Adam Buxton: ‘I met Johnny Cash on the beach and introduced him to my mum'

Times

28-05-2025

First film I saw at the cinema
Disney's The Rescuers, quite an odd film about a United Nations-style organisation run by mice, who go on a mission to rescue a human girl kidnapped in the bayou. I remember an incredibly exciting boat chase involving a dragonfly.
First cinema event
Star Wars. We were living in south Wales, but my mum drove us all the way to London to see it. I remember stumbling out, dazed, desperate to buy merch. My mum bought me the soundtrack on cassette, and I was initially gutted that it was just the music and not the actors' voices too.
First TV obsession
I remember being so excited about The Muppet Show. In a pre-VCR age, I wanted a record of it. Borrowing my dad's Dictaphone [he was a travel journalist], I would lie right in front of the TV, recording as close to the speaker as I could. I would shush anyone who came in: 'No talking during the Muppets!' I liked Gonzo best, because he was hapless but funny.
First single I owned
Kraftwerk's The Model. When I was nine, I was shipped off to boarding school. On Thursdays, seniors were allowed to stay up to watch Top of the Pops. With few exceptions, I loved it all, but particularly synth-pop, so, Gary Numan, Landscape, who had a hit with Einstein a Go-Go, Ultravox and Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.
First concert I went to
My first memory of live music was seeing a reggae band in Jamaica or Barbados during one of my dad's travel trips. It wasn't a tourist gig but something we had been taken to by a local PR. I was quite young and found it gut-quakingly loud. My dad asked the PR if they could ask the band to turn the music down. She laughed, then realised he was serious. The first band I saw for myself was Prefab Sprout at the Hammersmith Palais, along with my comedy wife Joe Cornish [the screenwriter and director].
• Joe Cornish: 'I turned down every franchise out there'
Buxton met Johnny Cash on holiday as a child
JACK VARTOOGIAN/GETTY IMAGES
First famous person I met
Possibly on that same Caribbean trip, while playing in the sea I got talking to a man with a boy about the same age as me. This dad, who was nice and gentle, asked me what I liked doing. I said: 'Drawing robots and watching TV.' The boy liked TV too. 'Come and meet my mum,' I said. Afterwards she said: 'Do you know who that was? He's very famous. He's called Johnny Cash.'
First break
While at art school, I sent a videotape into a Channel 4 public access show called Takeover TV. I'd recorded a comedy song over a Velvet Underground instrumental about a pretentious performance artist called Randy Tartt. The guy who ran the production company, Fenton Bailey, loved the video, and also felt it was a sign that he had a partner called Randy and a band called The Fabulous Pop Tarts. That led to The Adam and Joe Show.
First podcast I enjoyed
We took over from the Ricky Gervais show on XFM when he and Stephen Merchant went off to film the second series of The Office. They already had a hit podcast of that show, so we were offered that option too. I was quite insecure and soon discovered it was nice to have the opportunity to craft something, rather than just stumbling live on air.
First moment I felt I'd made it
A recent notch was having Paul McCartney on The Adam Buxton Podcast. In the days when it was less offensive to do so, I used to joke that my Native American name would have to be Stumbles at Hurdles, because at any point in my career when the pressure was on, I'd f*** it up. I was nervous McCartney would be another one of those challenges. But I think it was really good, and people liked it.
I Love You, Byeee by Adam Buxton is out now (Mudlark £22 pp320). To order a copy go to timesbookshop.co.uk. Free UK standard P&P on orders over £25. Special discount available for Times+ members