A-ha! Coogan finds home comforts
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WHEN Steve Coogan steps on stage in Manchester tonight for the last of a string of comedy dates here, it will mark yet another high in an incredible career spanning 20 years.
The mimic from Middleton, whose big break came providing the voices for Spitting Image characters, has certainly come a long way in the last two decades, creating a clutch of brilliant comedy creations before going on to carve an amazing Hollywood career.
And hitting the ripe old age of 43 appears to have brought new peace of mind to the multi-talented Mancunian.
"I'm very lucky," says a calm and collected Coogan. "I've been making a living from entertaining people for 20 years. I feel now that I can relax and enjoy it a bit.
"I'm not going to be flavour of the month because I have been around for too long to be that. So I'm enjoying it more than I have in previous years."
It's a wonder Coogan has the time to return to the stage given his workload on both sides of the Atlantic.
His name has been up in lights for numerous Hollywood movies - working alongside Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson - and he recently made a return to Greater Manchester to appear in Royle Family writer Craig Cash's gritty TV gambling drama, Sunshine, which has its second episode on BBC1 tonight.
Duncan Thickett
His live comedy tour is entitled Alan Partridge and Other Less Successful Characters and provides fans with a glimpse of Coogan through the years. There's a chance to revisit Duncan Thickett, a "star" turn from Alan Partridge, and an outing for relative newcomer Tommy Saxondale.
It's 10 years since Coogan last did a live stage tour and he admits that he's nervous.
"That's sort of why I did it," he says. "I thought to myself 'I can't believe that I did that 10 years ago'.
"I needed to sort of prove to myself that I did actually do it by doing it all over again. It's very scary, but scary in a good way. I did it because I want to and because I miss it."
The tour started in Stoke earlier this month and Coogan says the reaction has been good.
"It is tough trying to get a show together 10 years after the last one, but the audience are loving it," he adds.
"When you get it right, polished, it's just the best feeling in the world. I've spent 10 years doing film and television, which I thoroughly enjoy, but you're slightly removed from the audience.
Ambiguity
"Doing this show, there's a lack of ambiguity. If people are laughing, they're enjoying themselves."
Coogan's favourite part of the show - the part which goes some way to revealing his feelings for the tabloids - comes at the end. It includes a song whose title could never be written in a family newspaper.
"I do 'Steve Coogan'," he adds. "It's a parody of the world's view of Steve Coogan - including a song with the 'C' world.
"I mention tabloid intervention, I mention my childhood, and what people say about me. Then I have a go at the audience. I spread it around.
"Conceptually, it sounds a bit vicious but it's more fun than that. And it's very rude."
He's looking forward to playing in Manchester and has fond memories of studying at drama school and the polytechnic here, while also breaking into stand-up.
Green Room
He played venues like the Green Room and Band On The Wall with people like John Thomson, Caroline Aherne and Henry Normal, today a partner in Coogan's Baby Cow TV production company.
"I liked acting and comedy and I could do funny voices and I wanted to do something entertaining," he says when I ask what he'd set out to achieve. I wanted to act and do characters and do something worthwhile. It was also all that I was any good at.
"I worked in a petrol station and I had to balance the books at the end of the day and I always made a right hash of it.
"If I couldn't have done this then I would have been very average at everything else."
While it's had mixed reviews, Coogan is glad that Sunshine is on telly at the same time as his comedy tour because of the way the two projects contrast his talents.
"It's very understated, truthful and naturalistic and quite dramatic. It gets very dark towards the end ," he says. "What I'm doing on stage is the polar opposite. It's broad, crude, belly-laugh sort of comedy."
Oeuvre
In many ways, we're so familiar with Steve Coogan's oeuvre here in Manchester that it's easy to forget how big a star he has become.
Today he is so famous that he's able to oblige when I ask him which A-listers he's on first name terms with.
The list includes being "pretty friendly" with Friends' star Matthew Perry and a "good friend" of Owen Wilson, his Night At the Museum co-star. Ironically, it was another well-known Mancunian who he dined out with during his last visit to La-La Land.
"I had a drink with Morrissey," he says. "Quite a turn up for the books. The last time I'd met him was when The Smiths played the Free Trade Hall in 1983.
Sandie Shaw
"They only just had their first album out and Sandie Shaw was on stage singing Hand In Glove. I went back stage because I knew the support band - The Red Guitars - who were big at the time.
"I was 17 and he was 24 and now I'm 43 and he must be kicking 50.
"It was a bit weird, two Mancunians in a bar in LA. We chatted about Tony Wilson and Manchester. Chrissie Hynde was there too," he adds. "I still get starstruck a bit."
But for Coogan, who splits his time between home in Brighton and in America, coming home is still very special. He returns every couple of months to see his mum and dad, Tony and Kathleen, and his siblings. Audiences are kinder too, he suggests.
"They know I'm from their town," he says. "There's a certain kind of loyalty and I'm very proud of Manchester. The reason I made Sunshine was so that I could go and do something in Manchester again.
24 Hour Party People
"I've made two films there, 24 Hour Party People and The Parole Officer, and I like working there."
He acknowledges the part that Manchester played in his career and recalls heading into the world of light entertainment at a peculiarly productive time for the city.
He tries to see John Thomson whenever he's in town - "he cooked for me last time" - and hopes to get him on stage at the Apollo.
He met Caroline Aherne again recently when she performed a cameo role in Sunshine.
"She's great fun," he adds. "In fact, me, Caroline and John did a show together for Granada called The Dead Good Show - a one-off comedy.
"And we found out recently that Granada TV wiped the tapes. The only ones that exist are the ones I have and John has and my friend has on video. I couldn't believe it when I found out.
"I think I'm going to take my copy and put it on YouTube... that way it can be preserved for the next 20 years."
Steve Coogan plays the M.E.N. Arena on Wednesday, November 19. Tickets are priced £30.
Published: Wed, 08 October, 2008
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Tom Rochford wrote: 2 months ago
Do not listen to the reviews seriously , I saw him at the apollo last night and to tell the truth he was amazing clever comedy and a pure genius on the stage i read on liverpools echo website how much they slated his performance but everything he did made people cry with laughther or go ooooooo i do not believe the people of liverpool saw the same show that we here in Manchester did. And in response to ACM88 what would you rather do sit in watch some rubbish soap and count your money or live whilst you can and experience one of the funniest people in the world alive today. You could be dead tomorrow credit crunch my arse
ACM88 wrote: 2 months 1 week ago
I read an article in the Telegraph Review this weekend about live shows that are not worth the money due to the time spent performing by the artist. Steve Coogan's name was mentioned along with the likes of New semsation US comedian Sarah Silverman, both accused of making a 'fast buck'on their current tours with Silverman only being on stage 40 minutes in a recent stand up. Coogan has been heavily critised for his recent shows in Stoke & Liverpool. Something worth considering before spending £32.50 on a ticket, especially during the 'credit crunch'.