Edinburgh Fringe grilling: Matt Tiller

Posted by Sport.co.uk on: 29 July 2010 - 17:23
Author: Jonny Abrams
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Next up on our comfy, caper-fuelled couch of comedy is the “endearingly shambolic and always engagingly bumbling” (thanks to The List for that one) Matt Tiller (“a very funny man”, so says XFM), who returns to the festival with his new show Matt Tiller’s Awkward Situation, “a sure-to-be treat for those who enjoy a good cringe* binge at the Fringe” (according to Sport.co.uk)…

(* When we say 'cringe', think The Office as opposed to, say, Richard Madeley dressing up as Ali G or Delia Smith's half-time speech at Carrow Road.)

Are you into any sports? Do you support a team? If so, who and why?

I’m not a fanatic, but I do watch football, occasionally cricket and in desperate times have been known to relax in front of golf. At school I was massively into American Football – some friends and I created our own American Football board game and had a club at lunchtime. I was a very cool teenager.

I support Plymouth Argyle, because it’s where I grew up and I got into watching them with friends. Even though I live in Manchester, I do usually get to a few games in a season – there are big supporters groups outside Plymouth, because most people with any ambition leave. We all love the place (and The Argyle) but there’s not much going on. I always get over excited if Plymouth gets a mention on the news or sport. There are very few Plymouth accents heard on national radio or television – Trevor Francis is about the only one – which is a shame. I don’t have a Plymouth accent myself – my parents forced me to speak proper.

Do you play any sports yourself?

I occasionally play football. I really love playing, but can never put a run of regular appearances in due to gigs or work commitments. I was a member of Jono’s Snooker Club in Camberwell when I lived in London. Unfortunately I’m red green colour blind, which often meant I’d try to pot the brown when I should have been going for a red, much to my mate Alan’s bemusement. This is fact, not a euphemism. Snooker counts doesn’t it? We drank Guinness while taking three hours to play a best of three frames match. Guinness is a sports drink.

Were you watching the World Cup? If so, which team and player impressed you most? And what was your stand out moment of the tournament?

I did watch a lot of the early stages and then got busy and missed any decent match, which was irritating. I saw the final though - that was hard work. I was pleased when Iniesta scored, because the Dutch were such a bunch of tossers. I always used to like the Dutch. Shame.

Are there any sports which you absolutely cannot understand the appeal of?

Formula One. It’s bollocks.

Who is your all-time favourite sportsman/sportswoman? And why?

I really don’t have one. Maybe Matthew Le Tissier, because his name is vaguely similar to mine and I once pulled off a spectacular volley and was called Le Tillier. Only briefly for that day, because usually I’d slice it out of the park or miss it completely.

If you could invent your own sport, what would it entail?

It would probably involve pasties. Throwing the Pasty – you have to get it right into the mouth of a Cornishman. Plymouth is in Devon, but Cornwall is just across the river Tamar – throwing it into a Cornishman’s mouth is somehow funnier. Getting it right across the Tamar would be impossible though. You’d have to cross the river to chuck it at him.

What have been your best and worst experiences of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival?

In my first show Soft Toys, from 2003, on the last Saturday we were having a great show (it was a two-hander sketch show with a very talented comic actor called Michael Spicer) with a really receptive and decent sized audience. But it was incredibly hot and suddenly a woman in the front row collapsed. At first I thought she was dead, but I was just being a comedy-drama queen - she’d fainted. Michael and I were doing our best to improvise in character and help the poor woman. When she came to we offered her the opportunity to leave and get some fresh air, but she wanted to stay and see the end, which was lovely and surprising. It was a really enjoyable show and a memorable end to my first fringe.

Worst – at my first preview of Ladykiller in 2005, I opened a bottle of Cava and the fizz exploded into my face, properly right into my eyes so I couldn’t see for a minute. The audience thought it was part of the show. It was very funny.

Both are kind of best and worst combined.

Which is your favourite Fringe venue? And why?

Apart from the Caves, where I’m on, I do like The Stand. They always have some of my favourite acts on and it’s a proper club all year round.

What's the best watering hole in Edinburgh? And the best place for a bite to eat?

I don’t have a regular haunt, but I do like to eat and drink in the pubs around St. Mary’s Street and the Royal Mile - The Tass, World’s End. I had a good meal and great cocktail (and I don’t usually do cocktails) at Monteiths. And the City Café (for food, not cocktails). Used to like the Holyrood Tavern before it was done up.

What's the strangest thing you’ve ever seen at the Festival?

Porthole Into the Mind of the Vanquished. Weird, but utterly wonderful, inventive and funny - one of their songs sticks in my mind years later. It was actually one of the best performances I‘ve seen.

What's the best heckle you’ve ever heard?

I try and forget them although I generally enjoy a bit of interaction. I dabbled in stand up at university and once died so badly that someone reminded me of it ten years later not realising that it was me who’d been the corpse that day.

Apparently I kept saying ‘but that’s another story’ when another anecdote failed to hit home. The compere came on and said ‘just tell us the other story.’ Not a heckle as such, but it was good. It was a long time ago. I’m over it now.

Are there any other acts you look forward to seeing during the Festival?

I always see Andy Zaltzman, whose stuff I really enjoy. Last year, Seymour Mace’s shows were out and out the funniest I saw and he’s doing three this year and I bet they’re all very funny. Jason Cook - he’s an excellent circuit stand up and brilliant compere, but his hour long shows are utterly brilliant and the fact that he’s not even been nominated for an award in the last three years is a travesty. Take that, judging panel!

Who is the Lionel Messi of comedy (ie modern day great)? And who is the Pele of comedy (ie all time great)?

There are plenty of modern greats – from people who’ve just ‘made it’ like John Bishop, who is a genuinely great comic, to people like Richard Herring and Stewart Lee to John Hegley & Graham Fellows who may never be massive names, but they’re on my list of greats.

My Pele would probably be Peter Cook. No need to say anything else there.

Can you tell us anything about your Edinburgh show and where/when we can see you?

I’ve had a lot of awkward situations in my life and this show is all about them and those situations we all face as we make our way through the awkwardness of life. It’s called Matt Tiller’s Awkward Situation, which says it all, apart from the fact that it’s set to my acoustic indie punk folk tunes. At least that’s what I think they are - I’ve got a guitar and a ukulele anyhow and play them a lot in the show. And I wear a red velvet suit. It should be green, really, shouldn’t it? I’ll get one for next year when I do a Plymouth Argyle themed show.

It’s on at 16:55 Just the Bar – Just The Tonic @The Caves. It’s in the bar.