Perdita
02-03-2009, 12:48
Taking a break from Billericay and Barry Island, James Corden and Mathew Horne are about to return to our screens in their very own own sketch show on BBC Three. Following on from their performance at the Brits and with their big screen comedy romp Lesbian Vampire Killers also released later this month, it's been an exciting couple of weeks for the double act. We met up with the duo to find out all the gossip about their much-anticipated new series.
Was there any debate about the ordering of your names in the title?
Corden: "Horne & Corden just sounds better I think. There was never even a discussion. We were originally going to call it Horne And Corden Have Come. Just because we wanted to tour it one day live and we thought the tour could be called 'Horne And Corden Have Come Everywhere'. But then we realised, we'd have to say that to our mums and friends, so we decided to avoid it."
Where did you get the inspiration for the characters?
Corden: "The characters came quite organically. When we were doing series one of Gavin & Stacey, we would do little skits during our downtime. The magicians Johnny and Lee Miller came after we filmed the wedding scenes because a crew member said that we looked like really bad magicians. We then started making silly noises and doing crap magic and it evolved from there."
What about someone like Xander, the foul-mouthed, ex-boarding school drunk?
Corden: "Xander does comes from real life! I was leaving a friend's flat and I heard this voice say, 'Corden, you *********r'. I didn't recognise him at all and he said, 'It's me, Dave, Johnny's brother! *******ing good to see you, God you look well!' He would do this thing where he said indecent and inappropriate things, but then quickly add a compliment. He was with his girlfriend and he introduced her by saying, 'This is Anne, she's a surgeon, she does all sorts of weird s**t that freaks me the *******k out!" He'd then say things like, 'God, you're doing well aren't you, you piece of s**t?'"
One sketch involves poking a bit of fun at Ricky Gervais. Do you think he'll find it funny?
Corden: "It's a difficult one to talk about. The first thing to say is Ricky Gervais is brilliant. In my opinion he and Stephen Merchant created the finest sitcom of our generation."
Horne: "It's a pop with love!"
Corden: "It's a pop with love and respect. We battled with it because we knew it was funny and the impression was good. But then we thought, 'who are we to make a sketch about Ricky?' But then somebody told me, 'Ricky is at the very top, he's a multi-millionaire, working in Hollywood, you'd happily take a pop at Lenny Henry, so why not Ricky?' I'd dread to think he'd be offended."
Is it right that there's a cameo from 'Allo Allo!'s Arthur Bostrum in the show?
Horne: "You're damn right! The Bostrum was a guest we had a few times on Big Brother's Big Mouth."
Corden: "When we started working on Big Mouth, they asked if there was any guests we wanted and we both said at almost the same time 'Arthur Bostrom!'. They said, 'Who?' and we said, 'The guy who says 'good moaning' in 'Allo 'Allo!'. He came on the show and he was just a joy to be around. He's a brilliant actor and a really great guy."
You both show a lot of flesh in the show. Was that not embarrassing?
Horne: "In Cardiff, where we do Gavin & Stacey, we swim a lot."
Corden: "We swim a lot. It's all been out there. There's nothing new revealed."
Horne: "As long as it's funny, it makes us laugh and there's a reason to do it, then it's worth doing. We hope it's not gratuitous in any way. There was no point where we said, 'We must get naked - that will be funny'."
Corden: "Episode one does have the most flesh. It isn't all like that. I understand what you're saying about us being unashamed about how we look, but if you want to look cool then don't work in comedy. If you want to make people laugh then you can't have inhibitions. You have to go right through with it and just hope people will find you cool by default."
Horden And Corden airs Tuesdays at 10.30pm on BBC Three from March 10.
Was there any debate about the ordering of your names in the title?
Corden: "Horne & Corden just sounds better I think. There was never even a discussion. We were originally going to call it Horne And Corden Have Come. Just because we wanted to tour it one day live and we thought the tour could be called 'Horne And Corden Have Come Everywhere'. But then we realised, we'd have to say that to our mums and friends, so we decided to avoid it."
Where did you get the inspiration for the characters?
Corden: "The characters came quite organically. When we were doing series one of Gavin & Stacey, we would do little skits during our downtime. The magicians Johnny and Lee Miller came after we filmed the wedding scenes because a crew member said that we looked like really bad magicians. We then started making silly noises and doing crap magic and it evolved from there."
What about someone like Xander, the foul-mouthed, ex-boarding school drunk?
Corden: "Xander does comes from real life! I was leaving a friend's flat and I heard this voice say, 'Corden, you *********r'. I didn't recognise him at all and he said, 'It's me, Dave, Johnny's brother! *******ing good to see you, God you look well!' He would do this thing where he said indecent and inappropriate things, but then quickly add a compliment. He was with his girlfriend and he introduced her by saying, 'This is Anne, she's a surgeon, she does all sorts of weird s**t that freaks me the *******k out!" He'd then say things like, 'God, you're doing well aren't you, you piece of s**t?'"
One sketch involves poking a bit of fun at Ricky Gervais. Do you think he'll find it funny?
Corden: "It's a difficult one to talk about. The first thing to say is Ricky Gervais is brilliant. In my opinion he and Stephen Merchant created the finest sitcom of our generation."
Horne: "It's a pop with love!"
Corden: "It's a pop with love and respect. We battled with it because we knew it was funny and the impression was good. But then we thought, 'who are we to make a sketch about Ricky?' But then somebody told me, 'Ricky is at the very top, he's a multi-millionaire, working in Hollywood, you'd happily take a pop at Lenny Henry, so why not Ricky?' I'd dread to think he'd be offended."
Is it right that there's a cameo from 'Allo Allo!'s Arthur Bostrum in the show?
Horne: "You're damn right! The Bostrum was a guest we had a few times on Big Brother's Big Mouth."
Corden: "When we started working on Big Mouth, they asked if there was any guests we wanted and we both said at almost the same time 'Arthur Bostrom!'. They said, 'Who?' and we said, 'The guy who says 'good moaning' in 'Allo 'Allo!'. He came on the show and he was just a joy to be around. He's a brilliant actor and a really great guy."
You both show a lot of flesh in the show. Was that not embarrassing?
Horne: "In Cardiff, where we do Gavin & Stacey, we swim a lot."
Corden: "We swim a lot. It's all been out there. There's nothing new revealed."
Horne: "As long as it's funny, it makes us laugh and there's a reason to do it, then it's worth doing. We hope it's not gratuitous in any way. There was no point where we said, 'We must get naked - that will be funny'."
Corden: "Episode one does have the most flesh. It isn't all like that. I understand what you're saying about us being unashamed about how we look, but if you want to look cool then don't work in comedy. If you want to make people laugh then you can't have inhibitions. You have to go right through with it and just hope people will find you cool by default."
Horden And Corden airs Tuesdays at 10.30pm on BBC Three from March 10.