Rarely Asked Questions: George Egg: Page 2 of 2
6. What do your parents/children (delete as applicable) think of your job?
I asked my 17 year old daughter, and she said ‘cool’. I’ve got three kids and I reckon they all think it’s a pretty good thing. I’m home a lot which is nice, and they get to come to festivals like Glastonbury or Latitude occasionally. And I think my parents are pretty happy about it, but I know my mother worries about the longevity of a career like this, and the lack of a pension and job security and so on. And that I might lie down in the road again.
7. What’s the worst thing about being a comedian?
The parking. The driving I don’t mind. In fact I rather like it. It’s a good focused meditative period before a gig and a nice wind-down time afterwards. But over the years that I’ve been performing parking has become increasingly (and rapidly) more expensive and more difficult to the extent that it’s become a considered part of the equation when calculating whether a gig is worth doing or not.(see question 2)
8. I think you are very good at what you do (that’s why I’m asking
these questions). What do you think of you?
Oh that’s nice of you.
Hold on, I’ve just looked and you said that to everyone!
Ok. Honestly. For a long time I rested on my laurels and the fact that I had a lot of experience and a pretty cast-iron ‘act’ which worked well (most of the time). Over the last few years I’ve realised that for a number of reasons (contraction of the circuit, kids growing up, mild-midlife-crisis) that’s not enough and it’s made me get more experimental and hopefully more interesting. So I’d say that if I came and saw me performing - certainly if it were in Edinburgh or at a more off-the-wall environment rather than just a circuit club - I’d think ‘he’s different’, ‘that’s interesting’, ‘how unexpected’, (while simultaneously being bowled over by my confidence and obvious experience of course).
9. How much do you earn and how much would you like to earn?
I really don’t earn much, and it seems presently that the more creative and innovative I get the less I bring home. But I’m gambling on the assumption that by doing more diverse stuff and saying ‘yes’ to people as much as possible it will lead to bigger and brighter things and in turn, greater financial reward. I’ve certainly no desire to be rich by any means, and besides compared to the rest of the world I am rich, but it’d be nice to find myself in a position where I felt less worried about it.
10. How important is luck in terms of career success – have you had
lucky breaks?
I really think you make your own luck, or that there’s no such thing as luck. I have immense respect for anyone who’s ‘made it’ whether I like what they do or not because I know that it takes dedication and hard work to get there. Since I’ve got involved in other things beyond regular circuit gigs more doors have opened elsewhere which I suppose proves my point.
11. Alan Davies has said that comedians fall into two categories -
golfers and self-harmers. The former just get on with life, the latter
are tortured artists. Which are you – or do you think you fit into a
third category?
I’m tempted to veer towards the golfer, but the idea of playing golf is so alien to me that I just can’t put myself in that one. Certainly I 'get on with life' but then I also get torn up and stressed and panicky. I’m going to have to come up with a third category. Ok, ‘Chef’, that’s the third category - stressed, hectic, hot, but simultaneously practical and imaginative. There you go.
12. Who is your favourite person ever and why - not including family
or friends or other comedians?
Gennaro Contaldo - the Italian chef who’s one half of the ‘Two Greedy Italians’ and mentor to Jamie Oliver. I’ve not met him but he’s at the top of my ‘fantasy dinner-party list’. He strikes me as incredibly kind, clever, passionate about what he does, full of stories and above all I think he’s one of the most natural clowns on TV. I can watch his YouTube recipes endlessly, like I could watch cartoons when I was a child.
13. Do you keep your drawers tidy?
Yes I do, and then other people mess them up. (see question 2)
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