Harry Hill: My kids tell me, ‘You can't say that, Dad'
Comedian Matthew Hall, known as Harry Hill, 60, grew up in Kent and started his career as a doctor. His comedy breakthrough came when he won the Perrier award for best newcomer at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1992. Harry Hill's TV Burp, the show he presented for 11 years, won three Bafta TV awards. He also narrated You've Been Framed! for 18 years and now presents Junior Bake Off. He lives in Kent with his wife, Magda Archer, with whom he has three daughters.
I've had friends who have been 'cancelled'. They worry about it. But on the whole, unless they've done something really awful, everyone has forgotten about it. There are so many people being cancelled every day; it's like a build-up of bodies.
I typed into Chat GPT, 'Write an original routine in the style of Harry Hill.' It wasn't even funny, ironically — AI doesn't have any idea about writing jokes. So I don't worry about it taking my place.
I went to school in my glasses and got teased. Kids would say, 'Can I have a go with your glasses?' They'd take them off me and pass them around. It was an awful feeling. To this day, if anyone asks to try on my glasses for selfies, it makes me really antsy. I made a conscious effort to wear glasses when I became a comic because I remember whenever someone wore glasses on TV.
Audiences are more alert to the idea that they might be offended. Certain words or things make them anxious. They're thinking, 'Oh no, I hope he's not going to say something that we will need to be offended by.' My kids pick me up on stuff – they say, 'No, you can't say that, Dad.' Which is helpful, because you don't want people to be offended.
The responsibility of being a doctor was pretty scary. I was never as nervous going on stage as I was being 'on call'. It was people having heart attacks and strokes, so I was thinking, if I get this wrong… We were all doing these long hours and were treated really badly by our superiors and we couldn't push back. It was one of the low points for the health service.
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It shows you how bad things have got when doctors are going on strike. Because the whole health service is run on the goodwill of the doctors and nurses. Once that's gone, the whole game's up.
Bill Bailey and Chris McCausland have screwed it up for every comedian who thought about going on Strictly Come Dancing. If you're a 60-year-old out-of-shape bloke who can't dance, what hope have you got?
Everyone gets divorced now, but in the Seventies it was a bit taboo. You had to do a lot of explaining to people because it was quite unusual. [Hill's parents divorced when he was just starting primary school.] It wasn't very pleasant. When you get a bit older, you don't particularly want to go and stay with your dad for the weekend.
Chris McCausland is an inspiration. I did a TV show with him and it was fantastic spending time with someone who can't see — a real education for me. I was supposed to be looking after him, but the first day he got in the car and banged his head. The producer was saying, 'Where were you?'
I kept my kids away from the TV studio and showbiz. I didn't want them going into it just because it looked glamorous or fun. The truth is, for any success in this game you've got to be very pushy. They've come with me on the road for my most recent tour. It's been interesting for them to see what it involves: a lot of time spent on the North Circular and eating sandwiches.
I don't have fond memories of a lot of the stuff I did, even though it was successful. It just seems like a blur and a lot of stress.
I don't do any exercise. I never have. It's revenge. At school, PE is the one subject where, if you're not very good at it, the teacher picks on you. I always had crappy kit — I used to get a lot of hand-me-downs.
Art is therapeutic. At medical school, I had a sketchbook on which I used to take out my frustration. People spend money on meditation and yoga, but art is a very low-cost hobby.
In the old days, I'd do a gig then have a drink and a laugh. Now I get in the car, fall asleep, do the show, get back in the car and fall asleep. But I don't think I've ever enjoyed it as much as I do now.
Harry Hill voices Bristles the talking paintbrush in Go Get Arty, available on CBBC and BBC iPlayer
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