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Hawks-eye.

Yesterday, we released a new episode of More Than Mostly Comedy, featuring an interview with the excellent Tony Hawks, which we recorded a fortnight ago - our second new MTMC both in a month and since the club relaunched in 2023.



That 'our' has been subject to a personnel change since Mostly was last a functioning entity. I now host the podcast with Dan Graham, who also now runs the club with me. I suggested resurrecting the podcast a few months ago to make the most of what, for me, has always been the best part of Mostly Comedy: the fascinating people it brings us into contact with. Why waste that opportunity by restricting it to a one-off gig in a room, when you can get something out of it that lasts beyond that date?

(Don't respond.)

Tony Hawks is undoubtedly such a person. I've been a fan of his books ever since my friend Ash recommended 'Round Ireland with a Fridge' to me while I gave him guitar lessons in the early 2000s. I instantly fell in love with Tony's writing style, and have devoured a shelf-full of his work in the intervening years, up to and including his recent novel, 'Persistent Wind', which he kindly gave to me when he performed at Mostly last November. I also love his appearances on Radio 4's 'Just a Minute' and the precise, pointed tone of his delivery, which always makes me laugh. Hearing his familiar voice on the other end of our Zoom call during our interview was a surreal yet special moment, and another unexpected byproduct of running the club (much like the gout I've developed).

I'm hoping the return of the podcast will kickstart the creativity I've been sorely lacking lately. It's no secret that I have a love/hate relationship with Mostly Comedy. I'm proud to see it thriving as we head toward the second anniversary of reopening in July and the club's seventeenth birthday in October. Hosting Andy Hamilton for the first time last April - another comedy hero -  as well as Harry Hill and Kevin Eldon, plus the imminent return of Rory Bremner & James Acaster this summer, are all things to be proud of. But none of this relieves my occasional sense of being trapped in a Jack Torrance/Delbert Grady-style Shining situation minus the axe-wielding rampage (at the time of going to press). It's no coincidence that I occasionally bring up Hotel California onstage when pointing out how long I've been doing this. It takes up so much time and energy, often at the expense of something else. 

And while it's a far happier and balanced ship than it once was, it still takes up too much of my focus; it's a question of mental bandwidth, really.

Dan & I interview Tony Hawks for MTMC (12.06.25)

Tony & Coco.

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