Metaphorically speaking, you understand. I’d been going on and on to my husband about “Shaun of the Dead” for ages so finally I went to the video store and rented it. It was a depressing experience. Not, I hasten to add, because it wasn’t a good movie – on the contrary I laughed my arse off and so did my old man – but because it made me realize just how much I’d not been concentrating on my career. Simon has worked his skinny butt off ever since we graduated from Bristol University Drama Department together – whereas I’ve just careened from one relationship to another waiting for jobs to fall out of the sky. Watching my old mate in a movie that he wrote was a huge wake-up call.
And that’s when I started writing and thinking about doing stand-up. One of the first things Simon did was stand-up – I still remember his routine about the toys of our youth – and he just went on from there to “Spaced” and Shaun of the Dead and “Hot Fuzz” and “Run Fatboy Run” and all the other great things he’s done.
You’ve got to make your own luck in this business, and that’s just what Simon’s done. I’m really proud of him and I got to tell him last night that he’s my inspiration. Over a couple of pints. Which was nice.