Blog No. 22
Friday, October 2, 2009 at 7:23PM YOUR INFREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Firstly what is a message board? Do I really need one?
Secondly. Evelyn you mention a discussion on twitter about me doing some promotion for Camdem Council helping small shops and me getting paid to do it. Well its annoying when people are unkind when you are being briefly noble, they should be unkind when I am being frequently unpleasant.
I would never charge for anything connected with any charity or any cause I support and generally wouldn’t even ask for expenses. Indeed I have always been dubious about doing charity things that aid your career so though they used to ask me all the time and it was all my friends doing it, I never took part in Comic Relief or any of that stuff. With regard to this particular event the council made a donation to the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians to thank me for appearing, so in fact I was helping two good causes by taking part. Just to ladle on the pathos, I walked to the event because my bicycle had a flat tyre and I felt terrible because as it turned out I was suffering from a bad chest infection.
I bumped into the man who runs the almost past its sell-by-date cheese stall down the market yesterday and he thanked me for the mention I’d given him in the local paper. I asked him if business had improved since and he said it was worse than ever.
Thirdly. Ray, I’m delighted that you’re planning a comedy club night at Guantanamo Bay at the Weeping Women Hotel (I’d like to see more things happening at places in my books) but I don’t do standup anymore so I can’t really help out with the event. But good luck anyway.
Fourthly. Yes CJ you did see the Juliet Bravo sketch where we pretended for about five minutes that my show was on the other channel and the viewer was watching BBC 1. It was written by David Renwick and Andrew Marshall and I do think it was amazing what the BBC used to let us get away with.
Fifthly. Marion I am not all the columnists in the Spectator only Simon Hoggart and Taki. Their offices did used to be in my street so I would stop and chat to Boris when he was the editor, because we both wrote about cars and rode bicycles. Once he said he was driving a Saab Convertible that he didn’t know anything about so I told him it shared its underpinnings with the previous model Vauxhall Vectra and diesel engines were a joint programme with Alfa Romeo. He wrote all this down with a leaky fountain pen and thanked me for writing his GQ column for him.
Sixthly. Marc. My mother was born in Liverpool and her mother too. Her father Alexander Mendelson did come from somewhere in the Russian Empire but she doesn’t know where. Latvia she thinks but isn’t sure.
Seventhly. Hi Jay I was just wondering where you were. Yes off to Australia at the end of next week. I land on the morning of the13th after a 24 hour flight then I’m supposed to be doing their version of “Question Time” on ABC the evening of the15th so that should make for some challenging TV.
Reader Comments (22)
Alexei, I now feel stupid asking you about the Camden promo, I should have known better I suppose. (But then, I don't know you) Didn't your restaurant reviews have a similar effect on business? Poor cheese guy.
I hope you have wireless Down Under. Have a good trip.
lol you doing question time ?! givem smeg
ill make sure i tune into that
Any gigs in Sydney this year? (Other than the "funniest Island").........
I'm free, I'm free, I'm free...I'm freee!
Sorry to have disappeared for a bit,was writing and doing comedy videos with my friends :) have a class time in Oz! Be safe, take care and don't mention the Ashes...
Jay xx
Hi Lex, Was pondering..........and wondering.....if you ever re-call any of your stand-up's from back in the day (when you were angry and a resident of Stoke Newington high street) I am shamed to say i had and lost a bootleg tape of one said routine. Not sure where it was recorded but you were on form my friend. You were raging about being a computer programmer from jolly Milton Keynes at one point! Do you remember those heady days and nights? I never had the pleasure of being there in person but always belly-laughed at your angle on life. Where any ever officially recorded do you know? Or is there anywhere/anyway i can forge a copy. Keep standing up for what you believe in Lex, you are an inspiration!!!
Dear Alexei,
I'm a Swedish guy, who has been a somewhat mediocre fan ever since I once in the 80s managed to randomly tape the one showing of the first episode of Stuff on TV (they never aired any other episode).
In Merry-Go-Round, you worked with several people of whom (plural?) I am also a mediocre fan, nameas Edward Wright and Peter Serafinowicz who have gone on to do great things like Spaced and Shaun of the Dead. (Also that Little Britain bloke and that League Of Gentlemen guy but they're getting enough attention anyway.)
I'm curious to know what experiences you had working with them early in their careers, and what you think of their output since. I would love to see you appearing in something new with them.
Best regards,
Henrik Andersson, Sweden
That's "namely", not "nameas". Oh, well.
A top guy on the Fan Page has added a new album consisting of some of your old Liverpool Echo column from the mid 90s. I promised I'd send the link, so here it is :)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=114553&id=19242619537
The Fan Site is ticking over nicely. Some really nice people on there :) You don't need a facebook account to visit, but if anyone wants to comment/discuss/add images then you'd need to sign up:)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Alexei-Sayle/19242619537
Right, I'm off to apply for my MA. Alexei, couldn't give me a job could you?!
Jay xx
Alexei, I just got fired. I'm really really good at making & selling sandwiches. You got a job for me?
Hey!!! I wanna job first! lol, fight you for the right to make sandwiches Evelyn!
Is there a trained professional in the house???!
Hi Alexei,
I see you will be on Australia's ABC Q&A show tomorrow night. Great! I'll be watching.
Also, I was wondering if your documentary 'Alexei Sayle's Liverpool' is available for sale anywhere? (I couldn't see it at the BBC shop or your website) My dad was born in Anfield, but came out to Australia in the 1960's along with lots of other 'Ten Pound Poms', so they were called.
Cheers
Ten pound Porns?? Get out of here.
Christophers Hitchens, Germaine Greer and then Alexei Sayle - I'm loving Q&A! I tried to watch tonight but my telly was on the blink :(. you probably don't remember me, but I spoke with you ONCE at 'the duke' and often saw you in the street and at safeway while I was living in Holborn a few years ago....I now live back in Melbourne and wondered if you are coming to Melbourne to perform or sell/sign some books this trip? cheers, jane
Dear Alexei,
Thankyou for providing a counterpoint to the slippery evasions of the some of the other panelists on Q&A tonight. Keep up the good work.
Cheers,
Adrienne.
I'm so sorry you had to sit next to that puerile Liberal Party member Christopher Pyne this evening on the ABC's Q&A.
I did however like your succinct answers to questions asked, even if there weren't that many.
Alexei,
Being a young Australian who knows the name of our opposition leader I guess that I'm, relatively of course, fairly politically aware and really bring that to the extremes when I switch from commercial TV, let alone sit down and watch a show like Q and A.
For reasons that are probably all too obvious, this tends often to leaves me pretty disappointed and dejected. I was relieved though, to tonight see an Australian on the show with reasonable views and opinions. It was a delightful change from idealists with no idea and powerful dastards attempting to hide, twist disguise and justify their immoral and callous actions and beliefs to a crowd of epsilon semi-morons who cheer the slightest passionate or aggressive response regardless of and often, in spite of it's meaning.
Anyway, I've since discovered that you're not Australian. Though not as upsetting as our loss of Steve Erwin, this is certainly a bloody shame.
I guess what I'm trying to say is a lot of people suck, but you're alright
I saw you on Q&A. I was wondering whatever happened to Alexye Sayle. You looked like you were thinking "what the f*** am I doing here" but maybe that's normal. But many thanks for having the guts to openly stand up for the Palestinians. Your reward awaits you in heaven.
I like that Austrailian compere/comedian who often appears on 'Mock the Week'. He said that when Steve Erwin died all the Brits were giving out their condolencies as if he'd been a member of his own family.