Ouch Talk Show June 2016 bbc.co.uk/ouch Presented by Kate Monaghan and Simon Minty [Jingle: Ouch.] SIMON Welcome to the Ouch talk show. It’s a disability thing. That was a bit… KATE That was weird. Where did the music go? What did you do with it, Simon? Where’s it gone? SIMON I didn’t. Anyway, thanks for introducing me. I am Simon Minty. KATE You are Simon Minty. And I’m Kate Monaghan. And the way this show works is, well we’re disabled and so are our guests, so I mean it’s quite simple really isn’t it? SIMON It is. Let’s meet them. To celebrate BBC Music Day which was on June 3rd we have Nicholas McCarthy with us. Nicholas is the concert pianist who has one hand and it’s this limb difference and impressive talent which have made him popular with the media. So what’s the question you get asked most often? NICHOLAS You know, there’s always an awkward moment when you’re at parties and people say, “What do you do for a living?” And the last thing they expect me to say is, “I’m a concert pianist with one hand.” So yeah, I sometimes lie at parties because sometimes I can’t be bothered to explain, I’m like oh I’ll just show them a YouTube video. SIMON But when you say I’m a concert pianist do you occasionally get people who think, oh he’s a little bit sarcastic or something like that? Do they not believe you in that sense? NICHOLAS 100%, that happens more often than you would think it, yeah. SIMON So then you almost have to defend your position, “I really am, I am!” NICHOLAS “I am, Google me!” KATE Do you have like a video on your phone that you just go no really, look? Here, here. NICHOLAS No, I need that just ready to go. Kind of a ready to go video. KATE Ruth Madeley is also with us. RUTH Hi. KATE Hi Ruth, how are you doing? RUTH I’m good. How are you? KATE Good, thank you. Now, she’s one of the stars of Jack Thorne’s Bafta winning drama, ‘Don’t Take My Baby’ which aired on BBC Three last year. SIMON Loved it. KATE It was so good, it was so good. RUTH Oh, guys. Too good to me. KATE But ten years ago she was on this very programme being our work experience kid. Do you remember that, Ruth? RUTH Yes I do. I’m actually quite frightened now because you’re going to let me listen to stuff that I don’t want to listen to. KATE Oh, I just don’t know what you mean by that. There’s no chance of our producers doing that to you, Ruth, honestly. RUTH Yes you do, don’t you lie to me! SIMON I think we’ve got time to find something, thanks for the little idea there, we really appreciate it. RUTH Oh guys. KATE Did you enjoy being an Ouch work experience? RUTH Oh it was fab, absolutely fantastic. KATE Yeah, you have to say that. RUTH Yeah, I really do. SIMON Later we’ll be speaking to two people on the scheme called Gig Buddies. It pairs learning disabled adults with likeminded volunteers so they can go to gigs together. KATE And we’ve got music from New York rap duo, Four Wheel City and the return of the quiz that just won’t go away, so I’m going to whisper it. Simon, we’re going to play Vegetable, Vegetable or Vegetable. SIMON I am really, really excited about this. This is an honour isn’t it, as well as really risky. KATE An honour and a privilege, it sure is and I’m just excited because I get the chance to prove my disability knowledge is well above yours. SIMON Yeah, and sort of Matt and Liz did it silly-ly never to guess it right, we’re going to be weirdly competitive aren’t we? KATE Well I am. SIMON All right. KATE Anyway. But first let’s get back to Nicholas McCarthy. Now Nicholas, sometimes it feels people are in competition but disabled people particularly are in competition to see who can do the most unlikely job with the impairment that they have. So last month we had a one armed chef, this month we have a one armed pianist. Now, I just want to ask why, what made you at a young age just think to yourself yeah, I’ve got one arm but it’s going to be the piano for me? NICHOLAS I actually wanted - it was Ronnie Murray you had on wasn’t it last time, and he tweeted me earlier - and I actually wanted to be a chef when I was younger, so I was equally as drawn to these two handed jobs, I don’t know why. And then I saw a friend of mine play a Beethoven piano sonata at the age of 14, that’s how old I was when I started, and I just had one of those epiphany moments really where I was like that is what I want to do as a career, not just to learn the piano, I wanted to earn my money playing the piano. KATE So what did your parents say when you came to them and said, “Mum, Dad, I want to play the piano”? NICHOLAS My mum and dad have always been so supportive and they’ve always brought me up to know even though yes, I am physically different they’ve always brought me up for me to feel completely confident in any situation and they were always there. And I think also, you know what it’s like at the age of 14, you’ve got that kind of teenage invincibility almost. SIMON You can do anything. NICHOLAS Exactly. And that’s what I felt, I was like oh, I can be a concert pianist. SIMON So you had played the piano before then? NICHOLAS No, I hadn’t even read a note of music. SIMON. Stop it. NICHOLAS We come from very unmusical families. I don’t really know where I arrived from really, but yeah, that’s how it started. SIMON That’s intense. KATE And how did you find a piano teacher that was willing to…? NICHOLAS Well I just didn’t tell them, I didn’t tell them about my lack of a hand, so she turned up on the day… SIMON What? After the fifth lesson did they spot something? NICHOLAS Maybe, I’m not sure. No, on the day it was quite funny because I… To be honest, I just forget though, I mean I’m sure we all do, you know, with our various different disabilities, I won’t always be like, “Hi, I’m Nicholas McCarthy, I have one hand,” so when I was on the phone organising this first lesson I completely forgot, just genuinely forgot to say, “Oh by the way, I have one hand.” So when she turned up on the day I opened the front door and it was kind of that moment of horror where she saw me, smiled, and looked down at my right arm that wasn’t there and was like, “Have I got the right house? You are learning piano, is that correct?” So anyway, I then played to her and she was then crying, I was hoping in a good way, not that I was that terrible. KATE Okay, so had you taught yourself a little bit before your lesson then? NICHOLAS I taught myself a little bit, yeah, so by that stage I was probably about a grade two or grade three level, I kind of progressed quite quickly. KATE That’s quite impressive for self-teaching. NICHOLAS Yeah, and I enjoyed it so much, I kind of replaced my PlayStation with my piano and that was how I kind of, it was a hobby, it was a complete… it overtook me really. SIMON Do you get a little kick, or maybe as a 14, 15 year old you got a kick just to be contrary or was it just the love of the piano and that epiphany that was like…? NICHOLAS A bit of everything really, I loved the attention of course, you know, at school everyone went, “Oh my god, Nick’s amazing at the piano,” blah, blah, blah, of course that’s good, I’m an artist, I’m an ego, you know, we all have egos. And secondly it was the fact that, you know, it’s unexpected and I love that, I love a bit of shock value to be honest. So yeah, I think it was all a combination of those things. SIMON Do you think we should listen to a little bit? KATE Well I just think that people aren’t going to believe that you’re any good unless we hear you. SIMON Yeah we had to go on YouTube. KATE Because when I got told we were having a one armed pianist I was like oh great, it’s going to be another one of… NICHOLAS Yeah, roll your eyes, yeah. KATE Yeah exactly and then Emma sent me some clips and I was thinking I don’t even believe that this is him playing. So I kind of want to see it in the flesh. How about you? SIMON I’d love to.