


6 Apr 2026 · 1h · 27 chapters

Jimmy Carr discusses gratitude and happiness, “teachable vs unteachable” life lessons, ambition and metrics for success, sex education with his kids, feminism and older women, parenting realities, cancel culture, anxiety/panic, and why comedy expands what people will talk about.
Jimmy Carr is a British comedian and stand-up performer who tours relentlessly and hosts/appears on TV (including Last One Laughing). Fearne Cotton hosts Happy Place.
Happiness comes more from disposition and gratitude than from achievements or status purchases (e.g., degrees, luxury cars). Comedy helps society by widening the “Overton window” of acceptable conversation. Feminism often focuses on “the maiden” and ignores the mother/matriarch; men “half-arse” parenting while being praised. Cancel culture can be excruciating and has triggered panic attacks/insomnia, but he reframes anxiety as manageable “worry.” Mental health is influenced by “hardware” (sleep, nutrition, exercise) and “software” (social interactions, mind).
Teaching kids what an erection is (“nature’s thumbs up”); using Adam Kay’s sex-ed book; touring and audience interaction; menopause-related feminist rant clip; “hands-on dad” criticism; “enough” vs scarcity; Taylor Swift and Oasis as examples of communal performance; history cycles (Neil Howe’s “Fourth Turning”); Bjorn Nathiko Lindeblad’s “I May Be Wrong.”
Written by AI. May contain mistakes.
Fearne shares a personal story about a dinner with friends and the value of connection.
“It's because I'm at home with the cats and the tortoise.”
Fearne and Jimmy discuss various topics, including parenting and ambition.
“We also talk about what fuels ambition and drive.”
Jimmy shares his thoughts on happiness and gratitude in life.
Jimmy discusses how comedy expands conversations and societal norms.
“Well, I think it's nice to do a genuine check-in.”
Fearne and Jimmy talk about the joy of watching comedy shows with family.
“I feel like I can come on here and go, genuinely, it's a good show.”
Jimmy and Fearne delve into the importance of sex education and parenting.
“And kind of Vic Reeves and Harry Hill and that kind of school of surreal, on my mind, never would have gone there.”
A discussion on the journey to finding purpose and happiness in life.
“And it's also, even when you've been through that, I'm a great believer in the fact there's a second big shift that happens mid-20s.”
Exploring personal growth and the evolution of ambition over time.
“Whereas before, I don't think I felt that was safe necessarily.”
Discussing how comparison can detract from personal satisfaction and joy.
“I've got hell of a lot of drive behind me to do better, be better, be curious about what the limits are.”
Differentiating between jealousy and envy, and their impacts on ambition.
“And it's also, it's, I think it's very interesting that thing of like, what metric in life are you using?”
Discussing feminism and the importance of different women's roles in society.
“But then the audience interaction stuff is different every single night.”
Jimmy Carr shares his experiences and insights on parenting.
“What's a great dad as a mediocre mum is what you're looking at right there.”
Understanding the need to embrace chaos instead of seeking perfection.
“Everything's about the individual and your career and what you're doing and your trajectory.”
Exploring the complexities of work-life balance and the nature of being a workaholic.
“And sometimes I feel slightly frustrated because it's seen as this huge negative, which for some it can be.”
Explore the concept of scarcity and the importance of defining 'enough' in life.
“A roof over your head, enough calories to feed everyone.”
Discuss the value of humility and the ability to admit mistakes in comedy and life.
“but I'm not doing it because I need to buy any more shit.”
Analyze historical cycles and their relevance to today's societal challenges.
“And we're in that phase now, it's called the fourth turning.”
Delve into the complexities of cancel culture and its impact on individuals.
“which you've done a fair bit of talking around, which I really appreciate.”
Examine mental health terminology and societal perceptions of therapy.
“So the, I suffer a little bit with anxiety, but also the only reason I've ever written a joke is because of that ever-worrying mind.”
Explore the influence of family background on a comedian's work and identity.
“Well, anxiety is about the future and depression is about the past.”
Learn how Jimmy Carr views comedy as a response to personal and familial dynamics.
“Yeah, I think it is kind of slightly pathological, needing that much love from strangers and wanting people to laugh, wanting people to be happy.”
Hear about the resilience needed in stand-up comedy and the value of learning from failure.
“It was best friends and it really felt performative.”
Understand the commitment performers have to their audience and the mindset required for successful shows.
“You are obviously, as you've alluded to, a half-glass-full person.”
Discover how music evokes strong memories and emotions tied to personal experiences.
“If we can write music, we can write comedy.”
Jimmy shares his deep connections to music from his childhood and how it shapes his current preferences.
“you know, obviously I don't playlist the show, but I'll put whatever song it is on.”
Jimmy discusses the concept of a 'happy place' and what it means to him personally.
“I think home, and I don't mean that in a physical sense of the house.”
The host reflects on Jimmy's character and the positive experience of having him on the show.
“I would never want to assume that I'm getting a freebie.”

Get the gist, explore an idea or ask about something said.
On Happy Place, what are the key points of this episode?
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.
0:01Fearne Cotton: Hello and a massive welcome to Happy Place with me, Fearne Cotton. This is the show that knows life experience is what builds character. Today, I'm chatting to Jimmy Carr. There's teachable and unteachable lessons. There's things you can tell your kids. Like if you have the birds and the bees conversation, you can tell them what an erection is and tell them all the things they can do that are fun, great, lovely. There's unteachable stuff. You getting that degree won't make you feel more. If you weren't enough without it, you won't be enough with it. But no one can tell you buying a Rolex and a Ferrari won't make you happy.
0:35You have to buy a Rolex and a Ferrari and go, yeah, it didn't make me. It's like, it's not the destination, it's the journey. It's not even the journey. It's actually who you become on the journey.
0:44Fearne Cotton: So you find me at my kitchen table, if that's the way it sounds, like I'm not in a studio. It's because I'm at home with the cats and the tortoise. Kids are at school and I'm just getting admin done. I love it. I love having a list and just ticking stuff off. I mean, I'm slightly knackered today, as I'm sure you are too, but we crack on, don't we? We just bloody get on with it. I did have a bit of respite last night, just a really lovely overdue dinner with one of my best mates who moved to America about 15 years ago. And she came back over with her kids and our kids hadn't met. So it's so special to have all four kids together and to watch my kids with eyes wide listening to their little American accents.
1:33Fearne Cotton: because obviously my daughter Honey watches a lot of American YouTube. So to have real life American kids at the dinner table was something else. But it just reminded me, not that I need reminding, but I guess you can do in certain times where life is stressful or life is full on and relentless, that friends are everything. Honestly, I left that restaurant with a pep in my step. I almost skipped home and I just said to my kids, Thank you so much for coming to dinner because, you know, they'd never met these kids before. They were a little bit nervous. I was like, you've got one very happy mum now.
2:10Fearne Cotton: I honestly was just bouncing, like buzzing with joy. It really filled me up. So if you're feeling stressed out, pissed off, knackered, do remember to put time in for you and your mates just to have a good old goss and a giggle because it is so needed. It's everything. It's honestly sorted me right out. So shall we get on with it? You'll probably remember last year that I could not stop talking about how much I loved Last One Laughing on Amazon Prime. It is the greatest TV show on telly. So I'm obviously over the moon that it's back with Jimmy Carr at the helm. This show for me is just pure enjoyment.
2:50Fearne Cotton: Something me and the kids can watch together. Just laugh and laugh until our heads pop off. I love it when you get that rolling laughter. and you're all kind of like, you're laughing so much like no noise is coming out. That is my favourite. So I was so chuffed to have Jimmy on the podcast. We talk about a hell of a lot. We talk about raising kids and raising teenagers and some other subjects that you'll hear along the way attached to that. We also talk about what fuels ambition and drive. I was very interested to quiz Jimmy on that one because he's very ambitious you know he still tours relentlessly but well you'll find out why he does it you'll hear in a moment also his take on feminism mothers and older women as well as cancel culture this is a big one because it is a topic that constantly needs unpicking dissecting discussing and he does so very articulately also anxiety and panic attacks too
4:14We'll see you next time.
4:26Fearne Cotton: right let's crack on this is the show
4:50Fearne Cotton: Jimmy Carr, how are you? Rich and famous. Just stating the facts. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know what you meant to say. Yeah, I'm great. I'm really good. Well, I think it's nice to do a genuine check-in. Like, are you feeling happy today? Yeah. Yeah. I'm a pretty positive sort of guy. I sort of think you've got your, my factory settings are pretty good in terms of like the average day, I'm pretty happy. But it's that thing where I work on it, I think. Yeah. I sort of think gratitude is the mother of all virtues. Yeah. And that thing of like, what can change your disposition? That old kind of thing of like, disposition is more important than position.
5:28Like where you are in life doesn't dictate how happy you are. It's your disposition. And the only thing that seems to shift it is constant kind of gratitude of like, I'm such a lucky boy.
5:36Fearne Cotton: Yeah, I'm alive. I'm here. I'm healthy. I'm doing all right. What are the chances? What are the chances? Yeah, that a bunch of random atoms coalesced into a form that can conceive its own consciousness for 4 ,000 weeks and then disappears again. It seems unlikely, but here we are. Let's be grateful for that. Yeah, amazing, right? It's a good thing. I'll tell you what's making my, if we're looking at sort of baseline happiness, what's really helping tip me into actual joy is Last One Laughing. It's good, right? It's a good show. I feel like I can come on here and go, genuinely, it's a good show.
6:10Watch it. It's really funny. Which makes life easier. Yeah, but when you've got a stand-up special out, you kind of go, oh yeah, you know, I did my best. I hope you liked it. Thank you. And you've got to be a bit kind of self-deprecating. But it's not me. It's like everyone in it is like a killer. It's so great. And it's such a fun, simple idea of like, it's also like the antidote for what's going on in the world right now.
6:32Fearne Cotton: Completely. And we need that. We need laughter. Yeah, I think so. We bloody need it. It's also that thing of like, it's together. it's like a group of people sort of stuck together yeah doing this kind of silly task but it's really lovely to see people because stand-ups often i always love that thing my friend alan havey used to say we're out out for ourselves but in it together and it's that thing of like we're slightly non-fungible comics it's like actors sometimes when you get an actor like they're really competitive with other actors because only one of them can be james bond in the movie whereas comics like Bob Mortimer can't do what Romesh does can't do what Alan Carr does can't do what Diane Morgan does you know it's all it's we're all very kind of escape competition through authenticity yeah well you've introduced me to Sam Campbell too who is just someone that has given me a dopamine hit every time I've watched it he's kind of crazy he's got a sitcom coming out I think on Channel 4 Unhinged in the best way well he really is he's really kind of it's just amazing surrealist so great It feels like he's kind of on, he fits with Bob Mortimer.
7:34Yes. And kind of Vic Reeves and Harry Hill and that kind of school of surreal, on my mind, never would have gone there.
7:42Fearne Cotton: Never, never. Some of the lines he's come out with, I mean, we have been howling. I'm watching it with my kids. I'm not sure if that's appropriate or not, but I'm letting them completely watch it. I think it is. I think it's really appropriate to watch with kids. I think Cats Countdown as well is another show that people watch. It's got quite a broad, I mean, some of it's a bit bawdy, but you've sort of got to go, yeah, it's all right. They're going to be looking at that online anyway. But that joyful experience of watching together as a family. There's literally two shows. They'll watch Celebrity Get Me Out of Here and Last One Laughing.
8:08Fearne Cotton: We did Series 1. We're loving Series 2. And I've heard you say, I can't think which podcast it was, but talking about how comedy is an amazing conversation starter, especially if you go and watch a live stand-up show. And that has definitely been the case each time me and my kids have sat down to watch Last One Laughing. I've got a theory about this. on what comedy's role is in society. You know that thing of like people talk about politics, the Overton window, a very highfalutin term for what's the most left-wing thing you could say in a polite dinner party and what's the most right-wing thing you could say at a polite dinner party?
8:42That's the Overton window of conversation. What's acceptable?
8:45Fearne Cotton: Yeah. And I think comedy, if it does anything, is it expands the conversational Overton window. So if you see a great comic on stage afterwards, like you get your value from buying the ticket and laughing at the show, but then afterwards you go for a drink. and you find yourself talking about, I don't know, intimacy in a different way. I'm not even saying that edgy comedy pushes it further. It's even like very mainstream comedy that's like observational. You're allowed to kind of look at the quirks of life. It kind of gives you permission to go a little bit further in your language. I agree. I mean, the question that came out of last week's episode from one of my kids was, what's an erection?
9:19Fearne Cotton: So that was an interesting conversation starter. Well, you've got it. Yeah. The best description I ever heard was an erection. Nature's thumbs up. that's like, that is a, oh, that's a scoutmaster that's probably in prison now. I wish I'd replied with that. That's so good. What's the rest of your life? It's nature's thumbs up. It's just so brilliant. What a great line. It's a brilliant line. Yeah. But yeah, we had a, I mean, we had a good chat and I'm going to do proper sex ed with them at home because I haven't done it yet. I was sort of relying on the school, doing it exclusively. And I actually think I've got to be a proper grown up.
9:52Right. And have the conversation.
9:54Fearne Cotton: The chat. A couple of my friends have done it with their kids. Okay, so give me, let's practice. You don't want to go in. I'm going to use Adam Kay's book. That's what I'm going to do. I'm not going to wing this one. This is not one to wing. I'm going to laugh and that's not helpful when I'm delivering this news to my kids. I know what the reaction will be from my daughter. You've got boys or girls? One of each. You've got one of each? Yeah. Well, really, what are they, teens? I've got a 10 and a 13. I don't know. There's really good stuff out there, though. Adam Kay's book I think is an award winning sex ed well part of his one of his books yeah it's a good one and then Scott Galloway's got a really good new book about on being a man and Louise Perry's got a brilliant book that The Case Against the Sexual Revolution yes I think it's a fantastic and she wrote a teen version of it so she wrote the book and it was a here and then she did like a teen version I always think it's that thing of like you go having that around I think for everyone to read that I agree I think like boys should read that too and kind of go oh yeah this is we're very different in our makeup But it's, I don't know, that thing of being a teenager is just so tough because if you had to define what being a teenager is, it's being uncomfortable in your own skin.
11:03And it's also, even when you've been through that, I'm a great believer in the fact there's a second big shift that happens mid-20s.
11:11Fearne Cotton: Yeah, I agree. I've heard you talk about this. I completely agree. It's like 24 for girls, 25 for boys, roughly. And some of it's about your brain, actually. It's now fully formed. So you're then going, oh, right, what's going on? Who am I? I found it like an awakening mid-20s of like, okay, what's going on? What do I want to do? And what's success in life? I mean, you know, happiness is that thing of like going, well, what is happiness? What am I aiming for here? What's my metric? Because, you know, in life you've got resume points and everything up until like 24, 25, whatever, the end of university, the end of education, it's like a video game, right?
11:52It's like there's levels and you get to the big boss and you can do well or badly, but it's preordained. And then 25 on, it's self-assignment.
12:01Fearne Cotton: Yeah. And it's suddenly like terrifying. Like what's important to me? But it is also not without sort of societal conditions that are imposed upon us that we're told if you get married, have kids, get the right car, whatever, then you'll be happy. And you have to sort of negate all of that and work that out, I think. Maybe not even in your 20s. that's probably further down the line actually yeah that's my friend chris williamson's really good on this like we chat about teachable and unteachable lessons yeah there's things you can tell your kids like if you have the birds and the bees conversation yeah you can tell them what an erection is and nature's thumbs up and you can talk about sex and you can tell them all the things they can do that are fun great lovely there's unteachable stuff there's like okay you getting that degree won't make you feel more if you weren't enough without it you won't be enough with it yeah and but no one can tell you buying a rolex and a ferrari won't make you happy you have to buy a rolex and ferrari and go yeah it didn't make me four seconds of happiness and then still got all your problems well here's the terrible thing having stuff isn't fun getting stuff is fun it's the that that kind of the it's not even the journey it's like it's not the destination it's the journey it's actually who you become on the journey yeah that's the thing there's but but again i think that's an unteachable lesson i think that's like that's life you have to kind of experience that and then you kind of it's lovely there's this it's that thing of like i don't know with kids it's like there's two very important days right two most important days in your life the day you're born and the day you find out why yeah and finding out why is like it's so difficult to negotiate i think i'm only figuring that out now well this feels much more authentically you this podcast feels like okay this is what matters to you these are the things that you think about you've been through the ringer and it's kind of I don't know what's the positive of that it means you can have really interesting conversations I wouldn't be doing any of it if I hadn't felt like dog shit I wouldn't be doing any of this now but I think even I've been doing this podcast and the other bits we do with Happy Place for about 8 years but I would say only in the last 2 do I feel like I can sit here in the closest possible version to the one that you would see if we went for a coffee at Gale's down the road.
14:16Fearne Cotton: Whereas before, I don't think I felt that was safe necessarily. Yeah. I mean, it's to that point, you can't have a easy life and a great character. That's a good point. You've got to have gone through something. You have to have some experience in life. Otherwise, you've got nothing to... Yep, exactly. Hey, I'm very interested talking to you specifically about what we've just touched on in terms of what we think is going to bring us happiness and what we learn eventually actually is meaningful. Because some would say, right, if you know, and this applies to me, to you, to anyone that is ambitious, I'm deeply ambitious.
14:55Fearne Cotton: I'm not afraid to say that. I think women sometimes feel it's a sort of uncouth thing to admit, but I'm very ambitious. I've got hell of a lot of drive behind me to do better, be better, be curious about what the limits are. but I'm not necessarily tying that into my overall happiness. I know I get a kick out of it and I have to maybe even watch that. But with you and your ambition, how much of it is still driven by, or if at all, if I am the biggest comedian in the world or get the biggest laugh tonight on stage, then I'll be okay? No, I mean, I don't think, I think comparison is the thief of joy.
15:33The idea of, like, if I'm the biggest comedian in the world, what, better than the others? Well, no, I think there's nothing in that.
15:41Fearne Cotton: Or the best you can be, does that interest you? Better than me last year, that interests me. Better than someone else, not my business. I have kind of that idea of like going, there's a difference between jealousy and envy. Yeah. I think jealousy is kind of ugly and it's what you don't want someone to have something. And envy is interesting because it tells you what you want. What you want. Oh, you want that thing or he's playing that room. I'd love to play that room. Okay, we'll book it and try and sell some tickets then. That thing of like, it gives you a bit of direction, I think is totally valid.
16:11And you don't have to hate where you are to want to get somewhere better, to want to do more. Agreed. But that thing of like, you know, ambition is kind of, I suppose the British are a bit, we're a bit uptight about it. That kind of tall poppy syndrome.
16:25Fearne Cotton: Yeah. Oh, yeah. People don't like it. In America, it rules. It's one of my favorite questions. You've got two questions I really like. i know you're doing the interviewing but here's my two quotes what would you do if you couldn't fail yeah i like that one like what would you do if you could not fail it's an absolute sure shot and it's not like a question to answer but it's a really interesting thing you know if people are listening with their partner with their friends of going throwing that out there what would you do if you couldn't fail what would you do if you couldn't be punished very revealing that is revealing and it's it's like it's also a conversation with yourself because sometimes i think the ambition like you're you're you don't even want to give it a name you don't even want to sort of say that actually I want to be an actor or actually I want to write a script or actually you know whatever that thing is you're you're scared to admit it because then you're opening yourself up to to failure yeah it's those questions that you can kind of ask you know what do you want to do what are you willing to sacrifice and that'll be that'll tell you how you're going to be yeah yeah I reckon I'm sort of weirdly I don't know why but I've always been pretty good at going I want to do that thing and I don't even think about the failure bit and at times I've failed massively and I've failed publicly and I and it's not been fun but I've managed to ride it out and I'm pretty good at picking myself back up again but I think that's because I know I actually love the doing bit so much there's nothing else I want to do I love doing this I like painting a lot I love painting but that's not massively sort of a career option for me but with this I think the Loving it outweighs the risk of failure so massively that I'm almost blinkered.
18:02Yeah. And it's also, it's, I think it's very interesting that thing of like, what metric in life are you using? What's the thing that you're measuring against? What's important? And that thing of getting resume points or eulogy points. Yeah. What's the, what's the important thing? We spend our lives, you know, collecting stuff to impress people that couldn't care less.
18:22Fearne Cotton: Exactly. It's bonkers. Yeah. So what, what would you say? Is there one defining driving force for you? You know, you're one of the comedians that still tours more than anybody else. You know, you are big on getting out there, doing live shows. Is it your last few live shows at the Palladium later on in the year? Yeah, I basically finished the UK now. I'll record the special here because I like the Palladium. I like that room. It's beautiful. It's an amazing, amazing place. But what's driving you to keep going out there, touring? You know, you could never work again and be fine. Yeah, but I think that thing about going, I really like the work.
18:54I really like the idea of putting a show together and writing jokes and going out there. I've also, I'm very lucky that every night is different because I write shows and I write the jokes and the jokes are the same. But then the audience interaction stuff is different every single night. So, and we film that and we put it out. But it's that for me is the fun bit. It's almost like asking a magician to do real magic. It's like you ask a comedian, just be funny, just off the cuff for half an hour a night with this audience and make it feel like it's special. Make it feel like this could only happen in this room right now.
19:25So it's like, it's almost like you have an in joke with the audience.
19:28Fearne Cotton: Yeah, I love those bits. I've been loving watching them on your Instagram feed. And I think that has been such a huge evolution for your comedy. And I've heard you talk about this before, that you knew you'd wanted to sort of change your style slightly or change how you go about using comedy in your work. But that audience interaction bit, I think, is the purest example. There was very much on my algorithm a clip that kept getting fed to me of you being asked what you think about menopause. And I was like, oh, what's Jimmy going to say here? And you did this amazing feminist rant about how older women are the cornerstone of society and you were passionate about it.
20:11Fearne Cotton: And I thought, I don't think you would have said that 10 years ago. Yeah, I don't know. I think there's something about, I mean, it's very nice of you to say. Yeah, but I think a lot of that is just going, I feel very comfortable in my skin. I feel very kind of confident on stage now. And so it allows you to kind of give a beat and to give an honest answer to something. But that thing about going, well, feminism, I think, only solves for the maiden. So all feminism is about the maiden. Yeah. And we never talk about the... The hag. Well, maiden, the mother and the matriarch. Yeah. We don't talk about all three and all three are incredibly important and potent.
20:46And it's that thing. I think we slightly have gaslit every woman in society to say you can have it all. Oh, it's bollocks. You can have it all, but sequentially, not simultaneously. Nope. And it's easier for men to have it kind of simultaneously because here's our secret. We half-arse it. What's a great dad as a mediocre mum is what you're looking at right there. Yeah.
21:07Fearne Cotton: I love that you just said that out loud. I don't think I've heard a man say that before. It's true, right? Yes. You know, it's okay. Yeah. It's fine to like, don't deny. No, but I've heard women say it, but not men. What? Because even the term hands-on dad is ludicrous. A mum isn't a hands-on mum. They're a mum. That's my favourite thing in the world is when guys talk about, I'm babysitting my kids. Yeah. What? What? Sorry? You're babysitting? What are you getting? £10 an hour? What are your kids? Your children. You can't babysit your kids. No, it's absurd. Yeah. How is parenting? I really like it.
21:45I really like that thing of it's for me quite a, it's the missing part. It's the, it's again, it's another totally unteachable lesson. Yeah. People telling me have kids, have kids, you'll love it. Like I thought I was living my life on, I thought I'd found like a cheat code for living life on easy mode. Right. Cause it's easy. It's like, you know, you think you've got skin in the game. You've got no skin in the game. I was at a low stakes table without kids. and you didn't want them at this point i didn't want them i had no interest i was like obviously fine i mean i was you know like like my friends kids and babies and stuff were great but i wasn't like i didn't have that that desire to have children and then you have them go all right this is this is everything this is beautiful and for me it's quite a it's sort of spiritual in a sense okay i mean i don't have i don't have religion i don't have um god but i sort of think I had lunch with a friend.
22:42I've got a friend called Eric Weinstein. He's a brilliant man. He's a physicist. And I was chatting about how much I'm loving being a dad. And he went, oh, yeah, you will, just off the cuff, he just went, you will die and you will be reborn as someone else and you will love them. I was like, oh, that's reincarnation. That's it. But there's a crossover period of 30 or 40 years where you get to love them and then you go and they stay. I just find it such a beautiful thing. And it's so fun to no longer, especially, you know, in show business. Everything's about the individual and your career and what you're doing and your trajectory.
23:26And then suddenly you've got kids and you go, well, I'm as happy as my least happy kid.
23:29Fearne Cotton: It is the most amazing thing. It's also fucking hard. what has surprised you in terms of how much it pushes your own limits because it does for every parent it pushes you to the rawest version of yourself at times you have to look at yourself in the mirror and go oh my god what's been the bit for you that you maybe weren't expecting I don't know I was kind of I was late to it so I guess I was like it wasn't so much of that in terms of going I'd done you know had the I didn't feel like it was an imposition in any way I loved it. I mean, I don't really have like a negative thing in terms of going to sleep deprivation or the changing the nappies or anything.
24:10All good. You have to love the whole thing. You do.
24:13Fearne Cotton: Yeah, you've got to try at least. Yeah, but it's all. I think it's slightly about embracing the chaos. Yeah, I'm not good at that. Well, there's a weird thing where the idea of kind of perfection and getting to the end of our to-do list. Who's that writer, the guy that did 4 ,000 weeks? Oliver Berkman, I think it is. I don't know. That talks about getting to the end of your to-do list. It's never happening. No. You're never getting there. Never. And really, it's quite a recent idea in human history. The Christians had the idea of heaven, which they nicked off the Zarathustrans. The idea of perfection.
24:48Fearne Cotton: Yeah. It's so like, we can't even see it, but it's everywhere in our society. The idea of getting everything right and neatly packaged and done. Then you have kids and you just sort of have to embrace the chaos. Yeah. It's chaos. You seem to me as a person from how I see you more as a viewer that you do actually reach for your own singular perfection as much as you can. You hone your craft, the way you dress, you're put together, the way we're just listening to you on Catherine's podcast recently. You really look after yourself. You want to reach your full optimisation as a human if possible. So that sits okay alongside that.
25:24Yeah, I think you, listen, you can't, I do the best with what I've got. I think that thing of like, I've been very lucky, but it would be so ungracious not to put the work in as well. Yeah. Because those are the great myths in our culture. The myth of genius is like this huge myth of, oh, he's just a genius. He's a comedy genius. He's a musical genius. He's a mathematic genius. Okay. And then there's the, oh, he worked so hard. oh god that guy did 18 hour days every day for 30 years and he's he works all the hours he works hard and then he's the first to arrive and the last to leave horseshit both of them absolute horseshit it's always both yeah like like talent without hard work is is nothing it's a coulda woulda shoulda like if you you have to put the hours in it's knowing what the work is as well
26:13Fearne Cotton: yeah people don't quite know what the work is and so how do you feel about is there such a thing as being a workaholic do you think i don't think so but i think it's like i think we've siloed things in our culture in a very unhealthy way even if you think about like school like there's different subjects are taught in different rooms and universities that's the science block and that's the history block and that's the social sciences and that's medicine over there and it's got nothing to do with nutrition and it's like we've siloed things it's all very we live in a very left brain world and i think life is right brain yeah life it's about the gestalt the whole seeing the whole of your life so work-life balance it's like well yeah but you know there is there are seasons you know sometimes you're on tour and you're working all the hours and sometimes you're at home on holiday and it all evens out in the end but i think the idea of like trying to find a balance dated like on a yearly basis maybe but like on a weekly daily no i know i agree because I think sometimes the whole workaholic thing gets battered about a lot.
27:19Fearne Cotton: And sometimes I feel slightly frustrated because it's seen as this huge negative, which for some it can be. But I love work. Even when I go home and I'm with my kids, I know part of my brain is still trying to conjure up an idea or work out a solution to an issue I'm having with a book I'm writing or whatever. And I love it. It makes me feel fucking brilliant. So why would I not want to be creating? Well, it's also that thing of like the workaholic thing. Are we talking about people that just want to stack cash? Because it's that thing of like - I don't think it's ever been defined as one thing.
27:51Fearne Cotton: It's just kind of tossed about negatively. Well, there's two different things though, aren't there? Because there's safety and scarcity. Yeah. Like as just driving human emotions. Yeah. And safety is about right. A roof over your head, enough calories to feed everyone. We're warm. We're safe. And then there's scarcity, which is okay. Winter is coming. We need more provisions. And some people have something missing, I think, in the reason they'll be a trillionaire in our lifetime is because 100 billion is not enough. It'll never be enough because the scarcity thing, you can never get over that.
28:29So it's the old story of, I'm sure you know this, the Vonnegut and Joseph Heller. Oh, this is the enough story. Yeah. This is so cool. But that thing about going, he goes to some crazy party at the Hamptons and the guy's got Picassos on the wall and supermodels everywhere. And Joseph Fella goes, I've got something he'll never have. Enough. It's so lovely.
28:52Fearne Cotton: Yeah. And that's the opposite of what's projected when we look around on social media or on certain TV shows. It's like, go for more. More is going to make you feel better. And it's like, no, I think knowing what enough is for you creates peace, makes you feel peaceful. rather than that like oh my god look what they've got and i haven't got it or like just feeling that lack constantly which is not good for anyone yeah yeah it's it's it's but i mean it's easy for us i suppose you know we're in show business we've both done great you know it's that thing of like going if you're if you're listening and you're kind of on that on that journey it's like oh it's kind of easy for them to say but you go well what's what's the deciding what your metric is in life is really interesting.
29:36Fearne Cotton: But equally, you know, I didn't grow up with any money. I don't think you did. I'm from a working class family. I can look back at my childhood, my teens, or when I had my first teeny flat and I was no less happy than I am now. At times I was probably a lot happier actually because that was enough. That's all I knew. That's all I knew at the time. So I think I'll still strive in the way I am but I'm not doing it because I need to buy any more shit. I don't need anything else. I don't need another pair of shoes. I just need to pay my bills. Well, that thing of like, I mean, it's very Buddhist, but not wanting something is as good as having it.
30:10I love that idea. I love that idea of like the superpower is not having to impress other people.
30:17Fearne Cotton: Yeah. That's a superpower. That's like sometimes you meet people and they've got no interest in impressing anyone else. I love that. I'm not there yet either. Well, who is? I mean, but that really is something incredible when they're just doing their own thing. Yeah. Yeah. We had this very interesting guest on the podcast a while back who's sadly passed away since, an ex-Buddhist monk. He was Swedish. And he left his monastic life after about 20 years or something of being a fully active monk. And he was called Bjorn Nathiko Lindeblad. Amazing person. Wrote a beautiful book called I May Be Wrong.
30:51Fearne Cotton: And I think about it constantly. And it slightly relates to what we're talking about in terms of if he was told something, you know, an idea was projected upon him or if he was in conflict with somebody that that would be the constant mantra in the back of his head i may be wrong i may be wrong just as a leveler do you land on that are you good at admitting you're wrong or do you have the sort of broad-mindedness to at times go yeah i may be wrong on that which i think you kind of have to do for comedy well comedy comedy is kind of about perspectives sort of seeing things from different angles so a lot of work is about that about sort of and trying to take a heterodox opinion not just for the sake of it but just to sort of see around something yeah and so instead of just going well i know what you're meant to say but what's the thing that you can't say that's kind of interesting for me i mean i like that idea of going i might be wrong i think like you know talk like you're correct and listen like you're wrong yeah like yes yeah that seems reasonable it does and the world would probably be a much more peaceful place if many powerful men could go anywhere near that sort of thinking well we're in like we're in a really interesting phase of the world now i think uh yeah i don't know how you view it i think it's uh it's pretty bad it's pretty shit yeah it's pretty bad it's pretty shit guys i read quite a lot of um i read this guy neil howe okay he wrote this book called the fourth turning he's a demographer so he came up with the term millennial that's his kind of one of his claims to fame okay but this book he read this book back in like 1996 which was like it was a pit at the time like in academic literature like did well and it basically predicted this so he basically said history works in 80 to 100 year cycles oh right and so 1929 people might vaguely know there was a wall street crash and there was a dust bowl in america and there was spanish flu that killed lots of people and now we have an environmental crisis and COVID and 2008 was the financial crash.
32:51And we're in that phase now, it's called the fourth turning. Like everything is changing. It's a revolution. All of these big institutions are falling. Wow. And they're being replaced and they'll be rebuilt.
33:03Fearne Cotton: So it's just spotting these patterns, isn't it? Yeah. And there's cycles in history. So, you know, history doesn't repeat, but humans are the same. They're making the same mistakes that they'll make again. We will continue to.
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33:50Fearne Cotton: One thing that is prominent in culture at the moment is, of course, cancel culture, which you've done a fair bit of talking around, which I really appreciate. So I think sort of rather than ignoring it or just going, it's a thing happening, talking about it is important. And I guess most people would say that your style is edgy. I don't know if you agree with that. I guess that is part of being a comedian. I wonder if that is inherently part of your personality is to reach as far as you can to like touch the sides and see where they are. Does that feel like something you need to do? Well, the job, like the world ordered an edgy comedian and I'm going to honor that.
34:28That's what I do for a living. That's my day job. And at this point of my career, I sound like I've been around a while.
34:35Fearne Cotton: Yeah. A fairly decent online presence. I'm on TV a lot. If someone comes to one of my shows and they're offended, that's their fault. That's like buying tickets to a horror movie and complaining you were scared. I went to see ACDC. It's a bit too loud. I want my money back. What the fuck are you talking about? That's mental. So that thing of going, I think your sense of humor is very much like your taste in food or your sexual mores. Some people like it spicy. Some people like the kinky stuff. Some people like missionary and vanilla. Fine. Some people like edgy comedy. Some people like super mild stuff.
35:13I'm not for everyone. I mean, I like to think some of the TV stuff that I do, things like Last One Laughing or Cat's Countdown, the TV stuff, you are a guest in someone's home when you're on television. But if it's a live gig and they've literally bought in to see the show, I'm like, well, great. We can talk about anything and we can push this further. And the audience will tell me what is and what isn't acceptable and what is and what isn't funny. If they don't laugh at something, I'm not going to say it twice.
35:38Fearne Cotton: No, but when it moves into perhaps public shaming, and I feel like I've been through the mill with that to some extent in earlier periods of my career, it can be excruciating. And you've said before that that's caused panic attacks for you, you having insomnia for brief periods. Yeah, but I think that's, I think the, I try and be, try and see it in the round, right? So the, I suffer a little bit with anxiety, but also the only reason I've ever written a joke is because of that ever-worrying mind. So there's always a positive. And I think calling it anxiety, I think the idea that in our society, everything is pathologized.
36:17So you call it anxiety, but it's worry. You call it depression, but it's sadness. And I think changing the words you use sometimes just make it feel much more manageable. And, oh, yeah, I can deal with that. Yeah, I'm worried about that thing. It's all right. And once you've been through it a couple of times, it's okay. I think being cancelled is an interesting experience because it's a filter on your audience and on your friends. It's very surprising.
36:46Fearne Cotton: The friends one is much harder to swallow. Yeah, but also the great thing is the surprises. Right. And you have been surprised? Yeah. People that call on the day, the people that call the next day, the people that just check in, you're right, they've been through it. It's a nice thing. I always think that thing of like that's the advice to anyone is like if someone's going through something, especially something really awkward and weird, call and go, I don't know what to say. Don't say nothing. Don't say nothing because that's only going to accentuate the shame and the torture for the person going through it.
37:18Fearne Cotton: Imagining, oh God, everyone does think I'm terrible. the one thing you have to be sure of when you're being shamed if you're not in the public eye or publicly shamed if you want to navigate it is you've got to be sure of yourself you've got to not turn the gun on yourself you can't go oh yeah i am a piece of shit i should be cancelled i am awful well there's there's character and reputation so reputation is what everyone else thinks about you and character is what you know about yourself yeah you've got to be pretty solid on that the only question you have to elaine if you get cancelled again you just can't ask one question Who are you?
37:51And if you get cancelled over something authentic that you did or you said or that you meant or that you were joking, fine. Yeah, I like that because I think obviously people listening to this might not have that fear of being cancelled,
38:04Fearne Cotton: but they will definitely have the fear of being rejected by the people. And I think the same applies. If you're sure of who you are and you're sure of your character and your values, that's the way to navigate it. That's the way to get through it. Is that what's helped you? Yeah, I think if you have like a fairly good view of a solid basis that you've got to take care of yourself. I mean, it's also that thing of often worry with the – I mean, there is kind of a mental health crisis going on. There's a crisis with young men. And how much is a software problem and how much is a hardware problem?
38:41So if you think about like if you have a friend that is depressed, feeling down, whatever's going on, how much sleep are they getting? yeah how much exercise are they taking what's their nutrition like are they drinking and drugging and you know 90 of the time you go i can see what this problem might be you're not sleeping you're not taking care of yourself you're you're manically scrolling and not allowing yourself time to relax you've got nothing where there's nothing in your life where you're in a flow state you know there's so many things that you could deal with that are physical before you get to the
39:15Fearne Cotton: mental yeah yeah so that's a software setting are we calling that one i would say the hardware is your is your body your sleep your nutrition your exercise taking care of yourself and then software is what your social interactions your mind okay your mind you're you know so if you're feeling depressed and anxious because i think anxiety is not we sort of think anxiety is about something but it tends to be just you could be anxious about like if you're not anxious about anything particularly in your life then you're reading the news and trying to be anxious about the end of It's anticipatory a lot of the time.
39:46Yes. Well, anxiety is about the future and depression is about the past.
39:50Fearne Cotton: Your mum had poor mental health, which wasn't necessarily recognised back then. No. I mean, I think that weird thing of like, no one was in therapy in the 80s. No. It was like, the therapy in the 80s consisted of someone in the high street going, cheer up, darling. Yeah. Put a smile on your face. Yeah. Come on, love a smile. You've got a pretty face. Oh, my God. I feel angry thinking about it. But that was kind of it. Or the, you know, if you were kind of mopey or down or whatever, oh, I want to have a couple of drinks. Literally the worst thing for it. Yeah. Like no one was in that. And it's become slightly more acceptable to have therapy and also to figure out what works for you.
40:30I think the first thing a therapist should say when you sit down, you go and see a therapist or you talk to someone online, whatever's going on, they should say, oh, by the way, I do this type of therapy. And there's 20 other kinds. Yeah. And this might not work for you, but don't write it off. Because for some people, like Freudian analysis is like the last thing they want to do. They want to do cognitive behavioral therapy or something that's a bit more like short, sharp. I just want to fix this problem and move on. Great.
40:56Fearne Cotton: Yeah. Try them all. I mean, if you can. I've been lucky enough that I've tried all sorts and I've definitely landed on a style that suits me. But back for, you know, my mum's, I'm not saying anything she hasn't said. she's been on the podcast so she's talked about her own mental health which has been sort of sketchy over the years and still now she sees therapy as something that you only go to if it's like mega sos it's not something like for our generation where we think yeah I would like to do a course of it or maybe it's a weekly thing if you can make that happen it just wasn't the done thing and my mum's mum was actually in a day psych ward for quite a lot of my mum's childhood because she was really mentally not very well at all.
41:35Fearne Cotton: But that was a much more sort of severe, and I'm not even sure how helpful that was, but a sort of severe exit strategy for my nan to sort of feel better. Growing up, were you aware that your mum wasn't feeling great or that there was something lurking? I think this is the thing with most comedians. Like, you know, if you have to ask them one question, which of your parents were sick, I think you become a very good thermostat on a room. you're very good walking in a room and going something feels off yeah i could cheer this up i can make this all right yeah i was i was kind of aware but not that aware and i didn't i don't feel i don't feel too guilty about it but i i feel like someone should have done something like that thing of going we were an irish family that came over to britain in the 1970s and so i think lacking the support network sometimes is that thing i just think it's it's not you know it's not healthy it's people need connections we have we sort of think we're individuals but actually we have dispersed identities and it's our relationship with our families and our friends and our colleagues and it's we exist in all of those places we exist between those places yeah um so I think she was a little bit isolated and so do you see your comedy as being a bit of a reaction to that then like you just said you know most comedians may have a parent that has been through something and you were trying to remedy it.
43:00Yeah, I think it is kind of slightly pathological, needing that much love from strangers and wanting people to laugh, wanting people to be happy.
43:08Fearne Cotton: Yeah. I mean, do you still now, after all these years, when you go out on stage and you get a good reaction, you're still getting the same hit, the same buzz? It doesn't dilute? No. No, I don't think it does. Because there's a sense in which you're kind of getting better at it as you go along. So it feels like it's, there's a term for it, like telic and anti-telic tasks. I've not heard that. Okay, so it's tasks with an ending. That's a definite ending, right? We're going to do a play and it's going to last six weeks and then we're done. And those can be quite depressing because at the end of the project, at the end of the summer, the end of summer camp, whatever the thing was that you did and it's got an end date and you completed it, great.
43:49And then it's like, oh, oh, we've done that now.
43:52Fearne Cotton: Yeah. And then you've got to find something else to do. And then there's anti-telic tasks that have no end. So like being a parent, being a comedian, like things you can just constantly get better at and you just, you do them for their own sake. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's very much like I've been interviewing people since I was about 15 and I still feel like I'm, I don't know, 20 % up the ladder. I've got so many more hours in me that I want to put the practice in, see where I can take it, how much better I can get. But there is, Because I guess the real-time benefits that you can see of doing something over decades is how relaxed you feel and how much you enjoy it in the moment.
44:33Fearne Cotton: Like I remember presenting TV shows back in my teens or early 20s where I'd be thinking, just get to the end, get to the end. I just want this to be over. And then the relief was the result that I enjoyed. Like, oh, fuck, that's done. I've done it. The relief was so huge that it would allow me to say yes to another job that I was slightly dreading doing. Whereas now I don't have any dread and I'm not going, oh, can this just end so I can get the relief bit? I'm in real time enjoying what I'm doing. I think that's the gift of doing something a lot. Yeah. I think that thing about looking for that flow state, looking for that thing that feels like this is really fun.
45:09Fearne Cotton: Yeah. We're very lucky that we get to do that. Yeah. Incredibly lucky. So lucky. I mean thinking about doing comedy for the rest of your days does that feel like something that excites you yeah no I really I really really love it I mean I love it as a and it's all it's having a bit of a moment I think yeah culturally because it feels very authentic in a world that doesn't feel very authentic um and it's and there's kind of no there's no cheat there's no there's no way to get it done faster it's like it's not like you're not seeing it's not oh there's a new you you know, 17 year old that's blowing up.
45:44It's like, no, no, everyone's got to put the work in in the clubs and build their career and learn how to write jokes. And it feels like it's something that you get better with over time.
45:54Fearne Cotton: Yeah. And also you have to build up resilience because I think, you know, we've had a fair few comedians on here and that is a theme that comes up a lot, is that when you do that first run of gigs for the first time over many years, you experience absolute shit shows, which are awful, where no one laughs, there's silence, and you've got to be able to pick yourself back up afterwards. you have to yeah but i think you know failure is that it's it's how you view it it's that feedback loop as long as you're not making the same mistake repeatedly great yeah i mean do you even if you look back to those early days but but speaking more sort of recently are you okay with negative feedback you can take it on board and water for ducks back i get heckled a lot do you what negatively well i actively encourage it i mean i like people to join in i sort of think that thing about the the illusion when you go and see a gig is that you're the only one in the room performing because you're on stage and you have a mic but everyone's before me the place i saw it most was the place i really recognized i went to see taylor swift in wembley right and i was sat and it was great gig and you know very much enjoyed it but like she was great but then watching the audience was magnificent yeah because it was kind of it was like girls and mums like singing at each other and doing the hand movements and yeah and like embodying this and it was their thing it was and And so the Oasis gig had exactly the same thing with a bunch of dudes doing the same sing-along.
47:13It was best friends and it really felt performative. And laughter is a very performative thing. Laughing at something is like you don't really laugh when you're scrolling through funny stuff on your phone.
47:22Fearne Cotton: No. You think that is funny and you smile and you chuckle. But the real belly laugh is you've got to be in the room. Yeah, you do. Or with friends. It's why I think people love Christmas TV so much. Yeah, because you're with other humans. You're with everyone else watching it together. Great. This is like, it really feels like, and you're kind of, the laughter's kind of subconsciously showing other people you get the joke.
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48:20Fearne Cotton: You are obviously, as you've alluded to, a half-glass-full person. You're happy foundations are pretty solid and you feel good most of the time. But are there days where you turn up to a gig venue in, I don't know, some random city in America that you've never been to. And you just think, not in the mood. I don't have it in me. I just want to be alone in a room. I don't want to have to deal with that. It's a huge interaction. It's a huge dynamic between you and an audience. No, I would be, no. I mean, it's like, no, it's like, pressure is a privilege. And that whole thing of like, yeah, I'll wear a three-piece suit and a tie.
48:58That's a mark of respect to the audience. They've bought a ticket. someone in the audience is having a tougher day than you yeah and they bought tickets and i think you buy you know buy tickets to a show and you think okay i'm looking forward to that yeah and then you go out there and it's not my business to bring my shit onto the stage it's i'm there i'm of service i'm in the service industry and i make something that people want i make them happy and
49:23Fearne Cotton: you have a job to do go out there and you do it yeah being of service is like it's underrated as a but everyone's we've all got to serve ourselves yeah yeah well you can't pull from an empty cup you've got to be you've got to be topped up yourself what what are the things what are the non-negotiables that keep you in that state where you can go out on stage and give that huge audience your absolute all i sauna cold plunge every day that's a yeah i heard this so my brother's big on this and he texts me immediately went jimmy carl does it every day there you go boom yeah that's your thing well i'm not great with meditation no for me it's like a physical manifestation of being in a meditative state because you're very hot very cold you're you're really looking forward to something constantly yeah in a very very hot environment and then you're looking forward to being in the cold and then in the cold very much looking forward to being in hot it's kind of like life perfect life yeah not only doing something fun but looking forward to something yeah yeah yeah you've got something in the diary yeah yeah i love that i i can i i'm not very good at meditating i think people assume that i meditate every day i haven't meditated for years But I do meditate when I'm painting.
50:31Fearne Cotton: I think of very little. My brain is so streamlined. I'm so in it. And, you know, two hours could pass and it feels like two minutes. And I'm freaked out. No, that's lovely. I'm like, oh my God, I've got to go and pick up the kids from school. And I literally feel like I've just started and won't remember to drink or go for a wee. You know, I'm so in it. I love it. But I think there's very few things that bring me that. Is that what you have on stage? Someone had great careers advice. I can't remember who it was. Like her career advice was pay attention to what you pay attention to. Like because people talk about our kids these days, they've got no attention span.
51:10You know, it's all TikTok videos and they're all 12 seconds long. and but you go yeah no they've got great attention for good stuff yeah yeah yeah they'll they'll listen to a four-hour podcast or they'll watch 60 hours of game of thrones yeah if it's good they'll play video games for 12 hours yep if it's engaging they're they're in it if it's just if
51:28Fearne Cotton: it's nonsense yeah they scroll on yeah you're very right is that is that what you're looking for in stage or you are in that flow state you're so focused i feel pretty quite sort of flow state on stage in terms of going the performance and the way that you know people think about jokes okay so that you've got the jokes and then you've got your kind of facial expression what you're doing there's a lot with um i would call it your footwork like what you're doing to you're sort of directing an audience and trying to get a reaction so i'll i'll be trying to hit certain sort of beats per minute and trying to get them into a state where it's just they're having the best night yeah it's that rolling laughter well that and it's it's also like every gig i've ever done is an advert for when i'm back yeah there's no farewell tour it's like oh you had a great time i want you to book a ticket next time yeah i want you to come back and see this again and then it's that i don't know i mean it's so i suppose that thing of like i'm getting in that state's quite easy because you you sort of i know what has to be the first 20 minutes you go out and just it's all it's a fastball yeah there's a science behind it yeah i think there's i think there's too much magical thinking in my industry i think it's um so i'm working on i think at the moment actually with my friend amanda baker and abby grant we'll work on a book about uh how to write jokes and perform comedy and that sort of sense of going try and give something back try and sort of do something that's like because it is a bit it's oh he's a he's just a comedy genius he goes no no There's ways of codifying this.
53:05Fearne Cotton: Yeah. If we can write music, we can write comedy. Yeah. There's code behind everything. And practice, like you say. It's not like you just came out of the womb funny. You've got funny bones, but you've got to work at it. You have to. You've got to put the hours in. With that pushing things to the edges and looking for, which I'm sure every time you talk, you're like, what outrageous thing would get a laugh or where can I take this? I think the thing that stops people even saying things in front of their mates they think might get an outraged reaction is this inherent fear of authority that we have.
53:41Fearne Cotton: Whether it was one particular parent who would say, you know, have a go at you or a teacher that scared the absolute shit out of you. Do you just not have that? You don't have that fear? No, I think it's I think it's about friendship. I think it's about saying, okay, so who's your best friend in the world? I can tell you who your best friend is. It's the person you've got the least filter with. Right. So if you have no filter with someone, like if you sit next to someone on a plane or a train, oh, the weather. Yes. Beautiful day. Lovely. Sports. Yeah. That local team did great. Like it's a very surface level conversation.
54:17If it's your best friend in the world and you're going, oh my God, you have to see these hemorrhoids. I took a picture. Check it out. Like that, that's a different level. Like, but that thing of going, it's a conversation where you go, there's no filter. I trust that you're my friend. You know, this is, I always think intent is so much more important than content. And the audience get what the intent is.
54:39Fearne Cotton: Yeah. And the times you get cancelled are where the content escapes the lab and people that would never be at my show get it in the morning paper. Well, it's printed. Yeah, there's no tone behind it. Yeah. Okay, well, fine. I'll live with that. Occupational hazard. We are creating a Happy Place playlist at the moment. So each guest we ask, if you would like to put one song on it, what would that song be? Happy Place playlist. Okay, so what's the theme? Is it joyful songs? Yeah, the themes are loose because people have picked all different things. You know, songs that just make them feel very safe and comfortable.
55:16Fearne Cotton: And some have picked huge bangers that make them want to get up and dance. It could quite literally be anything. I'm trying to think of what I would choose. Probably Paul Simon's Obvious Child. Nice. I remember dancing to it with my mother. And it's kind of a, it's been around. It's been like, and I really like that. I like everything about it. I like the lyrics. I like the feel of it and the drums. That's kind of South American kind of feel. It's, yeah, beautiful. And nice memories attached to it. Yeah. I think that thing about going, well, music's great for that. So evocative. Yeah. It's extraordinary.
55:51that kind of non-verbal communication. The idea that you can play a minor key and people go, oh, sad, but you can go anywhere in the world that means that.
55:57Fearne Cotton: I know, it's the best. On my Radio 2 show, there are certain songs that are, you know, obviously I don't playlist the show, but I'll put whatever song it is on. And there are however many songs, there are 40 songs where I get this visceral reaction to the song because my body knows it's on Now 23. And I'm always fucking right. And I tell my producer, Google it, is that on Now 23? and she goes yep i have this weird because it was my favorite now cd right and i remember it so vividly it's in my body no it was in 1991 so i would have been 10 oh wow okay that's early because i always think like people's favorite album tends to be 17 18 like their favorite record so for me it would be like the i guess the the stone roses the stone roses that thing of like going because music kind of meant more then like just when you're young when you're taking it all in for the first time it's like it's incredible this is now 23 at 10 years old yeah i have a honestly a physical reaction when i hear these songs i'm like today it was tasman archer and i was like now 23 and that's right wow yeah it's a pointless skill i like that though i like i like that thing of uh i've tried to turn it on its head recently in terms of going because it's about what different things do for you like we tend to like new movies yeah new movies and old music and so i like to try and turn it on its head i try and watch old movies and listen to new music because it's like where you're trying to get your dopamine get your hit yeah where you're getting that from what new music are you liking that you've heard recently i've got like the i mean i'm very indie rock and roll so that's my sort of go to geese listening to them i think they're on playlist yeah i but the problem with it now is it's not like it was when i was a kid no where you would get well no you'd get it would be a physical thing and you would read the notes yeah i love and now it's it's weirdly it's like a scented candle so you can put on an amazing playlist and you you can put the likes but you can't i don't know what's the name of the band and what's the song yeah yeah yeah but that but something new is really that's always exciting it's always exciting it's the best and to finish where is your happy place jimmy carl is this like Do we want a physical place?
58:10It could be either.
58:11Fearne Cotton: Some people go for something fantastical, metaphorical, some actual place. It could be anything. I should have given this some thought before the show. No, it's quite nice. I think off the top of your head. I mean, mine changes every day. It could be by the sea or it could be painting. It could be anything. Yeah. I think home, and I don't mean that in a physical sense of the house. I think the family. I think that thing about going home isn't a place it tends to be a person and if you've got that thing where you go you feel like all right I'm home now and that can be anywhere you could be on the road you could be traveling you could be on holiday but you feel like okay if we're all together that's pretty great it's the best yeah it's a great feeling it's pretty good well Jimmy Carr thank you so much for being on here I cannot wait for tonight's last one laughing it's like That's what I'm doing tonight.
59:01Fearne Cotton: I'm living for it. It is my absolute dopamine hit of the day. I fucking love it. It is fun. And I want to come and see one of your Palladium shows. So I'm booking, I'm going to get tickets for that. I'm coming. Come, I know a guy. I could hook you up. I would never want to assume that I'm getting a freebie. I'm happy to fund your lifestyle, Jimmy Carr. Sure, sure. Come on, show business. Show business. Thank you so much. It is my pleasure. I love that. Jimmy's one of those people that you could have an interesting conversation with until the wee hours. He's just got a lot to say. He knows a lot of stuff.
59:37Fearne Cotton: He takes the time to read interesting books and to keep curious and to keep learning. And actually, some members of Team Happy Place were like, should we get Jimmy on? I don't know. Sometimes he can be a bit controversial. And by the end of that chat, everyone on the team was like, what a bloody lovely bloke. super polite turned up on his own which might not sound like a big deal but let me tell you it is a lot of guests we get either come with an entourage or you know someone with them all fine absolutely okay with us but it's really refreshing when you get someone who's just jumped in a black cab or jumped on the tube and arrived at the studio on their own there's something just wonderfully refreshing about that and it's a lot less faff let me tell you now Jimmy's going to be out on tour this year and his night at the London Palladium which I'm very much going to get tickets for will be his final UK show of his Laughs Funny tour so make sure that you get your tickets if you haven't already.
1:00:38Fearne Cotton: Now I can't wait for next week's episode she's a mate of mine a brilliant mental health activist and advocate and she likes to run marathons in her bra. I'll leave you with that and in the meantime a massive thanks again to Jimmy to the producer Anushka Tate at Happy Play Studios and to you, you gorgeous bloody lot.
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What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? It’s a question comedian Jimmy Carr reckons will help direct your life path.
In this chat with Fearne, Jimmy explains how he strives for greatness for himself, without falling into the trap of comparing himself to others. He talks about how to define success for yourself, why talent without hard work means very little, and why he doesn’t fear cancel culture.
Jimmy also explains why feminism still doesn’t really serve mothers and matriarchs, and why you’ll never hear him say he’s “babysitting” his own kids.
Plus, do all comedians have a bit of a troubled childhood...? Jimmy chats about how his anxieties fuel his jokes.
Get your tickets for Jimmy’s Laughs Funny tour at the London Palladium!
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