DS1ST 18 DAILY STAR, Monday, March 30, 2020 CRACKING GAGS FEW DARE TELL SO SAUCY: Spag bol Italian a Twitter’s a cesspit scoffer we can’t refuse.. but good for a row COMEDIAN Andrew Doyle has just THE MIKE WARD INTERVIEW WE have such a taste for made a brave confession. Italian food we scof it an “Sometimes Donald Trump will tweet average three times a week. something I fnd funny,” he’s admitted. ANDREW DOYLE A poll found spaghetti “You have to acknowledge he can do that.” bolognese, pizza and lasagne Tat’s not to say Andrew is a fan of the WOKE-FIGHTING are the most popular meals US president. Far from it. on Mondays, Tuesdays and It’s just he hates being told what he can COMEDIAN Wednesdays respectively. and can’t chuckle at. We then opt for more Tat’s why, besides being a successful laughable. But many take her at face value. traditional British fare – with performer in his own right, he co-founded Tat’s the gag. cottage pie the top choice on Comedy Unleashed – a London event In her guise, Andrew will routinely post Tursdays and fsh and chips where stand-ups can try out gags they are earnestly right-on remarks such as “the on Friday. afraid to try elsewhere. coronavirus is transphobic” – then sit back Sunday is, of course, roast Gags that might upset the politically and wait for the reaction. day – and most of us like to correct “woke movement” and the easily “I really enjoy it when she gets into get an Indian or Chinese ofended. arguments. And I always stay in character. takeaway in on Saturdays. “Tere’s a kind of groupthink going on in “I want to see how absurd I can get Te poll also found the comedy industry,” he explains. before people clock.” Geordies are most likely to “Some opinions are considered accept- Tere’s a serious point, mind you. eat in front of the telly. able and will help your career. Others are “Twitter is a bit of a cesspit. I’m doing Some 53% admit sitting considered unacceptable and will damage this to satirise the kind of social justice on the sofa with a tray at least it. I don’t think that’s very civilised. activists who use it to spread their ideas. four nights a week. “So we wanted to put on a night that “Tey claim to be fghting for justice, yet Londoners were least like- encourages free thinking, where acts they’re some of the most vicious people ly to have TV dinners, at can take risks. Tat includes the you’ll fnd.” 25%, and as a whole 43% of potential to ofend. Andrew’s comic hero is the late us admit to dining in front of “It’s not about being as Victoria Wood. Other favour- the box four times a week. crude or as vicious as ites include French & And 10% even owned up possible. We’re not inter- Saunders and Te Ofce. to eating their dinner in bed ested in that. Talking of the latter, with the telly on. “It’s just that there Ricky Gervais must be Hotel chain Travelodge, should be no such thing something of a hero, I which did the study, found in comedy as a safe suggest, given how much that the average family has space.” of his Twitter conduct dinner at 7pm. Andrew is aware the echoes Andrew’s beliefs. Some 25% consider it “old event has its detractors. “It’s great because he can fashioned” to eat before 5pm. “Tey’ll say: ‘Oh, you just say what he wants. No-one’s want an excuse to be racist on going to ‘cancel’ Ricky Gervais. WORD OF stage’. Tat’s ludicrous. Tere’s a He’s got far too big a fan base. Te diference between joking about race and real concern is for young comics who don’t NEQUAM quuntis being racist. feel they can express certain opinions num cusanti “Similarly with homophobia. If I joke because of the fak they’ll get.” bersper iorrorecte about homosexuality, that doesn’t mean Andrew hopes this stifing comedy vid que con the joke’s a homophobic joke.” climate will just be a phase. essequi doluptas id And as for accusations of pandering to “Eventually, we’ll move beyond this que quamp eritiam, the right, he points out most of the acts, like madness,” he says. “Tat’s fne by me. officae. him, are actually on the left. “I don’t want to have to keep talking “I don’t care what your politics are. I just about this stuf. THE DAY care if you’re funny.” “Te best-case scenario is that I’m out of Andrew is better known to many as his a job!” online alter ego, a satirical character called To find out more about the Titania McGrath, inset above. ● free-thinking Comedy Unleashed, £104m While Andrew’s own Twitter account has visit comedyunleashed.co.uk. And for 92,600 followers, as Titania he is approach- details of Andrew’s Q&A tour plans ing half a million. with author Douglas Murray, go to chunk for Titania, in a nutshell, is so woke it’s resistingwokeness.com Cadbury CADBURY was our fastest- growing food brand last year ANDREW’S FAVOURITES afer sales surged £104mil- lion to hit £1.68billion. FILM: A Room With A View SPORTSPERSON: Dwayne Johnson Te giant was already our BOOK: Shalimar The Clown, by SONG: Even In The Shadows, by Enya biggest brand and the haul Salman Rushdie SINGER: Tori Amos eclipsed the £30million com- PLAY: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? BAND: Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick bined rise of every other by Edward Albee and Titch chocolate maker in Te TV SHOW: The Singing Detective FOOD: Pizza Grocer’s top 100 products. ACTOR: Tim Curry DRINK: Champagne Cadbury was followed in COMEDIAN: Victoria Wood CITY: Derry the trade magazine’s top fve SOAP CHARACTER: Nell Mangel HOLIDAY DESTINATION: Florence by Coca-Cola, Nestlé, (Neighbours) GADGET: Chastity belt Walkers and Warburtons. SPORTING EVENT: Annual sheep FIGURE FROM HISTORY: Mary Toft Claire Lowe, of Cadbury racing on the island of Sark ANIMAL: Bulldog owner Mondelez, said: “We HEROES: Andrew, above, admires Gervais and the late Wood had a phenomenal year.”.