Читать книгу Sunshine on Putty: The Golden Age of British Comedy from Vic Reeves to The Office - Ben Thompson, Ben Thompson - Страница 31

‘I’ve been under siege by them for years, really,’ Marber says, rather forlornly, of his erstwhile colleagues, ‘but I’ve never responded up to now.’ He pauses. ‘I think they’re of the view that I plotted to get them sacked.’

Presumably he doesn’t intend to take this opportunity to confirm the truth of that accusation?

Marber laughs, perhaps a little nervously. ‘In the summer of ‘92, me, Lee and Herring, Steve and Simon Munnery did a show in Edinburgh called The Dumb Show, which didn’t really work. When we all got in a room together, we just didn’t hit it off. And some time after that, they fell out with Armando, and that was it, really. The irony of it is that I thought their material was absolutely fantastic – you would always feel excited on On The Hour when something they had written came in…’ Marber pauses. ‘I suppose they’re maintaining that on some level they invented Alan Partridge?’

He sounds slightly surprised at the news that they haven’t done this – at least not in my hearing.

‘They did write the first piece of material,’ Marber explains. ‘Armando asked Steve to perform it and this generic sports voice came out – sort of Elton Welsby, sort of Jim Rosenthal. Then Steve came up with the name and Alan was born, but I think it would definitely be fair to say that Alan Partridge wouldn’t have happened had Lee and Herring not written the original sketch.’ As to the scale and grandeur of the oak that will grow from this particular comedic acorn, though, only destiny can decree it.