Alistair McGowan – your questions answered on piano, football and why he’ll never impersonate Trump
The TV comic revealed how much he had to practise for his new album of piano classics, who he’s most asked to impersonate, and why he’s not as big a Leeds supporter as people think
2.12pm BST
Thank you for your questions. Time for some toast.
2.08pm BST
SundridgePete asks:
What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever done, and is it worth watching?
I did two football videos called Football Backchat in the late 90s. I think there is a clip on YouTube of me re-voicing Les Ferdinand as if he is auditioning for a Bond film. I think that may be my funniest moment. Having said that, I’m hoping The Piano Album is more Katherine Jenkins than Florence Foster Jenkins.
2.02pm BST
saidzebedee asks:
Are you comfortable impersonating a black person, or an Asian (i.e. Jamaican, Indian accents)?
Yes, of course. Certainly in my stand-up act. It would be strange to ignore voices of people on television and in film simply because of their colour.
2.00pm BST
Tarantella says:
The episode of Who Do You Think You Are? where you discovered your part-Indian heritage was, for me, one of the best of all the explorations in genealogy. How has it affected your sense of identity?
I had never felt a need to belong to any particular group, changing the football club I supported is evidence of that. I’ve also jumped around in my career from actor to impressionist to writer and now to pianist. I often wondered why I did not feel the need to belong and wondered if it was a weakness in me. Doing Who Do You Think You Are? made me realise that I came from generations of people (on my father’s side) who had not really belonged. It was a comfort to me that this genetic trait may explain my fleet-footed attitude to life.
1.59pm BST
mugsey asks:
Do you not find yourself desperate to do Trump?
A lot of people do him very well. Especially Rory Bremner and the not-well-known-enough Lewis MacLeod. I have not been drawn to do Trump simply because to get an impression right you have to listen endlessly to that person and I cannot bring myself to listen to that awful man for a second longer than I have to. Call me a coward, if you will.
1.57pm BST
TheSentinel asks:
Can you do Jacob Rees-Mogg, because you look a bit like him?
Funny you should say that. He is on my list of people to do. All new voices have been put largely on the back burner for the last year while I’ve been absorbed in the piano project.
1.52pm BST
jimble675 asks:
Do you think people who have studied in Leeds should have a natural affinity for Leeds United?
As a student in Leeds in the 1980s, I was surprised how many of the people I met there had chosen to go to Leeds because they had supported Don Revie’s legendary Leeds United team. I was one of them. Controversially, once the the players associated with that great team left the club, it didn’t feel like my Leeds anymore. I switched my allegiance to Coventry City, who were my nearest team when I was in my late teens. I now follow neither with anything more than a passing interest. I have been misrepresented online as being an ardent Leeds United supporter. It was the Revie era when I was totally absorbed by the club. Sorry to disappoint! It would be great to see them both back in the Premier League – I think Leeds will get there ahead of The Sky Blues.
1.46pm BST
Chris Lloyd asks:
Who plays Chopin better between you and Alan Rusbridger?
I read Alan Rusbridger’s book about trying to conquer the Ballade and found it very inspiring. There is no doubt that he is at a much more advanced level than I am. There are lots of amateur pianist I’ve been on courses with – the majority of them were better than me. I’m well aware of just how fortunate I am to have had the chance to make an album. I was careful to choose pieces that I felt were potentially within my grasp. Having the challenge of the album, was the biggest incentive to improve during the nine months that I had to rehearse and record it – and feeling and hearing that progress was absolutely thrilling. I would urge any amateur pianist to set themselves time-related goals. There is nothing like pressure for making you practise.
1.40pm BST
davidabsalom asks:
Why didn’t you do series two of Leonardo?
It clashed with a show that I was working on for ITV called You Cannot Be Serious for which I had great hopes. YCBS was great fun to do, was moved around the schedules and largely flopped after one six-part series. There was some good stuff in it but maybe I should have done the second series of Leonardo after all.
1.37pm BST
Cammy100 writes:
I saw your Erik Satie show last year in Edinburgh and it was truly wonderful. How technically difficult are Satie piano pieces to play, or is it more about getting the mood right? (Either way I have to say you absolutely nailed it.)
I’m thrilled you liked the show. Certainly Satie’s three Gymnopedies and his Gnossiennes 1-4 are fairly straight forward (Gnossienne 2 is probably the easiest). I made the mistake of thinking his Cold Piece (Danse de travers iii) was straight forward and never got through it without a mistake somewhere in the 28 Edinburgh shows. But, yes, the mood is everything with Satie.
1.33pm BST
Geoffbill asks:
I find it hard to keep up interest in my piano playing as I don’t know where to find the music or what to choose. Do you have a playlist related to your album or a reference/ biography? I can play up to grade 4/5. I don’t have a teacher at the moment.
This is the main reason why I was happy to do The Piano Album. I really hope the pieces I have chosen will appeal to somebody of your level. Do find a teacher. They will, at the very least, teach you how to get the best out of your practice time. There is a playlist related to the album which will guide you to other similar pieces. My chosen pieces are probably easier. I always look for something with the words lent or adagio at the top. That helps!
1.31pm BST
LedBoots asks:
Who won the FA Cup in 1942?
Trick question there was no FA Cup between 1939 and 1946. Portsmouth, I believe, won it in 1939 and held the trophy for six years. A record. Acquiring facts like that is why I didn’t study the piano when I was younger.
1.29pm BST
elephantwoman says:
I’m currently trying to learn to play the piano by ear, but am finding it really hard going. Do you think I should start using my fingers…
It does help but do cut your nails first. If you persist in playing by ear, it’s also best to de-hair them.
1.27pm BST
ThreeGirlRumba asks:
If you were stuck on a desert island forever, would you have the television and film comedy output of Europe or the USA? You obviously have an ever working TV!
If I had to make a choice I would rather have a radio. And I would listen to classical music all day long, although I would switch to the sports coverage for the football on a Saturday afternoon.
1.26pm BST
JayRayner, restaurant critic and pretty good pianist too, asks:
How regularly do you curse NOT having got a full grounding in the piano when you were a kid, by practising for hours then, when your brain was like a sponge and your fingers’ ability to develop muscle memory was intense?
I do wish I’d learnt more then. But I was convinced by a wonderful young musician called Lucy Colquhoun that it is never too late and the best thing about taking up/going back to the piano in later life is that you know more music and know what you want to play. And you possibly play it with more feeling after all that life has thrown at you by the age of 52.
1.22pm BST
MarkelG asks:
Can you recommend a funny programme?
I was a huge fan of Morgana Robinson’s last series The Agency. I thought her impersonations were brilliant, the material was original, very funny, well written and unusually moving. When I met her recently, I was very sorry to hear the series had not been recommissioned. It was a work of genius on the part of all involved.
1.20pm BST
25aubrey asks:
Have you ever conned yourself by persisting with an impersonation your not overly comfortable with doing? but do it all the same.
Frequently. As impressionists, we all know that certain impressions we do are better than others. I for several years did an impression in my act of Michael Portillo which was not very accurate. I used it to illustrate a point about how surprised he was that the industry in the towns he went to on his train programme had vanished, when perhaps governments he was involved with might have been responsible for that. I couldn’t miss the opportunity. The gag worked better in places like Chorley than it did in Tunbridge Wells.
1.16pm BST
Alan Ween asks:
Which impression are you pestered to do most?
Definitely Richard Madeley, with David Beckham a close second. Requests happen less and less now!
1.15pm BST
DWFan1 asks:
What’s your favourite Pixar film?
WALL-E. It’s witty, profound, poignant and images of it have stayed with me ever since. I still see overweight people flying around in cars in my ever-approaching nightmares.
1.12pm BST
1.00pm BST
Who’s the hardest person to impersonate? David Beckham? Boris Johnson? Or could it be Johann Sebastian Bach? This seems to be the challenge Alistair McGowan set himself with The Piano Album, his new collection of solo piano works that represent something of a curveball for the TV mimic.
McGowan was not a renowned concert pianist when he took on the task of recording The Piano Album, but much like mastering a new voice or a new set of mannerisms, he devoted himself to the practice. And after rehearsing for up to six hours each day for nine months, he finally got a grip on the instrument that had eluded him since he was a boy. The point of putting an album out, he says, is to “encourage people of any age to play the piano, but perhaps particularly those at an age where it’s easy to think that it’s all too late”.
Continue Reading