Financial Times Europe - 19.10.2019 - 20.10.2019

6

CHRI

SMCANDREW

/CAMER

‘My20-year-oldself APRESS

wasani diot.Imust

apologiseforhim’

INVENTORYALEXANDER ARMSTRONG

PRESENTER,ACTOR AND COMEDIAN

FT.COM/MAGAZINE OCTOBER19/202019

AlexanderArmstrong,49,made

hisnameincomedyasonehalfof

theBafta-winningduoArmstrong

&Miller .Hew asaregul arho st

onHaveIGotNe wsForYoubefore

becomingthepermanenthoston

BBC1 ’sPointlessquizsho w.

What wasyourchildhood

orearliestambition?

To playinapipeband.Ourvillage

pipebandwasthemostshowbiz

thingI’deverseeninmylife.

Pri vateschoolorstateschool?

Universit yors traightintowork?

Lotsofprivateschools,forone

reasonora nother.Iendedupat

DurhamSchool,whichwaslovely,

thenTrinityCollegeCambridge.

Whowasorstillisyourmentor?

Professional ly,JimmyMulville,a

majorfigureinc omedy.Hes etup

HatTrickProductions.Wemade

Armstrong&MillerwithHatTrick.

Fromthebeginningofmycareer,

hewaskeentogetmepresenting.

Heopenedupawholenewavenue

formeandbelievedinmewhenI

didn ’t believeinmyselfatall.

Howphysicall yfita reyou?

I’mprobably aboutsixanda

halfoutof10.WhenI’ mfilming,

myfitnesslevelsfalloff,but

whenI’mnot,Itrytogotothe

gymafewtimesaweek.

Ambitionortalent:which

matter smoretosucces s?

Ifearambitionismoreimportant.

Inanidealscenario, it’samixture

ofthetwo. Genuinetalent

doesshinethroughbut,inmy

experience,ambitionwillget you

muchfurtherthanpuretalent.

Howpoliticallycommitted

areyou?

Ifollowpolit icsavidly.Ilikesensible

peopleofallpoliticalpersuasions.

Myideal politicalparty wouldbea

pickandmix.Ifinditmucheasier

tofollowandsupportpolitical

journalistsandwriters–probably

becausetheydon’t havetorunthe

NHSordeviseatransportplanor

providehouses. Whenitc omesto

actualpoliticians, Ifindit veryhard.

One’s naturalstateistorageagainst

one’s politicalmasters.Ipreferto

rageagainstcompetentpolitical

mastersthanincompetentones.

What wouldyouliketoo wnth at

youdon’tcurrentl ypossess?

Ahouse. We rentatthemoment–

it’saconstanttransitoryphase.

What ’syourbiggestextravagance?

Each yearIhavealotof funin

MarchandAprilgoingthroughnew

enprimeurwines.

Inwhatplaceareyouhappiest?

IgrewupinNorthumberlandand

wegouptoseethefamilyfora

fortnighteveryAugust.

Whatambitionsdoyoustillha ve?

I’ve gotfourboys andmymain

ambitionistoremainalive and

togetthroughthenextphase

offatherhood.Iaspiretot he

emotionalcommitmentand

wisdomthatIthinkthechildren

willneedforthenextstagesin

theirlives.

Whatdrivesyouon?

Family. I’mlongingtoreacha

stageinlifewhereIcantake

myfootoffthegasabit.Iwant

toha ve alovely latemiddle

ageandafabulousdotage.

Whatisthegreatestachievement

ofyourlife sofar?

Imanage dtomarrytheperson

ofmydreams.Hannah,mywife,is

aphenomenalperson.

Whatdoyoufindmost

irritatinginotherpeople?

Themostawfulnoisethehuman

beingcanmakeisthetut .Ican’t

bearpeoplewhodon’t have a

capacityforjoyorenthusiasm.

Ifyour20-year-old selfcould see

younow,whatwouldhethink?

Hewouldbejumpingupand

downwithexcitement.Butmy

20-year-oldselfwasanidiot.

Imustapologiseforhim.

Whichobjectthatyou’velost

doyouwishyoustillhad?

ArecordingofthechoirIwasinat

TrinityCollege.Wed idsomeofmy

favouritepiecesandIwasasoloist.

Whatisthegreatest

challengeofourtime?

We have torelearntodelightin

thedifferencesbetweenusa ndnot

feelthateveryonehastoconform.

Ifpeopleha ve differentviews, it’s

tobeenjoyed.Peopletodayare

affrontedbya nythingthatdiffers

fromtheirownthoughts.

Doyoubelieveinanaft erlife?

IthinkIsortofdo.Ifindtheidea

ofitcomforting.Idon’t know.

I’mhappytod eludemyself.

Ifyouhadtorateyoursatisf acti on

withyourlif esof ar,outof10,

what wouldyouscore?

Forwhatlifehasbroughtme,10

outof10.I’ve hadhugeprivileges.

Intermsofmyowneffort,Iwould

markmyselfaboutafive.

InterviewbyHester Lacey.

AlexanderArmstrong’s 18-date

stand-uptour,“AllMouthand Some

Trousers”,starts inNovember;

alexanderarmstrongontour.com