Questions and Answers with Graeme and Tim: Part 2

Graeme: Your implication that it might have been masochism is probably right. But although it wasn’t as popular then as it became later, we kind of knew we were doing something different and unique, and it was quite exciting – like bungee-jumping for radio.

Tim: There certainly was panic in the room, especially when we had to ad lib our way through poems. I can still hear myself squeaking in agony when the rhyme and metre, never mind the jokes, wouldn’t come. It certainly wasn’t the money that made us return; maybe we thought if we didn’t return then someone like Rolf Harris might slip into our chairs.

Graeme: Longevity plays a part. Having been around for so long its popularity has grown over the years as our minority audience grew and grew. So we have to thank the BBC for sticking with it through thick and thin – it paid off in the end!

Tim: I hardly dare answer this. Certainly one reason is the fact that we’re obviously working as a team and not, as in some shows, just trying to win. Humph is obviously a huge factor – all of us, including our audience, would follow him to the ends of the Earth. But above all, perhaps it’s just silly and rude.

Graeme: Humph was already an established broadcaster with his jazz programmes and he is on record as saying that he always said yes to requests to do pilots, as they were rarely picked up and broadcast. I think he was as shocked as the rest of us when the first series of Clue was commissioned.

Tim: Basically we sent the boys round. That didn’t work, so we sent the girls instead

Graeme: Humph deals with proceedings with a lofty disdain and gives a wonderfully detached schoolmasterly performance. Baz brings a great enthusiasm and an archive of comedy material plus a great laugh. Tim is liable to endearing panic peppered with inspired gags and character voices. I fill in the gaps. And the great Willie Rushton’s off the wall eccentricity has been replaced over the years by a rotating guest list of brilliant comedians.

Tim: I do think this, and when we get guests they change the quality and breadth of the show, which is good. I think we’ve all evolved a bit. I know I’ve changed. I used to be the scared, ‘playing for sympathy one’, but that’s more in the background waiting to be called on if absolutely necessary – and sometimes it is absolutely necessary.

Graeme: Ad-lib poem used to be a nightmare and the results were hit and miss to put it mildly. We don’t do it any more. I have a soft spot for Sound Charades when we get to do Hamish and Dougal – partly because it annoys Tim. The singing rounds are fun, especially when we can sit back and listen to Jeremy Hardy. It was wonderful at the Manchester Opera House to hear Jez get an ovation worthy of Pavarotti.

Tim: My favourite round now is Chicken Cross Road – the audience know it’s truly ad lib and if one’s in trouble that’s funny, and if one is cruising then it’s unusual.

I dread the rounds where we have to give a funny answer to a question given by Humph – it’s slow and a comedy death (we never really know what’s going to get a laugh or not) is all the more painful.

Graeme: Naismith spends hours working out the songs that will work, with occasional suggestions from Colin Sell.

Tim: I’ve no idea, but I’m sure Graeme will claim it.

Graeme: The best giggler is Sandi Toksvig, closely followed by Humph! When they both go at the same time it can take up to fifteen minutes to calm them down again.

Tim: Humph, me and Jeremy

Graeme: Not that I can recall. However, many rounds couldn’t be used because the audience were laughing too little.

Tim: There was a time when Humph and I got terrific giggles. I eventually stopped, but he went on setting me off again. I think our producer left in half the giggles which were more than enough.

Graeme: Yes, but I’m naming no names.

Tim: Yes, but I’m not saying who. Though he’d certainly have difficulty saying ‘round the ragged rocks the ragged rascal ran’.

Graeme: No, I wasn’t aware of such a thing. What are the precise rules?

Tim: No – I’d want my clothes back first.

Graeme: He’s not been booked, but has the habit of popping up when least expected.

Tim: He’s more likely to be around when there’s a female guest. It’s our way of getting them on the show.

Graeme: I’ve never heard him comment on it. But being a shrewd chap he probably appreciates the exposure.

Tim: I daren’t ask.

Graeme: Women don’t chat up men. Do they…?

Tim: Any chance of a hug?

Graeme: In March 1973 we were due to do a recording at the Playhouse Theatre when London suffered an IRA bomb attack. Just before we arrived, a bomb went off round the corner in Scotland Yard, and as we walked to the theatre we saw the streets were covered in broken glass. The area was sealed off and we decided to cancel the show. I noticed a large suitcase in the foyer, and we all wondered where it came from. The BBC doorman said “That’s all right, it belongs to a foreign lady and I’m keeping an eye on it for her.” We fled. After jogging for miles we found a taxi. “Where to?” said the driver. We replied “To the country!”

Tim: Still my favourite moment was me giving Humph a hard time in a show in Plymouth. He suddenly snapped – I’m 78 for Christ’s sake.

You can probably work out how long ago that was.