sort of wild, always, you know, getting in trouble and doing naughty things and not playing by the rules. But they were so laid back about everything.

So every time I'd get in trouble, there wouldn't be some big, wow, how I would just? just be very chill. I went from medicine to comedy. There wasn't a sitting down and talking to you going, Simon, this is really not the right move. It was just like, cool, that's what you want to do. Go for it. They sound like lovely people, Simon.

They are. That's interesting what you were saying that you feel they were nice. I wonder, and I want to talk to you more about this, I'm fascinated by it, because you've had a sort of later in life diagnosis of ADHD. And I wonder if that sense of not being nice, was also a sense of you being other and a bit different and not feeling right?

I definitely am the black sheep of the family. And whether ADHD is the reason for that, it would seem logical that it is. It was definitely a different way of thinking, a different way of acting, a different way of behaving, which where the rest of my family don't have. That can make you feel quite lonely though, no matter how lovely your family are. And I know this because I was diagnosed as well not long ago. It sort of made a lot of sense. Oh, that's why I was a bit weird.

Yeah. That's why, yes, it does explain so much. I didn't feel lonely in my family at all. And obviously you only have one mum, one dad, one brother. It's not like I was surrounded by, you know, everyone around me behaving in this way. but it definitely where I very much felt different and yeah maybe slightly out of place were more in social settings where you've just got a different way of viewing things and a different way your brain works and a hundred percent the ADHD diagnosis when I you know I remember tears rolling down my cheeks I was listening to his podcast and they were describing because what people don't quite. understand if they don't have ADHD. I'm not sure how many people are left without an ADHD diagnosis at the moment but for those of you who haven't had one,

and that's why I'm always slightly sort of tongue-in-cheek talking about it because it feels like it's very prevalent. I know people probably get tired of talking about it, but or hearing about it, but the one of the leading doctors in ADHD in America, where they were ahead of the game there, was listing the things that ADHD can cause. and what people I don't think quite necessarily understand is just how much of your behaviour it affects. Obviously the obvious ones, which you have to be the A, the D and the H and the D, the attention, the deficit and the hyperactivity disorder, those ones people know. But when it affects your way of watching television and sleeping and eating and forming relationships and then it was just like, oh my goodness, that is me, that is me. like this striking moment of realisation, partly because it struck so many chords, and partly

are like, wow, I, it's sort of almost, you go, wow, there's a lot of me that I thought was just me. It turns out there may be a sort of blueprint for millions of us that's going on here. And it does explain a lot, and that's a common thing that people talk about, that it really makes a lot of sense of things in the past, of why things didn't quite feel. right or why you thought differently or why you had the relationship with whatever it was food or time or exercise or everything yeah I can see that and I imagine what how would you describe yourself then when you were a child if like say one of your friends parents had been talking about you what would

they've said what Simon like me slagging me off I've saw some of my school reports recently and they are hilarious I mean it almost reads you you know, like a cliche of what is. This guy can't concentrate, thinks he's hilarious, you know, getting sent out all the time, and he can't concentrate. What was brilliant is the headmaster. Of course, ADHD, I'm sure it was known about in America, but it just wasn't thought of or perceived,

and the headmaster were a summary at the end and said, what I find perplexing, of course, with ADHD, it's known that when one is engaged, engaged with something, you give it full focus. And when one isn't interested, it's just a mess. And the headmaster's like, I cannot understand for the life of me why Simon is able to give full concentration attention in certain lessons, yet completely lacking in others. And it was, you know, he was going through, I can't understand why his writing is messy, why he can't keep time, why he can't. And it's like, I can explain. It's like looking back at one of those, you know, early

doctors on the verge of, you know, I don't know, discovering cancer and going, there seems to be some, you know, growth which is cannot be explained. It was like, dude, you are writing the list of symptoms of ADHD, but we don't have an answer yet as to what is causing that. So, yeah, it was the classic baby. I mean, at school, it was always getting thrown out of class and always trying to make people laugh and always, you know, not being able to concentrate.

And this was, we should say, this was a boys school, which I'm familiar with because I grew up near you and it's called UCS and I knew it as it's got an amazing reputation. It's pretty academic and there's a lot of high achievers there is how I certainly perceived it. How did you thrive in that environment? I mean, you've explained, you know, some of the sort of slight run-ins you had with the teaching staff who couldn't quite work out what was going on. But how were you socially? Did you have a lot of friends? Were you the sort of a popular kid?

I wouldn't say a popular kid. The joke was always that I think I got in because my brother, who's three years older than me, was already there. And so they were like, Brodkin, he's bloody brilliant. Of course we'll let his brother in. In you come, Brodkin, they were like, what? You know, and then the years that followed were like,

are you sure you're related to your brother? Like, are you sure because the differences were just colossal? And look, I don't want to paint myself as someone who's going around, you know, setting fire to buildings and punching kids around the face. You know, I was going to a very good school and being one of the most unruly in that school. But, you know, and I think I probably would have been kicked out of a lot of other, you know, schools of that category. But I think UCS is known for being, well, certainly was back in the day, for being more laid back and more accepting and not so much, do your tie up, you know, cut your hair.

So I think I was able to sort of, you know, get through that way. and then once I decided, which was at GCSE level, holy, you know, cow, I've got, I want to do this now. I want to be able to get your GCSEs. And then I kicked in and then started working feverishly. And, um, you had a deadline as well. There was a deadline. It was something I cared about. Yeah. There was a clear goal at the end of it. And it, you know, it wasn't just a nebula concept of working, it was like this is what you need to do in order to get what you want. And then suddenly, like a lot of people with ADHD, once you put your mind to it, it's amazing what you can achieve. You, I love this about you, but you were a doctor originally. I could do a whole

podcast on this. But had you decided at quite a young age that you wanted to do medicine and you wanted to be a doctor? I think I started off wanting to be a vet to meet people like Ray. he raised scuttling behind us. He's sniffing grass for the first time and he's like, I'm nearly on home soil here. I'm so impressed by people that do medicine. I know maybe that's weird.

That takes a really special kind of brain though, doesn't it? I don't know. I'm not going to, you know, big it up too much. Obviously, you need to have intelligence and common sense and be able to willing to learn. And I want to do it because I love being with people. people and I care for people and it felt like the next, that's what I, you know, was the natural step and it's a lot of years of studying of which was never that straightforward

and again explained in hindsight with ADHD, my mates would just sit there on their bed, reading a book and it would soak all in. I had hundreds and hundreds of little post-it notes all around the room with tiny little writing on. What's that? I recognise you from TV. Finally. Someone knows who I am. Simon. Simon Broadkin, yeah, yeah. Good to see you guys. Yeah, I'm more famous than Ray, just in case you were sizing the two of us up and wondering who to get a selfie with. Oh, lovely, isn't there? Oh, hello.

Oh, you're lovely, aren't you? Oh, is that my dog? Ray's Evely. He was stroking me at the time, to be fair. Nice to meet you guys. Love you to meet you. So with the ADHD, I had to just concentrate. hate so much. In fact, my girlfriend at the time, now wife, she dumped me because she did not believe

that I was working that much to not be able to see someone more regularly. But it was like battened down the hatches, this is the finals, I know how much I need to learn and I know just how little I know because I've been, shall we say, not really giving it my full focus for the previous few years and getting kicked out of lectures and having run-ins with the tutors and all sorts of things. Because you went to Manchester to do medicine and I mean I'm presuming you were funny from quite an early age and you were making people laugh. Always funny. Always that was the thing that gave me the biggest kick is making people laugh and and that doesn't tend to be compatible with remaining in a lecture or a class when they're trying to get across serious

things. Did you ever sort of do anything like in a class or in a lecture in you're at med school that got you in trouble? Yes, several times. Yes, yes. I got banned from a couple of departments. Yes, well there was some, I won't go into too detail the description, but there's mannequins being used a lot of the time and they come up to say, you know, please demonstrate to the whole, you know, lecture all the procedure to examine this part of your body. and there's too many opportunities to make very big laughs when you're being asked to demonstrate a prostate exam. It's just there's too many, I cannot take that seriously.

If that's one area, no matter how many times I did it, I could never, ever get over just how funny and silly this is that people who come in to A&E, you almost, you basically asked them to whip their trousers and underwear. off and then you put your finger up their bum. That's hysterical. That's, that's, that's just, that's never not going to be funny. Like farting, you know, I always was seeing the funny in everything and less the serious. But did it occur to you at those moments, Simon, did you think, hang on, the humour and the potential for comedy in this is slightly overriding the discipline itself and the study that actually, I'm constantly seeing comedy in this, maybe, was it a sign is what I'm saying?

you see that as a sign that maybe that... I wouldn't so much just sign... You're definitely laying elsewhere. I mean, obviously I got there eventually, but at the time, I didn't think that there was like one avenue for medicine or a potential, another avenue for comedy. I thought you're just a funny person. I know that sounds weirdly.

Like, but I was never thinking, right, I've just made everyone love. I'm going to go and be a comedian. I'm going to be a stand-up comedian. And it had crossed my mind in the past. I was just thinking... You just thought, well, this is my... Yes, this is my job. Yeah, I get it.

But then as time wore on, because of five years and another year being a junior doctor, I think it was the year as a junior doctor, that was really, because for the first time, I wasn't enjoying the medicine. So when I was, Emily just pointed out a sign, a classic hamster, he'd signed, caution, amphibians crossing. I mean, that's amazing, isn't it? What does that even mean? They've got a picture of a toad.

I mean, normally it's things you've got to watch out for in case they hit you or something. Like a frog, I think we can all see and just stop the walk. So yeah, that's it. I was saying, that year when I was finally, as I always loved the medicine. I love the medicine. I love the science behind it. It fascinates me. It's weirdly one of those things because I can't remember what I did two days ago, right? My memory is abysmal.

But the medicine, I've actually retained a lot of knowledge, I guess, again, because it interests me and stimulates me. But when I was studying, it was just living with mates at university, having a great time going out, you know, just living quite a wildlife. And then suddenly when it came to being a junior doctor, my love went, unless I'm feeling love for something, I just can't engage with it. So I was living in a hospital in junior doctor's accommodation. And it sort of feels like sort of Eastern European barely standing. miserable, cold, horrible, paint peeling, because the hospital ain't got a lot of money and so they're not going to spend a big percent of that on, let's make the junior doctor

accommodation look nicer and be more pleasant to living. So it's horrible, there's fire doors everywhere, so every door closes behind you. So there's no community sense and it's hard work. And I was working with a group of other doctors who are more senior than me. You're sort of on their team. Generally a bit of a dog's body, which is totally fair enough. You're the junior. You don't really know that much. But it wasn't a nice atmosphere.

It was a little bit bullying. My senior house officer was, who's the sort of next level up to the very junior. They were pretty condescending and not supportive and patronising. And the NHS itself is, and I say this with the greatest love for the NHS, it's very difficult place to work in. you feel that you're working in this bare moth of an organisation where nothing can change, where no one can move the goalposts no matter how ridiculous the goalposts are. Remember, every single person who came in for surgery, no matter how minor,

like even to have like a mole removed, you would need to take their whole blood. Right? And that's hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pounds for every single person. And you would try and say, but do we need to do this? And people say, well, no, but you sort of got to. and there were art examples this throughout the whole place. The comparison of going the arts world and the public sector, public health world, I could not get my head around when I first started going to TV production companies.

They were these beautiful buildings and there's a reception and a huge television and there's bowls of sweets and the days papers and it's beautiful and there's cool music playing. And it's like, how does that make sense that this industry that, you know, is a very, very valuable industry. But at the end of the day, it's entertaining people is this well-moneyed and flashed. And then the industry that's meant to be saving people's lives, like, is there anything more important than sort of being alive? Yeah. Is decrepit and crumbling? My first ever TV role, I was asked to do absolutely fabulous, right?

And I think I only got the part because they knew I used to be a doctor. and the part was for a doctor, right? I couldn't act, I'd never done anything. I was wildly underconfident and I just got this job. And they came in to record it at a hospital and they wanted to record it at the reception, the hospital. But the reception area was so disgusting. And so they said what we need to do is just build a new reception area.

And they were able to build this new reception area and make it look like a proper nice receptionary in hours because they just decided it on the day. And then the hospital was saying, can we just keep it here, please? Because it looks lovely. And it was so sad to see what's able to happen with a bit of money and common sense

and how the TV world just was like, well, why don't we just build a new one quickly? And they did it. Funny enough, I went back, because I heard that you were in an episode of Absolutely Fabulous, you were so good and I think partly why you were so good is that you were a doctor. But then I thought, no, the reason it works is because comedy should be played straight a lot of the time in those things. And you were playing it like a doctor.

And actually the best cameos and performances on that are the ones where they add to the comedy and they work in that setting. I just pretended it was an exam. I was like, let's just get through. Let's remember the basics here. I'm interested when did that shift happen? You're, well, you've left MedSkot and you're in your first year as a junior doctor which involves presumably A&E and all those sort of things, does it? Yes.

It involves, I had quite a varied, I've just been bumped by another dog. I'm small but that felt like I really shouldn't have actually let out a sigh when I was knocked by another dog. But if something had happened, I feel you would have known what to do. Do you know, I've got a confession to make this morning I hit my ankle and I really hurt it. And I thought, oh, it's okay, I'm with Simon. Brilliant. If anything. Do you get that with friends?

Do friends ring you? My friends know me. They know not to come to me with any problem. Avoid Simon. Something's gone wrong. Don't speak to Simon. My family, my family trusts me a little bit. It's great with my kids because I know that the main role of a doctor a lot of the time,

especially a GP, is to work out whether it's actually something to worry about. You're probably quite calm as well, aren't you? The more hectic, the calmer I feel. I'm at my most anxious when just everything is just going perfectly normally. I mean, I happily perform in front of 4,000 people at the Apollo. Give me a wedding reception where people are handing around volvons and asking me, you know, how things are going. Not for me.

That sweat dribbling down my back. Oh, look, the other dogs are interested. Look at the little chihuahua. Hello, darling. And tails a wagon. Do you want to see Ray Ray? Say hello. Adored by humans and dogs alike.

He's a boy. He's called Raymond. Raymond. Oh, Raymond. Oh, cute. Raymond. Who's that, honey? Say, right?

Yeah. A lot of people think he's a Pekingese, but you're all right. Look at his voice, Simon. That's pretty sweet. So I knew so little about dogs. When I had a look at the blurb describing your podcast when I was invited on, it says, join Emily Dean and Shih T-Soo Raymond. And I just assumed that was your co-presenter.

Like I'd never seen Shih T-S-U written down. And it says S-H-I-H, new word T-ZU, both with capital S and capital T. Raymond, I'm like, okay, I'm looking forward to meeting Emily and Shik. So you thought that was a full name? I thought that was a full name of your co-prison. Shih Tzu Raymond? I'm not joking. This is the idiot you're dealing with.

Can you see why I struggled sometimes in medical exams? Were you a bit disappointed when you turned up and Shitsu Raymond wasn't here? It clicked before because I was looking through it when I was on a walk with my kid and I was reading through and I said that was, oh no. And then a few minutes later, oh my God, I've just realised that's the dog and it's a Shih Tzu. It's not Shih Tzu Raymond. Did you think it was like my swami, my spiritual leader, like the Beatles or something? I did think sort of, I did think, yeah, East Asia. I thought that's cool.

I like that. Never heard of the guy. Sounds interesting, is it a spiritual thing? What's his background? But brilliant. Oh God. I love that you admitted that. Anything for a laugh. I don't think.

Really? Is that what you think? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was the problem with medical school, Simon. I think we had a nutshell. Yeah. You know, Frank Skinner, who's done this podcast, always says, I'm aware, he says.

I'm paraphrasing him, obviously. He's a lot more articulate and funny than me. But he makes this point about how he's aware that he sometimes will always prioritise the joke over everything. Do you know what I mean? Like even if it comes sometimes to the well-being of the energy of the room, Is that how you feel? Oh, definitely.

I mean, I'm not so extreme. I'm not going to, you know, fart in the middle of a funeral and go, hey! I'm not going to like, you know, I'm not going to push it. But, you know, in terms of you were saying, you should be a bit more embarrassed to admit of that. But to me, I'm just thinking that's funny. That's a funny moment. I like that you admit that because I think what that shows to me is it's risking vulnerability. interesting that you view it like that thank you for telling me I'm brave for not

knowing how to read one of the most well-known dog I don't know what you call dog categories this is how little I know dog genres dog makes dog models it's like a bored Cortina I'll have a I'll have a retriever I'll have a it in black or golden that they are basically oh look at all the sunbathers Simon is nice do you like us do you how do you feel about a public sunbathe not for me sitting down on any surface for more than a few seconds doesn't suit the my rhythm I'm really getting that vibe because I ran ahead of you and came back in the middle of answer a question yes but I've noticed something interesting about you even though

clearly if this were you on your own you'd be walking at 20 times the pace, I do make a little note of people who slow down their pace to accommodate me and rate, and that's exactly what you've done. So that tells me a lot about you. The Raymond test. We can't leave your co-presenter behind. Shih Tzu. He's my spiritual guide. Come on, she. We met at an ashram. It's brilliant. Come on, Shih Tzu, Raymond. Oh, he's going to get run over. I'll move him out the way. We haven't found the grass for him, have we? We do want to put him on grass?

Oh yes, brother. Yes. Oh my, what's your name again? Simon. Simon. Yeah, back in the day. Lee Nelson's welcome show. That's it.

My bro, yeah. Quality. Take it easy. There we go. That would have been mixed feelings for me. The guy who ran over Raymond then compliments me. I don't know. My ego would have just been like he's a great guy.

You get quite a lot of a lot of people. of attention when you're out don't you? Do you like it? I do like it. Not because mainly I don't think because of the attention obviously I like attention but because it means that people are liking my comedy and that for me is the biggest badge of honour. Yeah. That people see you and they are happy to see you and they have nice thoughts about you because you've made them laugh. So the shift to comedy you suddenly thought actually I'm going to at this and I want to do this? Yes, and realising that there could be a career in it. I think it was seeing Sasha Baron Cohen doing Ali G, little slots on the 11 o'clock show. I was just like,

he's pretending to be someone else to make people laugh and it was like that's what I'm doing most nights out. That's why I did the first night when I met my future wife, I mean my I assume that my would have been future wife, my now wife, met in a club in Manchester, and I was pretended to be Spanish for the next, sort of, how many hours. It was just being silly, it was always being silly and actually, always pretending to be other people, which is why the comedy started with the characters, because it was never being myself. This is a recent change in direction.

How did your parents take here? take here? Well, I wasn't pretending I was Spanish with them. I think they would have seen through it. But mom, dad, I am really from. So they, again, like I said early on, they were amazingly relaxed. You know, it was a pretty sudden shift. And I think that's common with me if I'm not really loving something. I'm either totally committed to it or I just don't have any time for it. And so there was this moment of change and I drove home through the night. I nearly didn't make it home because I did a whole shift and there's the day when all the junior doctors swap over because everybody's shift changes. And there's normally jobs that aren't filled for a day because they're travelling around the country and they're getting there.

and I'd done a whole through the night shift. And then my consultant said, where are you off to? Where's your next job? And I said, I don't have one. And he said, right, you're going to carry on the shift with me. And then he made me do another 12 hours just because you could back in the day. And then I drove back to London because I was being booted out the accommodation at the hospital. And that was a rather hairy journey of trying to stay awake.

got home sort of rang on the bell like right I'm living here I'm giving something else to go and they've been they were very very Remarkably relaxed about it and supportive which is great And once someone's decided that that's what they want to do I think you know obviously I'm the sort of person I would question it a little bit I mean I I was so unbelievably naive about I didn't I didn't really know about that sounds weird to say but I didn't know about the stand-up scene and about the first time I went to Edinburgh I was just like And I didn't go to perform. Someone recommend going up there. This is where the centre of comedy is.

And I went up there and it was like, wow, this is insane. These stand-up shows everywhere. And it was like that was when I decided to take one of the characters that I was already doing and do stand-up with him. And that was Lee Nelson. And as you heard from the bloke who just cycled past us and nearly not Raymond over, that's the show that he still has fond memories of, of me doing that character.

Which way, probably? I feel like you know where you're going. Oh, I've no idea. Okay, good. Yeah, Lee Nelson took off for you in a way, I imagine even you didn't quite expect because it was early in your career, relatively, wasn't it? Relatively speaking, and it just became huge.

I think I didn't even realise how big it was till after because the number of people who will still have that interaction with me around the UK is going, oh my God, I love you. I mean, I'm pleased to say it's now the Simon bit's taking over but before just at the beginning of the change of going from characters to me,

just the number of people who have the biggest amount of love for that show and for that character is brilliant. I don't think I quite realised just the size of it. And it was an odd decision. I think it was a bit odd that the BBC sort of ended it. I think it was a new... Danny Cohen was originally the guy who commissioned it.

And he was just super supportive. He commissioned the second series just before the... I think... Hello, mate. How you doing? And so, yeah, he commissioned a second series, I think just before the first series had finished. And then a new commissioner came in after series two, and like a new manager comes into a football club,

they want to assert their own way of doing things, they want to get rid of some of the old squad. And he couldn't get rid of it, I believe, because it was too popular. But equally, he didn't want it. being the same. So he said you've got to have it out of the studio. You can't have him in the studio, which was the sort of backbone of the whole show. I think so. That's one of your strengths, I think, is your audience interaction. You know, like, I think you're, that's something you

clearly enjoy and you're very good at. Yes. And it was set in the studio and it was all designed for me to be able to talk to any of the, you know, I don't know, a couple of hundred people are in there and that was the bounce of the show. And then yes, that was a character, then we'd drop into these other little characters, the Jason Bent and the Dr. Bob and would do these characters. But it was that, anyway, so then it was just all the, it was a bit of a mess that third series. And then I carried on doing Lee and the tour was as big as it had ever been. But then again, maybe a little bit like with the changing from medicine into comedy,

Just I think I just lost that love. So I always love Dewey. He's the most fun person to be. He's the bounciest, happy go lucky. Everything's great in his world. Taking the mick out of anything that comes before him. Is it like a dog, I think. He is a little bit like a dog.

I think we've linked that. That is why I feel a bond with Raymond. You're absolutely right. It is a little bit like a dog. Wake up every morning. Yay! How you doing, World. Oh my God.

good last night, mental. I only went and lost my leg. How funny is that? I'm up in everywhere. It's that sort of, yeah. Everything is, you're absolutely right. It's all right, because there's leaves to run through. Exactly. Everything is great. I don't know if, you know, you sort of feel, because you're middle class and he wasn't, but I think that character, whenever felt like punching down to me because he came across as kind of likeable. Do you know what I mean? He was never... Yes, he wasn't sneering at all. It was just a vehicle for that personality. It wasn't cruel. You know, and he was sort of someone I think, oh, I'd like him in my life. He seems like a nice... Yeah, you want to lee lie around.

I don't worry about it might come around here, we'll sort of everything. It's just, I don't it's just a great bounce to everything. Interesting you say the class and the sneering, that is literally something I had never even thought about. Like literally, you know, and I probably should have. But with the characters I came up with across the board, there was never this second sort of thought process that goes through a lot of things now, for good or for bad. Is that acceptable?

Can we do that? Why should that be funny? Are we allowed to laugh at that? What is that saying in a wider context? That was never, ever something that crossed my mind. It is more now, you know, more grown up. understand the world a little bit more. And so now I do think about those things when doing my stand-up.

But that was something that I just was what, why? What, I'm just kind of make people love. It was so, and I think, hope that I agree with you. It was never sneering. It was always meant to be uplifting and full of love. But then I did loads of, you did a lot of, you know, the stunts. And the more I was doing the stunts. And the more I was often on stage as Lee in a theatre.

having some interaction with the audience and I was thinking some of this just that's not like Lee wouldn't know that Lee can't come back with that Lee and I was thinking more the stunts are relying less on the characters and Lee is often just relying on me I feel like I want to give this a go. I really hope you love part one 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 Thank you.