Well it's week two in London and in my new job at a large media corporation. I am staying at a flat in Queens Park which is possibly the most multicultural I have ever lived in - two Australians, a Kiwi, two Frenchies and a mysterious Chinese girl who I have never met but allegedly lives in the room next door to me. I swore I'd never live in a house that in any way resembled The Young Ones, but it has happened, and to my dismay I'm actually the oldest person in the house. I'm sure Irina is smirking at that back in Stockholm (both of which I'm missing terribly - Irina and Sthlm). My tiny room (with the comforting Swedish presence of IKEA furniture) is a constant mess, and I have not yet mastered the art of British bathrooms (anyone who read my blogs from Korea or saw my photos from Japan will know that I have a thing with bathrooms and their varying national idiosyncracies. Bathrooms are just so important to get right. I'm tempted to wander over to Ben and Erin's for some bathing, and of course, a chance to find out Erin's top-secret guacamole recipe which I, deposed Mexican Food Queen, must get my hands on to regain the throne!)
But, as usual, I digress. Exciting moment for the week: my brushes with the stars continue, although this one from a little further afar than Neil Finn. This week it was my mission to report on an interview at a company event, featuring Stephen Merchant, the 2-metre tall co-creator of The Office (aka Oggy, friend of nerd Gareth).
Merchant revealed his sources of inspiration: Ricky Gervais - joking that 'he comes up with the ideas, I just put my name on the credits'; Clint Eastwood's Bridges Over Madison County - a film I'm sorry to say is a contender for Missy M's Worst Film of All Time and is only narrowly beaten out by 'Batman and Robin' and 'Streetfighter' (sorry Kyles) for sheer formulaicness, and of course anything with David Caruso in it for cringe-worthiness; lavatories (Ah! we had something in common!) and social awkwardness. He gave a very interesting insight into the difference between laughing at social awkwardness and shallow political correctness rather than the vehicles of that awkwardness, such as disabilities.
I also liked his interpretation of his role on 24, when he was cast as a computer geek - total screen time 4 seconds. 'I don't know much about computers, so I just imagined myself doing some light admin. You know, typing up some expenses for people, maybe making a MySpace page for Jack Bauer'.
After complaining that women weren't exactly throwing themselves at him (I am guessing this is probably because most of us are half his height and I for one am sick of risking my ankles wearing Kylie-esque heels to work in an attempt not to get lost on the Tube), he was asked if it was true that men enjoyed the 'thrill of the chase' when it came to finding the perfect girl. 'That's just something girls say so they don't have to do any of the work, it's a complete myth!' he scoffed. 'If a girl came up and asked me to meet them in the toilets in 5 minutes, I'm not going to say no.' Hmmm. The toilets again. Feeling charmed despite the constant lavatory references, I shuffled my copious and disorganised notes and went off in search of an internet connection to file my report. As I headed to the green room, who should I see but Mr Merchant himself chatting outside the green room door - tantalisingly close to the roomy disabled toilets.
For one split second I considered doing what my journalistic mentor Sara Holden would call 'taking one for the team' and taking Mr Merchant up on his offer, just to see what he would say. Was it a sackable offence to fraternise with the talent? Or was it my duty to go where no rookie web-journalist had gone before (as far as I knew - possible exception for those stationed on Greenpeace ships). Then again, Australians have such a reputation in London for dancing on tables and taking their kit off, an image I really didn't want to contribute to no matter how indirectly or for how good a cause.
In the end, my modest and moral nature won out over curiousity and awe at comic genius, and I headed for the business lounge to fire up the laptop. But I am dying to know what he would have said.
1 comment:
Ms Holden herself has written to me from somewhere off Tokyo where she is currently on a Greenpeace ship. She says:
"I am extremely flattered!! But did he meet the baseline criteria I taught you? [That advice is edited out to protect Sara's School of Journalism from any law suits]. Don't know how you're going to fit that into a blog!!!"
Well Sara, now you know. And you can post the comment yourself next time :-)
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