Frank Skinner

[Seagullsim]

Frank has always been someone i've genuinely enjoyed the comedy of, From Fantasy Football, through Baddiel & Skinner Unplanned, right up until his radio show, i've always found him funny and quite intelligent. However, i've noticed more and more throwaway comments from people suggesting he's a bit of a nasty piece of work. There was a couple of stories recently about him being sacked from his art show on Sky, with a hint that it was because of how he treated the crew & staff on the show. Also, there's the occasional comment on twitter by respectable comedians about him that seem to have a snidey edge to them,

Anyone else heard this? Or, has anyone met him and found him to be a delight?

[rectorofstiffkey]

I was a fan for years (loved Fantasy Football).  Reading his autobiography put me massively off him as a person; he was very full of his own hilarity and seemed completely self-absorbed.   And that wasn't biased press coverage or someone else's perception; it was his own words.  Presumably nobody wanted to tell him that he was coming across as a bell-end.

[the science eel]

Did you see that thing where he was kissing Mark E Smith's arse for an hour?

[Brundle-Fly]

Frank Skinner is very funny.

Who gives a fucking shit about any of this tittle-tattle bollocks?

[Brundle-Fly]

Reading his autobiography put me massively off him as a person; he was very full of his own hilarity and seemed completely self-absorbed.

My favourite inane criticism of any autobiographies:

"They just kept talking about themselves the whole time"

Duh!

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated to Frank Skinner

[rasta-spouse]

Not a single mention about the repeal of the Corn Laws in his autobiography. Not a single one. Get your nose out of the air Skinner!

[gmoney]

I thought he was funny until I read his autobiography, and I was horrified to discover he thought he was funny as well! What a wanker!

[rectorofstiffkey]

I thought he was funny until I read his autobiography, and I was horrified to discover he thought he was funny as well! What a wanker!

well when you put it like that I do sound like an arse, to be fair.  I'll try to explain it better....when I read the autobiography, it was peppered throughout with paragraphs written about situations just so that he could mention a witty joke that he made at that time.  And they often weren't that witty.  For example, I remember him writing a paragraph about a trip to Venice he'd made with his girlfriend just to shoehorn in some puns he made there.  I've given my copy to the Oxfam shop so just looked at Google books to refresh my memory.  his hilarious Venice puns were:

a) they were told that the Doge no longer lived in the palace, so he sang 'Who let the Doge out'
b) A fat woman sat by the bridge of Sighs, looking unhappy.  Franks thinks she misheard and thought it would be the Bridge of Pies.
c) On the way back, they fly over Luxembourg.  Frank sings "Pass the Duchy on the Left-hand side".

the autobiography was about three inches thick but if you'd taken out all of the "And this happened.....and so I made this really funny comment!" bits it would have saved a good half-inch.

Prepared to hear that everyone still thinks I'm being an arse though.

[DrGreggles]

Probably the sharpest comedian I've ever seen.

[Clive Langham]

He's famously an extremely unpleasant man, a huge egomaniac, very nasty to "underlings", and a notorious Mariah Carey-esque diva, of the "storming-out-of-his-dressing-room-and-insisting-someone-gets-fired-because-his-mineral-water-is-the-wrong-temperature" type, which is hilarious when you consider his blokey, "ordinary geezer" persona.

He does sort of allude to this in his autobiographies – there's a bit in the second volume  where he's on tour, and forces his techie to switch hotel rooms when he suspects the techie's room is slightly nicer than his.

[jobotic]

That pass the duchy line is pretty good.

[Clownbaby]

I always think he's decent value when he's on things. Annoys me a bit how often he mentions that he's a recovering alcoholic though.

I'm really not a big fan of autobiographies, even if it's by someone who I like. I prefer reading what other people have said about the person at length rather than what the person is saying about themself, at length (as long as it's not a badly made "vague anecdotes" thing)

[neveragain]

His autobiography is startlingly honest about his alcoholism (i.e. the occasion he pissed the bed and blamed his then-girlfriend) but - those years aside - I always assumed that he was a nice bloke so this would be a bit of a shame.

[Brundle-Fly]

My other half used to work in his favourite restaurant where he would often lunch with his colleagues and said he was by far one of their more courteous diners and generous tipper. Bastard.

[gmoney]

He is by his own admission "a bit of a git", but I hardly think he's "famously an extremely unpleasant man". I have never met or worked with him, but people I know who have met him have said he was very nice and accommodating.

[Clownbaby]

Yeah. Seems like he can be nice and be a be a bit of a cunt as well, like most people

[Clive Langham]

He's a total cunt to work for is what I've heard (e.g. if you're a runner, production assistant, techie or whatever.) I'm sure he's perfectly pleasant if you meet him on the street. "Difficult" is the euphemism generally used in show business. Lots of entertainers are "difficult'; Victoria Wood was the same by all reports.
Of course it's a high-pressure job, and people cannot be blamed for occasionally blowing up, but if you habitually treat those lower in the pecking order than you like shit then you're a bully and an arsehole in my view.

[Clownbaby]

He's a total cunt to work for is what I've heard (e.g. if you're a runner, production assistant, techie or whatever.) I'm sure he's perfectly pleasant if you meet him on the street. "Difficult" is the euphemism generally used in show business. Lots of entertainers are "difficult'; Victoria Wood was the same by all reports.
Of course it's a high-pressure job, and people cannot be blamed for occasionally blowing up, but if you habitually treat those lower in the pecking order than you like shit then you're a bully and an arsehole in my view.

Yeah. The "underlings" mentality is straight up unprofessional

[the science eel]

My cousin's best ex-best friend worked for him cleaning his shoes for 3 weeks in 1998 and said he was an absolute wanker most afternoons. But fine after about 5 pm. Unless you called him 'Frank'

[jobotic]

At the Job Centre:

Yes I've recently finished a doctorate in anthropology, so I've been out of the job market for a little while. What have you got that's suitable for someone of my experience. Obviously i'm not expecting Oxford Professor wages just yet ha ha!


We've got 3 weeks cleaning Frank Skinner's shoes - you gonna take it or do we stop your dole Professor?

I'll take it.

[manticore]

What was that occasion when Skinner and Baddiel did a long series of jokes implying that that bloke with a beard was a child molester, when it turned out he wasn't? Then the beard bloke went on Skinner's show to complain to him about how it had hurt him and Skinner just said something along the lines of 'It's my job'.

My memory of that is no doubt utterly higgledy-piggledy but it really bothered me at the time.

[rasta-spouse]

What was that occasion when Skinner and Baddiel did a long series of jokes implying that that bloke with a beard was a child molester, when it turned out he wasn't? Then the beard bloke went on Skinner's show to complain to him about how it had hurt him and Skinner just said something along the lines of 'It's my job'.

This is the famous (now infamous) Rolf Harris interview. Broadcast live from Ayer's Rock, or Uluru as you're supposed to call it.

The following week Frank interviewed Howard Jacobson and boldly asked him, "When people step on the grapes with their feet - doesn't that make the wine dirty?"

[Default to the negative]

He's famously an extremely unpleasant man, a huge egomaniac, very nasty to "underlings", and a notorious Mariah Carey-esque diva, of the "storming-out-of-his-dressing-room-and-insisting-someone-gets-fired-because-his-mineral-water-is-the-wrong-temperature" type, which is hilarious when you consider his blokey, "ordinary geezer" persona.

I find that a bit hard to believe.

I remember when Tara Palmer-Tomkinson was on his show, she took the piss out of him and said she hadn't known who he was. Said she thought she was going on a show hosted by Mike Reid. Then she added that when Frank came into her dresser to say hello, she assumed he was just someone from 'wardrobe'.

Frank seemed perfectly unfazed by this. If he's such a diva, I think he would have reacted more harshly.

[dontrunyoullfall]

I find that a bit hard to believe.

I remember when Tara Palmer-Tomkinson was on his show, she took the piss out of him and said she hadn't known who he was. Said she thought she was going on a show hosted by Mike Reid. Then she added that when Frank came into her dresser to say hello, she assumed he was just someone from 'wardrobe'.

Frank seemed perfectly unfazed by this. If he's such a diva, I think he would have reacted more harshly.

She's not with us anymore is she?

[Dr Rock]

I find that a bit hard to believe.

I remember when Tara Palmer-Tomkinson was on his show, she took the piss out of him and said she hadn't known who he was. Said she thought she was going on a show hosted by Mike Reid. Then she added that when Frank came into her dresser to say hello, she assumed he was just someone from 'wardrobe'.

Frank seemed perfectly unfazed by this. If he's such a diva, I think he would have reacted more harshly.

This is all very different to how he might treat 'underlings'

[rectorofstiffkey]

She's not with us anymore is she?

you're not implying that Frank Skinner took his revenge a decade later, are you?

[Mark Steels Stockbroker]

you're not implying that Frank Skinner took his revenge a decade later, are you?

It's even worse, he got his PA to do it.

Wasn't it that the recording schedule for Shane had to be rearranged so he could see a West Brom game?

[Default to the negative]

Wasn't it that the recording schedule for Shane had to be rearranged so he could see a West Brom game?

Oh man, you just reminded of Shane.

(SHANE is sitting watching Time Team while his wife takes the stairs up to bed.)

SHANE'S WIFE: Ey-oop, that's me off to me bed now.

SHANE: I'll be up in a minute.

SHANE'S WIFE: (Looks at the screen) Ere that would be good wouldn't it? Being an archaeologist?

SHANE: Wot?

SHANE'S WIFE: Well, don't you fancy poking around in an old ruin?

SHANE: I said I'll be up in a minute!

Oh dear...

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

I don't like his eyes. Lizardy, almost insectoid eyes he has. It wouldn't surprise me if he'd killed someone.

[manticore]

Matthew Kelly was the beard bloke, just mentioned in another thread. Except he didn't have a beard at the time. Who is he I wonder? Can't be bothered to find out. Odd manner about him. This is the interview anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD85YLJ2TTo