Get Thee To A Munnery!

Alan Parker Urban Warrior has to rank as one of the funniest comic creations of the last years. Coming across like a post-punk, amphetamine-fuelled Citizen Smith on a particularly bad hair day, Parker is a brilliant parody of yer prototypical armchair anarchist, who camouflages his own insecurities by mouthing off quasi-revolutionary mantras that are vague, simplistic and just a tad paranoid.

Not to be confused, then, with the director of The Commitments and Angela's Ashes, the man behind the satirical mask is one Simon Munnery, who on the morning that Hot Press caught up with him was still reeling from the celebrations of his 32nd birthday. Munnery has been doing Alan Parker for so long now that one wonders whether he even notices when he slips into character during an answer, as he will do quite often during the interview. In fact, when the cult of Alan Parker was in its infancy, Britain was still spread-eagled under the loving jackboot of Thatcher's Tories. Does the fact that Tony Blair's champagne socialists now hold sway take some of the sting out of the attack?

"I don't think anything's changed," replies Munnery. "And I don't think it ever does. That's my view. I think character-wise, it's not so much about Thatcher as The Government. I mean you could pore over the material but you wouldn't really find out what Alan's views are—it's more of an attitude. We may have Labour in now but, according to Alan's philosophy, they're still The Government and it's still imperative that we fight against them!"

One of the most hilarious moments of Parker's rant is his recounting of his days in a punk rock group, and much mirth is created at the expense of yellow-pack punks, Sham 69.

"There are a lot of punk nostalgists who weren't actually there first time round—like myself!—and who were trying to make up for it. The seed of Alan Parker was the Sham 69 album, Tell Us The Truth, which is well worth your while getting. It's quite rare now."

Did Munnery ever see them live? "No. I met Jimmy Pursey once after a gig. I thought he'd hit me!" he laughs. "But he came up and shook my hand, as if to say 'you're about to meet your hero!'. In my column for the NME I gave them the best review they ever had. The column was of course written as Alan Parker and I said they were a major world historical event and that the walls come down every time Sham 69 release a new album. It was obviously a piss-take but I met somebody who was at the same record company as them and apparently Pursey was jumping around enthusiastically, going 'HAVE YOU SEEN THIS?!'."

Unlike his alter ego, Munnery is a quietly-spoken, thoroughly unprepossessing bloke. The transformation he effects, however, when performing Parker on stage is pure Jekyll & Hyde stuff. Does he find being in character harder than doing conventional stand-up?

"Much harder," he says, "but I've done it so long that Alan Parker is now like a second skin. That said, I generally have a pint or a joint beforehand, just so that it comes out a bit looser, because if you do the same material for a long time it's hard to sound fresh. That's why," he booms, imitating the voice of Dracula, "I HAVE TO DRINK! But I don't think anyone is quite themselves on stage anyway. I think when someone's being themselves it's more an exaggerated version of what they're like. It's not that far off from a character anyway."

When Munnery comes to Dublin later this month for the Guinness comedy festival in Vicar St., his other creation, The League Against Tedium, will be to the fore. What, pray tell, is that all about?

"The League Against Tedium? It's like the Wizard Of Oz, about a bloke who rules the world. I've been doing it for about five years on and off . . . mainly off. I've made The League into a sort of umbrella character involving whatever I want to do at the time. They're not even characters, really. It's more a voice with some ideas round it and a bit of a costume."

Although born in London, Munnery grew up in the spectacularly unspectacular surrounds of Watford. Before he had the means to do comedy full-time, Munnery worked at so many different jobs, even Peter Greenaway would have trouble fitting them all into a film title. He has been at one time or another, a road-sweeper, a dustman, a typist, a shoveller of coal, a security guard and a computer programmer.

And, lest we forget, a student: Munnery joins David Baddiel and Isaac Newton on the roll call of Cambridge University's celebrity alumni, having like Newton devoted his mind (if not body—I mean, who'd have it?!) to Science.

"I went a bit mad when I was there," he recalls. "There were self-destructive drinking binges. I absolutely hated Cambridge. I thought there'd be people having intellectual debates and thinking really deeply about stuff, but when I got there it turned out to be lots of rugby player types singing 'Jerusalem' and Eton boating songs. So I hid."

But Munnery did pursue other interests . "Myself and a friend of mine went to all the auditions for the college plays so as to meet girls," he says rather mischievously. "But we didn't get any.

"None of the auditions worked! Then we did comedy nights where anyone can just get up on stage and do their thing. That went well and I enjoyed it and so I did it again . . . and again . . . so here I am now all these years later!"

While he was in Cambridge, Munnery was in charge of bringing well-known British comics like Malcolm Hardee, John Hegley and Ian McPherson in to do gigs in the college. Having witnessed so many different comedians at close quarters, Munnery reckons he has figured out what marks Comedianus Stand-Upus out as a species. It seems it's not just a case of Attention Deficit Disorder. "I have a theory on this," he declares. "There is something they all have in common—they're all either the eldest son of the eldest son; or the youngest son of the youngest son. Or daughter. This is true.

"I did a survey. 90% of stand-ups or people in the performing, showbiz world all fitted into this category. The second generation all turn out to be nutcases! This is a job that attracts mad people and then it makes you even madder!"

Simon Munnery plays Vicar Street as part of the Guinness Sit Down Stand Up comedy festival on Fri 18th March, on the same bill as Simon Day (The Fast Show).