Films To Be Buried With with Brett GoldsteinPaul Chowdhry • Films To Be Buried With with Brett Goldstein #267
*This episode was recorded prior to the start of the SAG-AFTRA strike.*
LOOK OUT! It’s only Films To Be Buried With!
Join your host Brett Goldstein as he talks life, death, love and the universe with the massive UK comic PAUL CHOWDHRY!
A really wild one right here as Paul brings a pure unique energy to the FTBBW Mojo Dojo Casa House, making for a truly memorable episode. Paul does awesomely as a comic, in the smaller setting as well as the huge arena venue, so it's great to hear him killing it in the podcast scenario too! From studying film, to doing corporates (which for those unaware just means comedy shows but for various corporate entities), to weird aggro on stage, and all things fascinating in the existential realm. A gold one - you'll love it.
Video and extra audio available on Brett's Patreon!
SUPERBOB (Brett's 2015 feature film)
Look out.
It's only films to be buried with. Hello, and welcome to films to be buried with. My name is Brett Goldstein. I'm a comedian, an actor, a writer, a director, a gaffer, and I love films. As Abraham Lincoln once said, folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be. Why are you gonna hate on Barbie? You're only hurting yourself? Wow, that is deep and true, Abraham Lincoln. Nice one. Every week I invite a special guest over, tell them they've died. Then I get them to discuss their life through the films that meant the most of them. Previous guests include Barry Jenkins, Himes, Patel, Sharon Stone, and even Pled Clambles. But this week it's the brilliant comedian, actor and taskmaster mister Paul Chowdry. Head over to the Patreon at patreon dot com Forwards Lastrett Goldstein, where you get all the extra stuff for the episodes, You get secrets from the guests, you get an extra twenty minutes of chat, you get the whole episode and dad free and as a video. Check it out over at patreon dot com Forward Slash Brett Goldstein. Paul Chowdrey, Oh my days, Paul Chowdree. So, Paul Chowdrey is a true star of the British comedy scene. He's so funny and brilliant. He sold out Wembley Arena all by himself. If you don't know him from his hugely successful stand up shows, you will know him from Taskmaster, amongst many other things. I think he's so funny. I was delighted to record this with him a few months ago on Zoom. He was as unique as always and I think you're gonna love it. So that is it for now. I very much hope you enjoy episode two hundred and sixty seven of Films to be Buried With. Hello, and welcome to Films to be Buried With. It is me Brett Goldstein, and I am joined today by an actor, a writer, a Taskmaster, a gym goer, a mister Universe, a legend, a arena act, a stadium act, and one of the greatest stand ups to have ever been born on this planet. He's here, He's real. I can't believe it. Can you look at his face? There he is is mister Paultry.
Brett Goldstein. One honor. It's always anned to see you and speak to you.
The honor is all my.
I've known you since you were born.
You have you were there, I was there, you delivered me.
I was there the ambilical cord.
Yeah, and I remember my dad being really angry about.
That doing it. He's not the doctor.
He was like that. That was my moment. But in a way, I think it's one of the reasons you and I side close.
Well, I'd say I was at the birth of your comedy career as well, before all this began.
Very much.
There was promise when you came up to me at that I think it was an open mic.
I think UK when I started, me and No Mallins ran a like new act night called Funny How, and we'd have headliners and you, I think were one of our first headliners.
And you came yeah those gigs that nobody would go to, And I was like, Brett, Yeah, don't worry, I'm going to come down. I don't know who you are, I don't know what you do.
Well, I've got this gig. Can can you come down and do the gig?
Plase? You had a different voice then, and I'm like, don't worry about it. I'll hook it up and I came down. I think there was three four people in the.
You said I'll bring an audience, They'll come to four people there. Yeah, it was a wreck. It was a smash for that.
It was a great gig.
Where was it at the Hope in Good Street?
It wasn't Good Street. I don't know what year was.
There, nineteen No, it was like it's like fifteen years ago.
Yeah. Yeah, it was your comedy career's birth at that time.
Yeah, and you've been going for forty five years. I've never understood.
Forty five years when I did your gig. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've been going for forty five years at that point fifteen years ago, so as close to sixty years now. I've been doing this.
As a stylishing work ethic. Now. The thing about you that some people know and some people don't it's you're quite extraordinary in many ways, and one of them is you're basically the biggest act in England that doesn't get with all love and I think it's the wrong thing. You're not on TV enough, but you have a huge fucking phone. You can sell out arenas, stadiums, you do it just by just sort of hanging around in the street and people like, I won't go see.
It, just hang around the street.
You've broken the system. You've broken the system. I wouldn't say I've broken it. Like Andrew tape Rock the system a slightly different.
He kind of got people on a pyramid scheme and then got them to put videos off on TikTok.
I didn't do it that way, no, but similar vibes, similar vibe very Andrew Tate vibes.
I just geeked for years. I built up a live following, went from venue to venue and yeah, I got to a point of selling out Wembley and I've been in the top ten selling UK comedians for about ten years now. I love it. I think Brett, it's like yourself. You know you've done, You're doing major stuff now, but at that point when you started, you've got to make a good impact on the opportunity to're given on TV. And when you make and the audience buy into that and you do pick up a following. Now, there's so many outlets you can pick up a following in various media genres. Really can't you?
How often do you do a new show every year? Well?
I've been touring this one for about a year and a half, but I've been rewriting the show so it actually becomes a new show by the end of it. I can never stay scripted to the same show, so I've taken it up, you know what I mean.
I do. I've been thinking about that myself. It's sort of boring doing the same thing for a year, and I wonder how much you can change. But so you're by the end of the tour, you've got a new tour and you go back to the beginning pretty much.
And then now I'm going to Edinburgh, I'm doing like a literally a rewritten version of the show because everything changes, you know, when you tak and especially if you're doing topical and people want to hear about current affairs. We've had like three Prime Ministers since I start the tour, yeah, since last week, yes, and a couple of presidents. So we've had about seven wars. Yeah, you know, it's a lot. It's a lot to keep up with. That's why that's why I don't do topical stuff but just talk about sex.
I'm like that stays.
When I started the tour, I think Margaret Thatcher was in power at the time.
Are you I'm going to ask you the question that Stuart Goesmith will ask you at the end of the podcast. I ask you at the beginning, are you happy?
No?
Good man? I think you're well. I'm gonna say I think you're one of the funniest, but I often am like, I think you're underestimated as one of the funniest because I think some people don't know that you know how fucking funny you are. But I think you not exactly how funny you are.
Discussed, Like before I go on, I always think they ain't gonna like me. I've got that Larry David thing, but this ain't my crowd, This isn't Obviously, Then when you get to a point of selling out your own shows and they kind of come for you and your voice. But when you like last yesterday, I was in Leo Palooza in Cornwall in a tent in the festival gig and those muddy fields, well I just thought this it was children, babies, This ain't my crowd. And then and kind of get an encore, but you don't expect it. You don't expect it. Then, when I've done corporates and insurance companies and you think they're gonna hate me and that gig. I've got two standing ovations, but it's normally the gigs. Now, I think that sounds like I'm boasting. You See, I'm not the kind of comic that says I've never said I'm funny, because I just think every gig is that people say is your last gig is kind of who you are. But then now we live in a world where there's so much dispose with all our materials kind of out there. You've got specials videos, you can just go to YouTube and people decide themselves, so you can have a bad gig last night. But still to people in the.
Yeah, that's what that's went on somewhere. You look at this one.
Yeah, I remember one time I did a gig in Man was a Scotland did a corporate show and you do a lot of corporates.
Yeah, never, no, never did one months and it was exactly I've never done it again.
Tough tough gigs.
Yeah I'm horrendous, but that one.
Was a lot of corporates.
Yeah, that one was felt like a lot in the ten minutes out today which someone threatened me. It was mad I really Yeah, someone's tried to start a fight with me and I was like, this is not idea.
I've had that one a few times. I've I've been threatened attacked. This one in Scotland was in Glasgow. I think I saw Billy Connolly in the hotel reception before the gig, so I thought that was a good good sign Billy can't have two starstropping and speak to the guy back. This was at fifteen around the time I did your gig fifteen years ago.
Yeah, when we met.
When we met, and then the guy thought he was a comedian, the guy putting the event on, so just did a load of jokes the internet at the beginning of the night, you know, all these pub jokes, and then put me on it. I think quarter to one in the morning and people walking around and I was sat at the table with all the clients, all these big business people, and I remember the gig going quite badly, some people listening and sitting back at the table and then were blanking me and then court and then afterwards I had to make a call and I got this. Apparently Hugh Grant used to do this as well, so I used to represent myself so when the client were called up, are you on to got Paul Chardy? Do you? Yeah, I'm sure he could. And then she called up and she goes, but he just wasn't funny.
We want our money back.
But I heard that you put him on very lately.
That's not the point. The point is it wasn't funny. We watched him online. It was really funny, and he came and just well people weren't laughing. Yeah, but apparently the gig wasn't set up properly.
It was it And I had this back and forth, but she was telling me I'm not funny when I was in the character of the agent.
Fucking hell. The corporate that I did, the one corporate that I did was in like a country mansion where like some company had It was like a company retreat, right, and I'd been invited and they said it's quite small gathering, but like there's a dinner and at the end of the dinner, just do I think it was literally ten minutes to stand up at the other dinner. And when I arrived at this country mansion, the company were all dressed up as superheroes. They were fucking hammered and they were doing karaoke and they were like having the screaming running around his place, and the guy in charge went, okay, so I'll just gathered them around the table and I said, these people do not need comedy. This is mad, like they're very happy. The last thing they need is and it was literally like they're having the best party they've ever had, and then they're told off, like guys, guys, sit down now, because you've got to listen to this guy who's just wanting. And I was like, please, they don't need it. I said, you don't even have to pay me. They don't want this, they don't need it anyway. No, no, no, we've got you. We've booked you. And he made them sit down, and one guy dressed as Superman and literally just stood at a kitchen table with a mic and a little amp and I just think I said that, hello, well this is weird, isn't it. And a guy guy goes, have you got fucking anything? And I'd also been told you can't swear or anything, and I went, it's weird. I was told I'm not allowed to swear any went fucking going then, and I went, who's this? And then the whole thing went so dark. Oh god, it was so horrible. But I was also like, they don't need this. This is a terrible boocket. No one in this room is going, where's the stand up horrenda.
That's and you played a superhero in one of your already films. I remember I messaged you at the time.
That's true, that's true. This was after that guy inspiration.
Of the what of the tragic superhero you played?
Yeah?
Great film.
I want to play that guy. Thank you very much. Paul. Oh, I've fuck I've forgotten to tell you something. It's mad that I didn't tell you this at the beginning. That's mad. Uh god, I can't believe it, because you'd think this would be on my mind that the first thing i'd say to you, But I forgot. You've put it into You've died, You're dead?
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember. I died and did you die bad corporate? Take my wife's name out of your fucking mouth corporate.
Will Smith was there, and.
Did I said to his wife, just did a film called g I Jane three not two three? Take my wife's name out your fucking mouth.
And then Smith killed me just like walkdime to the state watches one clock to you right in the temper.
I think, And then the people were laughing, thinking of sketch a tribute to Chris Rock, but no it was It'd probably be Will Smith Corporate death. You get to the point of hosting the Oscars and then you get slapped. You know that it was a corporate essentially, that was a corporate That's why you don't.
Right, That's why you don't want to ask because it's the biggest fucking corp and it's televised.
Jesus and I almost got attacked that same week at a wedding I did in Preston, Sorry, what.
Are you doing weddings? Why is anyone doing weddings?
Birthdays? Bar Mitzvah's why.
Are you doing a wedding? What? Who's at a wedding guying? This needs stand up exactly? Bring the comedian man that's mad weddings. What happened this wedding?
I turned up this wedding and say the guy and I had to recall the next day for a big Disney thing and Pete Holmes was discussing Cruella in the last and you know I'm in.
Don't you. I love Cruella and you're the best thing.
People don't know that's me. Of course it's you. You play on the second dog. I'm the Indian guy. I remember, I do remember.
I generally was very excited to see you.
Whenever a soon comes into the keb shop and the restaurant. Can I do please anything?
Really?
Were spend the day with emm A Stone lovely. I stayed in a stay in character. No I jumped out of character. Yeah, she's a lovely lady. I'm the stone. But yeah, the corporate was was interesting. And then you know that people say take me out my cousin. I took the mac out of his cousin by this back and forth with this guy in the audience, and he just ran up and said take my name o your mouth and one to fucking smart you. In a minute, I'll fucking punch you. And I said he's gonna And then his dad I said, sit down, sit down, stop it, son, this is in front of a marquet full of people. Yeah, and then his and his dad took the mic off me and said, this is not a good comedy to make fun of people like this. This is good for your shows. I said, well, it's fine for Wembley. Wembley, this is better than Wembley tent in some ship old up North. And then I had to try and rescue the gig after that.
Who who? Who needs that? This is the thing I think is great. I love stand up, but I don't think stand up belongs anywhere than in stand up, you know what I mean. I'm like, stand up belongs in a comedy club or a theater or wherever people are going to see stand up. Pop up stand up is maybe the worst thing in the world.
The worst.
No one wants surprise stand up.
Lots of comedians have basically been asked for a refund by the clients because they never blame themselves. It's always your fault. It's your fault, you've ruined our event, You've done it on purpose. It's never like the room isn't set up for comedy.
Yeah. Yeah. It's also like I've had very rarely. I'm very grateful for it, but sometimes i've had it. Like sometimes occasionally, once in a while I've had a very good gig and afterwards someone will be like, oh, you were so great, will you come and do my birthday? And I want to go to them. No, because you've just seen me in an environment where this works. If you then want to feel massive disappointment, I don't want to ruin your birthday. Yeah, be fucking surprise, stand up. No one ever wants surprise. Stand up. I believe in the history.
You're interrupting their conversations. Like you said earlier, Yeah, people are trying to get off of each other in.
Where are you from? They all know where they're from their friends.
I remember the gigs I used to do way back in the day in nightclubs when I was in the circuit and half past one in the morning, they'd stop the music, are guys? You know, people are trying to and they're getting off and stop, guys, stop, turn the music off? And then where's the stage? You just stand on the sofa, so you have to just go. And then I realized these are just you're just dying. And then i'd get support act. I just get get the guy on first, and that he died, and then I'd go on answer and then all right, listen to you.
Then you put operated human shielded up. Friend. Hey guy, it's a good kick. Have you give you a ten? If you go hack the system, that's great. So you died by getting hit by Willi Smith at a couple of gig I mean, absolutely tragic. Do you worry about death?
I don't really worry about death, to be honest. Somehow the death wish but Charles Bronson, but I think you know, our lives in the universe, continuum of time itself. Is this, That's it. That is life if you look at the scheme and so you just got to it was very philosophical your discussion with Pete Holmes, and I don't know if I should refer to that one because that was the last one I listened to. But I'm not sure when mine's going out, But this is bees after. But he's one of the guys that was talking about how it's fleeting and earle quotes is when people bring these out like you've got to take every day as that comes, you know what I mean. So life ain't easy. We have ups, we have downs. We just got to take every day as it comes.
Really, yeah, do you think something happens after you die?
Well Stephen Hawkins said no, right, and I'm currently reading the book. How do you know if he died? You know he's died, Yeah, I know he died. So how did he know because he never came back and told us.
Maybe you can't you know what I mean that we don't know the communication system. Well, yeah, maybe he's figuring it out using his brain, like, oh, maybe there's a way of or maybe he completed you know, he had a pretty good life, Like maybe he's just gone to a better place. See the other place.
But they also say it's a better place. It's a better place than where we are. Now. How is it a better place? It depends where your place is. Though you're currently in London. If you're in a nice part of the world, it might not be a bad place.
If you're in Barbados, sat by the sea.
And if you die there, you're like, oh, I'm in hell now Barbados, that's interesting. I'm in northwest London. It's an absolute shitto. Yeah, so if I die, it probably would be a better place to the Northwestern Statistically, I'm living in hell basically.
So yeah, well here's the thing. You are dead. I'll tell you this. I might be dead right now. Good news for you. You are dead, But there's good news for you. There is a heaven actually, and you're going to it, buddy boy.
It used to be a gig in heaven, didn't they the Gay club in London?
They did. It was a really good gig.
I used to do it a lot.
It was great, great, fucking ye. I'll tell you what was funny about that gig. It had such a big like music intro for you. It would be like a fucking rave. It'd be like as you walk to the stage, but you were like, there's no way I can follow this big and intro like people like.
Ah, and they're singing along to the music and then stop, I've got some jokes. Hi, guys, Hi, put the music back on.
We were driving. So there's a heaven. You're welcome there. Everyone's excited to see you. It's filled with your favorite thing. What's your favorite thing? Ironically en office film. Well, then you've come to the right place. Yeah, there's films everywhere. There's canisters knocking about the place, there's screens everything, and all anyone wants to talk to you about is your life through the medium of film. The first thing they ask you, Paul jawdri is they go, hello, mate, what's the first film you remember seeing?
See? I grew up to film and I studied the film and I wanted to become a director. Yeah, I wanted before comedy, film and TV degree and I wanted to got some shit hole somewhere in Hartfordshire and I wanted to do I wanted to go into directing at the time and more behind the camera stuff, and then I started doing a stand up and that was a distant dream then, but I want to go back into maybe directing stuff later on. Interesting. So I grew up and studied film. I think film and stand up the two things. Probably obviously film a lot earlier than that. My earliest memory was watching Jaws. Nice and I know a lot of people say et on yours, but Jaws and that wast was probably the most pirated film at the time. Remember on a pirate copy. If I had a pirate copy of Eat, and that was piracy when the birth of piracy began around the world. But Jaws, the Spielberg film, and I watched as a child, and I used to then believe the sofas were boats and the carpets was the ocean, so you couldn't fall onto the carpet because you're going to get eaten by a shark.
That's sweet. It's a fucking great film. Joy how's up.
It's just the troubles they had making that film. The Shark would all sink. But the fact that he pulled that off. Spielberg, I think it's one of the greatest films, maybe of all time. And the acting is it's it's potentially, you know, arguably one of the greatest narrative structures and arcs of a film, and quite conventional. And he was so young when he made that. If you directed anything, did you make shorts? I made shorts? Yeah, I made lots of shorts at college and stuff. And I like short films and I I've seen quite a few of yours sorts. Yeah, you don't want to see my old shorts. I've got them on video.
Actually please upload them.
Well, and now I'm dead, this is when the stuff comes out. Yes, now I'm dead. That you will never release all the and I've got now I've obviously I've got the USBs and hard drives full of stand up that I've never put online, hours and hours of footage. My death will be like two packs, countless albums.
They'll just be albums coming out.
Albums coming from Death Records. Okay, well the abbas doing it now?
Yeah, yeah, the chowder. Not dead yet?
Am I dead yet? Hello? Is this on the first show? And now with AI you can do that, You'll be able to do I'll be able to do a records in tour with your voice.
Yeah, And I'd be honest. What is the film that scared you the most? Do you like being scared?
I'm a huge Probably. Horror is one of my favorite genres, and the original Poltergeist really disturbed me as a child. Now I'm not sure because then afterwards it disturbed me even further when I've found out the troubles on set and they say the film was cursed, and obviously the loss of the lead actress shortly afterwards, being stuck in the TV, and just Poltergeist in general is if you don't believe in the afterlife when you're younger, and even now, if you hear a noise, it's always a poltar Geist. It's always like it's never someone's broke, it's a ghost, it's something, it's if something drops downstairs, it's it's always some kind of extra trest. We're not an extraterrest e t I didn't think it was scary polter Geist.
Have you ever seen a ghost.
Yeah, yeah, I've seen a few. Tell me well, I don't know if I saw it, but I went to the London Dungeon and that is also quite scary. He go as a child, have you been? Yeah a long time, long time? And when I went home it really shipped me up. And then the I remember the light bulb smashed when I was in bed. What it just smashed? It blew up and I felt that I bought some of the spirits back with me from the shit.
What about crying? Do you cry? Like? What's the film that made you cry the most?
I try not to cry, obviously. That's the joke. If you need a box of tissues watching a film, it's a porner.
But so.
I would say Interstellar, yeah, because it kind of it. Yeah, it was very hard to It was a great porner because it sounds like a porner, doesn't it. Inter Stellar.
He's a very good looking man.
I'm into Stellar or a beer could be a beer reference. But the guy is dead and then he's seeing his child and his children become older before him. Yeah, some couple of spoilers there spoiler alert. But it's very emotional that film, isn't it. It does teach you about the fleeting amount of time we have this. Yeah, you think about that a lot. Yeah, now I'm old thinking how much longer have we got left?
Well, you're in your seventies now, aren't you.
So Yeah, I've been doing this forty sixty years now, Yeah, forty five years.
When what is the film that you love? People don't like it. It's not critically acclaimed, but you think it's fucking brilliant.
This film got slated when it came out and I saw it in the cinema, which was a classic in my opinion. A lot of people despised it. But now it has come back to be a classic.
Yeah. Rocky four, Rocky four, Rocky the Russian went, Rocky kills Dolph Langering and fixes Communism.
He doesn't kill Dolf, Frank kills kills Apollo. Dolph Lugering kills Apollo creed right, and then Rocky siks revenge, fixes the then and then tries to fix the Cold War.
Yes, he fixes the coupboard for a box for fighting.
And then Stalin's at the end. And if I could shame, you can shame. We couldn't shame he does it for a part, I did it for a bowlo. You know, I'll do I'll do that one.
It's a beautiful film. Great, So it's a really profound, great film.
And Dolph Langering became a massive superstar off that, and James Brown makes a cameo in it living in America the opening segment before Apollo gets killed. And now look at all the Apollo films off the back of that.
Yeah, I love him.
Those were the births of the that that's what's them, The Creeds franchise.
Love the Creeds.
I think the Creeds are great, Create three, fantastic. They should have just called it Apollo though, but then they couldn't call it Apollo because the Apollo films, Yeah, they called it, so they must not called up because he was. He never said I did it for Creed, you know. He was just saying, I did this for a bower, you know, a bow, and then they called it Creed.
Yeah. Yeah, well he's not called he's not called though, the creat character he is.
His dad his dad was, yeah, ye, his dad was, Yeah, that's true, that's true.
Necessarily, what they what's the film that you used to love? You loved it, and then you voiced it recently and You've.
Got out boy that I kind of still love it, but it doesn't have the same effect on me. But it's a classic. I still think it's one of the greatest films of all time, but it doesn't hold up as it used to, which would be William Fredkins's classic from nineteen seventy three, The Exorcist.
You think you don't like it so much anymore.
I like it, but it wasn't as scary when I watched. And I've seen that film countless times. They say it could be what the people say outside of the genre of horric could well be the perfect film, and they are making another one now, Warner Brothers. Yeah. Two, The Herrick, I think Herrick and the Third. It started going a bit downhill after that, but there are so many symbolisms, but it's not scary, and the effects. It was way before special effects, and then the deleted scenes when she runs down as a spider backwards downstairs, but it just wasn't as scary, right, I think now, But obviously it's a it's like a forty nine to fifty year old film now, but it's fifty year old that film, isn't it. Jesus, Jesus that's exactly what they were saying in that film.
A lot said it a lot the power of Christ compoundstone, the power of Christ's compoundstone. I want you to do more acting, and I also want you to direct a film. I'd like you to direct a film that you're in. You and emma' styn.
It's hard to get Emma to return cause these days, but I'm sure I can get older.
That seems again, I don't believe you. I assume you. You and Aaron and WhatsApp group.
Well, you know, I did Devils for two seasons with Patrick Dempsey. The sky drama and acting is a you do so much of it, but you do comedy, so it's probably more of a laugh, but serious drama. Staying in that zone of it was suspense. It's hard, isn't it.
I don't know, with a serious seat.
There were some scenes in there where there's there's murders in it. There's suspense, and you've really got to be in that world and it's quite it's quite a and I can see why actors lose it sometimes. It's quite depressing when you've got to rile yourself up and get think about a point in your life, where you've been there and what's taking you? And then in season two, I did a few episodes, but I don't know giveaway spoilers. But I'm like, I'm not sure if I should give away spoilers if anything.
You tell me you're in your I don't know if you're allowed to. If you're allowed to, well we'll skip you. If you're watching the Devils, you don't know what happens in season two, skip this bit.
Yeah, but my murder, how do you get killed? So I've been killed a few times, man, And I've died on stage a few times. So yeah, so we've died a lot. We've died a lot more than more humans. It's weird, isn't it. I was thinking that recently. If you die a lot in life, so so many times.
Like your your festival story of yesterday, and one of the biggest depths of my entire life was at the green Man Festival. Fuck me at a huge ten, absolute silence from the top for twenty five minutes. You listen back to it, it sounds like I'm practicing in the mirror in a bathroom.
I'd love to do more, you know, I might have a gig next week at a nightclub if you want to come and open.
Well, okay, what is the film that means the most to you? Not necessarily the film's any good, but because the experience you had around seeing the film will always make it special to you.
Well, it was a box office flop at the time, in the eighties, and it was directed by Martin Scorsese. I'm sure comics has said this to you before, King of Comedy. Amazing film go on, But the beginning of the opening sequence and just the character in himself, that perseverance of I believe I'm funny, funny enough to be hosting. He was like most people we know, he was us in essence before we start, when you have to have a self belief in comedy because no one else thinks you're funny when you start a stand.
Up, that's true only you.
Yeah, it's very weird, and he captures the antithesis of the psyche of somebody who thinks they're funny and nobody else does. Nobody thought, put Pumpkin, it's funny.
And then he has a great gig at the end he does have a great gig.
Well, yeah, but look at what he had to go through. He had to go through a lot of corporates.
He really did. So you you you you feel that film when you film? Did you see that before you did Stand Up? Yeah?
Way before I did Stand Up? Right? And that was primetime de Nero as well, because then he went on to make comedies, Grandpa films and stuff and the darkness and being in his bedroom and building the set and the talk show. Yeah, and it's all and it's all fantasy. Is that. It's obviously the comparisons to Joker, and then that's so it's there's so many parallels with that, and then and then obviously no spoilers, but what happens to him Wacky Phoenix Joker? Yeah, if you haven't seen that, I don't want to spoil that for you. But after watching Joker, go back and watch King of Comedy. What's the film you most relate to? If not King a Comedy, it would probably be Scum. I don't know if you remember Scum. I remember nineteen seventy nine Alan Clark, Ray Winston. There were two versions, weren't there There were two versions of Scum, and Scum was about a borstal. If you're listening in other countries, a borstal is a young offenders institute for but it really reflected what London and people we knew growing up a school or you can't vacuum bollocks And if Americans want to learn about British culture, scum is is where you just even the title of the film scum It was pretty It really did put you off crime, Yeah, that's true. And that one scene in the greenhouse put you off committing any crimes. Yeah. Yeah, I did not want to go to You did not want to go because you can't go to prison in those days as a young offender to God to Borstal and it was violent, it was aggressive, it was bleak, it was the film is kind of gritty, isn't it. Yeah, And as a riot in like they have a football match and it was a real riot when they filmed it. Alan Clark would get the actors too. He really he's not another director is no longer with us, but he was one of the greatest British film directors around seventies, did some great films.
Well he just goes a riot and film just people would.
Just start fighting and it's all these kids, loads of testofs thrown in the room and that that that scene when Ray Winston puts it, gets into a bit of a bit of a scuffle a couple of gooses, and he goes down to the boiler room. But before that, he goes to this because he didn't know any weapons. So we'd get a sock and put two snooker balls in it, and that became a weapon when we were younger, put bulls in the sock, bikes smacking the backing slag. I remember, have you ever smacked anyone two snooker balls in the sock?
I think too? Is actually you have less sort of uh mariage?
Yeah? Yeah, what is?
This is the reason people tune in? What is the sexiest film you've ever seen?
When I was growing up, I was. I'm a Christopher Reeve fan, not only just Superman, but so many of his films. I think he was a very underrated actor.
Yeah, that's nice.
He was given a lot of grief because he was such a good looking man, so people didn't quite believe. And in those days when he landed the role as Superman, he did Superman two at the same time one and two and with Terence Stamp was in the second playing General Zodd.
Come to me, Superman if you dare.
Son of Jerrau, son of my jailer Neil before Zod.
Really good, that one, well done.
But he gives up his superpowers for Lois Lane at the hotel and he goes to the Molecule Chamber and exchanges his superpowers essentially for Pump.
Yeah, that is the plot.
Yeah, that's the plot line. I don't think that says it on IMDb.
But he said and pick tell us the love lad.
Yeah, and I was thinking, this is You've really got to love someone to give up your superpowers. It said so many things to me. I saw it in the cinema. Actually, I saw that in the cinema.
That's great.
And that was in the early eighties. Yeah, I was already I was forty at the time. Yeah. My sister then yeah, yeah. And then I went to see Superman four in the cinema. Three I did. I saw in video with Richard Pryor. And there were two super good and bad Superman. Superman one all time classic, which was Marlon Brando got most of that money. But two, I think is arguably the best way the best Superman of all time and almost such a great, great cast. The mute super villain there was a lot of turmoil on set as well of that film. Yeah, I've looked into so I like to. I like to watch films and then find out what happened during filming and then what kind of relationships they had with the actors. But I think he tried to knock out Christopher Reeve at one point because they thought he was quite arrogant. Did Terrence Stamp not Terrence Stamp the mute? Do you remember the mute guy? I can't remember the actor's name, Okay, who plays the mute? So there's there's there's three of them. Yeah, there's the British actress, Terrence Stamp and the mute. So because them three got imprisoned because that's the son of the jailer, so Superman's dad. Yeah, imprisons them and then some something happens in space and it smashes and they come out.
At the beginning, I have to ask, all of this is lovely, this is your sexiest film?
Well, it's just that what would you give up for love? Really? Apart from Apart from that, I'd say American Wealth in London? All right, that was a very sexy film. And nine and a half Weeks also correct them too, but as in conventional sexy but Superman two in terms of it's really it's a really story about love, isn't it. Yeah, like, would you give up? Would we give up comedy for someone special? That's our superpower?
Would you?
Would I give it up? It's I wouldn't go into a molecule chamber and give up my comedy. I keep the comedy.
Yeah, Lois Lane is saying I want to be with you forever. I love you, but I need you to get rid of your comedy. Yeah.
But then she kind of gaslights him by jumping off that building and stuff. Yeah yeah, and the fire scene to prove she's got Yeah, so you wouldn't give up comedy for love? No, I'd find somebody who accept me for who I am.
Yeah, but what if this this this woman that's sort of making quite an extreme ultimatum. She's like, I will love you and give you the best life. We will have the most wonderful adventures together, but you can you can't do comedy anymore? Yes, I see. There's a kind of a red flag that she's like making you stop this thing that you love but you really fancy.
Yeah, so what are you going to do. It's a tough one. I'm sure you've been there before. You'd have to comedy.
I chose in comedy, but it's difficult.
You know, it is different good if you release because American wealth in London, it's similar. Yeah, got parallels to Superman two because at the end she realizes he is a were wolf, but she still loved him.
That's real love when you can love a were wolf because.
You and me are very hairy. We essentially a were wolves. Always said you're harry than an Indian.
Thank you. There's a subcategree to this question. Traveling Boner is worrying. Why done what? It's a film you found arousing that you weren't sure you should. Who framed Roger Rabbit perfect? I mean the rabbit is fit.
I think you're gonna say Bob Hoskins, But Bob Hoskins was one of the greatest British actors of all time, especially especially mon Lisa. That's one of the greatest films ever made.
Nice shout out doesn't get brought up enough. Which one Lisa, Oh, great film? Another film about love. Yeah, you're a romantic?
Yeah, another film about it's It's it's these are all broken love stories though, aren't they? They're not conventional.
Are you in love right now?
No? A single male at the moment. Yeah, do you want love?
Yeah? Yeah?
And my love I get from the audiences is yeah, there's the love, the adoration, standing ovations, the croud surfing, the obsession.
Love is hard to find these days, isn't it. What is objectively the greatest film of all time?
Tadre the greatest film of all time? I would say, I'm not sure if anyone can be Stanley Kubrick's two thousand and one, A Space Odyssey. It literally you could almost take any frame of a Kubrick film and use it. That the filmography within almost every film he ever made was that every frame is kind of a masterpiece. And I know there's there's a kind of thing they say, take after take. He would do one hundred takes. But I recently saw a video where Kubrick said, it's just because the actors don't learn their lines. If they learned their lines, it wouldn't have to do it. But then it became a thing about him grueling down the actors to make them. The rumor actually devoured in the shining. Yeah, there's so many. I might have him on a further list, but two thousand and one, such little dialogue and made in the seventies, it still stands today. You could watch it and thinking this is this was made last year. It's pretty phenomenal and really weird. I like, I wed it, yeah and so long, but it doesn't feel it And now Barbie of Barbie have opened with it. Yeah, it really does. It's the thread of film today.
What is the film you could or have watched the most over and over again?
You know, Well, it's because I collected videos growing up and then DBDs after. There were so many Back when we were younger. You didn't have screaming, you didn't have many platforms, so we would watch films. I would say Batman's Tim Tim Burton version. Yes, I watched time and time again, even though I even saw in the sy Watch because it was so close to the comic book. It was almost the same as the comic book and Predator another. There were so many films that I'd watch over and that you'd know the dialogue to.
Yeah, credit is great.
There there are just so many films that I would learn and that's kind of what taught me how to act almost that you just know from Scorsese films too, because when you had the DVDs, you just think I wanted to check that on. You wouldn't go on a streaming service thing, I'm going to watch this. And they weren't box sets at the time. Yeah, they were just TV shows that were on TV, so we record them, so you would. We would just watch films and posters of films, pulp fictions, you know, off by heart and all these films were just they're just stuck with you and were kind of like the backdrop of our childhood. So I kind of feel sorry for the kids now because they don't have that really, But there's so much out there now, wasn't there.
Yeah? What was the one?
If you had to pick one that I would watch over and over?
Yeah, that you did.
What's the most Maybe the Shining Oh nice? Yeah, I think I've seen that. I used to watch it over and over and you can read in there's so many subtexts in that film. The think about Kubert film was that you could read in. In those days, you'd read a filmy, so you could study and read a film, whereas now it's made very simple and they need to keep your attention because you can just flip over. They have that little sequence. Now at the beginning. People do that on videos online. Now they'll put a clip from later on in the video. Yeah, yeah, yeah, grab you.
They do a trailer for the trailer coming up.
In this trailer, and I don't like watching. I hate watching trailers. There's too many spoilers in them.
Yeah, what is the worst film you've ever seen?
There are again, so many And at the time when I grew up in the eighties, there were straight to video movies, which are now you would know. Yeah, so you knew what was considered a bad film in the industry because we went video. Now you don't know, so you'll take a risk something online.
True.
But I did see this in the cinema, and there were a couple. One I didn't see in the cinema. But when I went to see the Eddie Murphy classic, and a side note, I'm a huge Eddie Murphy fan. But when I saw Norbid, I couldn't believe what I was watching. I was doing a gig and I went there and they it was packed out cinema and it was is considered a comedy. I had to remind myself before talking to you, is this film as bad as I thought it was. I watched the trailer and it's essentially a film which is one joke. It's a fat joke, right, It's a film about fat shaving, okay, and that's it. Eddie Murphy plays all the characters as he normally does, and he plays this norbid character, and there's the fat woman and going down the slide in the sea park and then everyone just the hackiest. I never sat in a cinema of a comedy film to silence. Really, I wanted to walk out and I didn't want to do that to an Eddie Murphy film. But then think about Eddie Murphy. Is there's the argument that he's going to come back to do stand up, but then you can't go You can't where can he really test his material because he can't turn about a club. People are going to go ballistic when he turns up and walks on stage, and that kind of lost touch with what comedy is. Essentially, if you use the term punching down, well it could be considered punching. I'm not mad on the term punching down because you're saying there are other people below us, and not necessarily they're not Why you're saying that person's below us? Who were you to say that? But it was I would say it's shaming. And I was sat next to someone very large and they weren't laughing, and I put my arm around them, well just on the shoulder. I couldn't get it around. I couldn't get my arm all the way around. I said, man, it's all right, don't worry about it. Stop being my popcorn.
What's the film that made you laugh the most?
And yes, again, you know so many, but this film. Probably films they call it homage when they take other directors, whereas in our world they call it plagiarism. But said the nineteen eighty film Airplane has probably been copied in so many films since certain certain jokes and the style of it the Airplane was alternative, when in this country you hadn't seen We didn't have alternative. England followed comedy years after Americas. In the eighties. It was all right, I'm not saying my wife's fat, but yeah, it was that kind of stuff, wasn't it. It was very mainstream jokey jokes, pub jokes, and in nineteen eighty you think that was made in nineteen eighty. Airplane that Don't call Me Shirley lines, And if some of it wouldn't be the sweating, the blow up doll, there are just so many standout moments of that film and the slang in it. I'm not even sure if some of it would be acceptable today too. It would not be. It would not get past the sense the broad that it'd be banned. We'd probably get counseled today.
Paul Chawdrey, when you were doing a corporate gig, you did a corporate gig and you were really excited about it because you love corporate gigs, and you're like, oh, know how to do this? And you turn up with your on stage and you see, oh my god, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith are in the audience, and you be and you were like, I'm going to take a risk. You know, time has passed. It's all a laugh, and you say, I'm really looking forward to g I Jane three, and everyone laughs. Will Smith laughs. Then he looks at Jada and then he stands up and he walks up to the stage and he slaps you right on the temple and you die instantly up on the floor dead, and then Will Smith goes, oh, no, I've done it again, and he walks back to his seat and he sits down, and there's like quite tense thing because it's a wedding and you know, the bride and groom are like this was this what we wanted for our wedding? And I'm one of the guests. I'm there. I've brought a coffin along because you never know, and I go, fucking know. He just go, Will Smith, you just kill poor Chawdrey. He's one of the greats. What are you doing? And he goes, ah, you know what, Will Smith said. What bothered me about it was that g I Jane too hadn't yet happened, so like the joke doesn't even make logical sense, and I go, no, Will I think it does. Like I think the joke is he's taking a sort of gamble. He's you know, he thinks you've moved on and everyone can laugh about this.
Now.
He was wrong about that. He was clearly wrong, and I'm sure had you not killed him, he'd probably apologize because actually was a decent guy. And most Smith says, it's not that it's like I just I think I made it clear the first time. I don't like jokes about her being compared to g I Jane, and I said, Will, that's not the point. We need to get rid of this body. And so I come on to the stage. Now you've eaten some of the wedding cake before you've gone out, so you've sort of puffed out a bit, much more than I was expecting. So I go, Will grab an axe. He's not going to fit in the coffee like this. Will gets an axe, Him and me just chopping up the body, chopping you up, and the wedding gets a scream and there's blood flying everywhere, brides dresses and covered in blood. So it's like carry Now she's going, what happened? Why did we order a stand up? I go, as I'm chopping up, I said, you'd never need a stand up at a wedding. It was a mad idea in the first place. You've only got yourself to blame. Splash, bust, blood all over. Anyway, we get all the chunks of your body, we stuff it in, stuff it in the coffin. I go, listen, you can do your first dance in a minute. We got to get rid of this comedian stuff. You all in blood everywhere. There's only enough room in this coffin to slide one DVD into the side for you to take across to heaven. And in heaven, it's movie night every night. What film are you taking to show everyone when it's your movie night, mister Paul Chowdery.
Probably Once Upon a Time in America?
Excellent choice. What a long night.
It's going to be a long night.
Five hours, it's about four, it's at least four before, okay, but.
It's you know, it does again talks about life. It shows where our lives have evolved through the medium of film. And that ringing at the beginning, it never leaves you. That telephone call and gangsters, and there's so much in that film that again has been used. I'm just going to get the year of Once upon a Time Once Obviously Tarantino copied the title Once Upon a Time in America when I saw it, it was back in obviously de Niro, James woods peci is such a great film from nineteen eighty four. It was it was nineteen eighty four. I think Sergio Leoni may well be one of the greatest directors of all time as well, for sure, said if you want to learn about film, you've got to go back to Sergiolioni. Yeah, and Denia playing noodles.
Yes.
Bert Young another incredible actor, who remember the actors used to see and everything back in the day, or he was in Rocky but Young and you just don't see those. Yeah, it was such a great film in nineteen eighty four. It's gonna check. It was written by Harry Gray. You did so many great films at the time, Leonardo Piero di Bernardi. There was something I was going to tell you about that film. It was it was said that for its US release, the film was cut by ninety minutes, from three hours forty seven to two hours nineteen. Yeah, exactly, so you were right, it was it was just under four hours. But because in those days that have intervals, which is the lot of films, which is sometimes we haven't had them in England for a long time now. If you need to take a piss and you take a piss mate, I.
Think the last time it happened Hamlet, Kenneth Branner's Hamlet, which was four hours. That was the last time there was an interval in a cinema.
But they didn't do it with Titanic. They didn't do with a lot of films. The budget was around thirty million, Wow, amazing, and it grossed about five so that was worldwide. So I'm not sure if it would consider the success at the time, but those kinds of films, even like Raging Bull, was a massive flock when it came out. In fact, Scorsese didn't want to direct again around that time, did he? Or was it when de Niro calls scor It was New.
York, New York.
That was New York, and then school and then scorse started doing drugs. Yeah, and then he had a heart attack. And then Denis get out and do Raging Ball. Yeah, get out and do Raging Ball, which also didn't do great the box office at the time.
That was it?
That and the original King of Comedy. King of Comedy didn't do that well. But and now look at scores and Scorsese is one of the guys that really fights against streaming platforms, even though he's doing it now, but he was one of the first to say film needs to be seen in the cinema. Yeah, film can't be seen on one of these I can't How can you watch a film in landscape or portrait? How can you watch a film in portrait mode?
Disgusting the phone?
It is disgusting, isn't it?
I think so?
And even as you said you said it before, like even if you've got a surround sound cinema and in the living room and it's not the same, you can stop, start, take a call WhatsApp. It's not what it used to be, is it?
Nuts? Thank God for Bobby and am Ri. You've been a delight. Is there anything you would like to tell anyone to look out for or to listen to in the coming months.
I know you don't like to plug things on this on this podcast, Yeah we do.
This is your plugging bit.
Oh well, I've always got my podcast. I'd love to get you on Great. We had Nick Muhammad on last week, Great Lovely Boy, one of your colleagues and one of our circuit regulars from back in the day.
Yeah.
It's funny how we see people from It's like the circuit as a comedian, it's like your friends from school.
It is completely that.
So when we see each other again, I'm really happy that you're doing well, Brett, because we were at school together.
Yeah, I love it.
We're in the same class almost, except I was a few years above you and you were like you were like head boy, yeah, and you were like the new kid and took you under my wing.
Yeah.
And now you're taking me under your wing. Which it is lovely, lovely to see you. Thank you very much for doing this.
I hope your new talk goes excellently, and I hope I see you in the film that you direct and write and starting with MST.
I hope to see you off camera one day.
It's really lovely to see you man. Thank you for doing this. Have a wonderful death. Good day to you.
Lovely to see you, mate.
So that was episode two hundred and sixty seven. Head over to the Patreon at patreon dot com forward slash break Goldstein, where you'll get the extra chat, secrets and video ad free and uncut with Paul Chowdry. Please head over to Apple Podcasts. Give us a five star rating, but don't write about the show. I don't care about the show, right about the film that means the most to you and why my neighbor Marien Love's reading it is your ways cries. Thank you, Thank you so much to Paul for doing this show. Thank you to Screwby's Pip and the Distraction piece of Network. Thanks to Buddy Peace for producing it. Thanks to iHeartMedia and will Fare was Big Money Players Network hosting it. Thanks Adam Richardson for the graphics, at least to lay them for the photography. Come join me next week for a brilliant guest. I'll give you a clue. Is it's always honey in Philadelphia in it? That is it for now. I hope you're all very well, have a lovely week, and in the meantime, please now more than ever, be excellent to each other.
