Ep 98 - The Man Who Humiliated FIFA, Trump & Theresa May | Simon Brodkin

0:00Mo Gilligan: Yes, what's good people? My name is Mo Gilligan and right now you are tuned into my podcast, Beginning, Middle and End. Now, my guest today trained as a GP doctor, but gave it all up to become one of Britain's most loved comedians through his character, Lee Nelson. from his own BBC free show to making global headlines by showering FIFA president Sepp Blatter with cash, handing Theresa May her P45 and becoming the world's best blagger, according to the Daily Telegraph. Talking about how he fell into comedy by sending a tape to Channel 4 and his recently extended tour Unleashed. Please, welcome to the podcast, Simon Brodkin.

0:45Mo Gilligan: Thanks for doing this, bro. my pleasure I really appreciate it man my pleasure yeah I really appreciate it man I didn't know you was a doctor you was a trained doctor I think the back the back patch gave that away no but I know I was a trained doctor so anyone watching this my back is is absolutely mashed up we're on we're on we started yeah yeah yeah this is how we start yeah yeah this is how we start it just keeps rolling but anyone watching my back is absolutely finished and Simon was like listen man I've got a heat patch in my bag still got the medicine bag and they can they can strike me off but they can never take my medicine bag and it's bad because you said to me you was like well this is what I have when I'm on tour so that's the bag you've always got with you that's the tour bag it's got everything in is it so what else is in the bag there's some other medicines shall we say what you got in there there's the pre-party the after party yeah there's a lot of boring stuff I think people realise how boring I can only speak for myself comedians are I often get tour managers who have done music and they're used to dealing with like five rock and rollers.

1:49Yeah, yeah, yeah. They're getting stuff in for them beforehand, like trying to drag them onto stage. Guys, come on, man. We've got to get onto stage. Let's go. After party, the list of demands, the hotel smashed up, and then they come and do a tour with me. And I'm like, okay, let me know. Just knock on with five minutes before. Food, no, I've got my Tupperware. I'm good.

2:12Mo Gilligan: Have you got a fizzy water? to go it's okay thank you so when you're touring you you i'm assuming you've got all your bits and bobs like in terms of you know you like you got your heat patches your medical stuff and yeah so are you quite like because i don't need anything when i tour apart from maybe just like i used to want a towel because i was like i want to shower maybe before and you know it's that sam when you get somebody's dressing rooms you're like oh no one has showered here in two years the showers they need to I don't know where the Arts Council money is going but it's not going on cleaning out the moss and the pubes you're like nobody's shouting it's not it's not glamorous you know in my head I thought touring would be glamorous that's why I'd say like can I just have a towel and then you know I think what I realise is when you know when you tour yeah and you realise you know you get the you know what what the tour costs and you're like hang on so what I thought the towel was just provided nothing you gotta pay for the towel 40 pounds for a towel they'll charge you and my tour manager like it's 40 I'm like I'm gonna use my sock it's fine just like so how are you when you tour you got everything prepped and stuff like this there's chilled out people Mo Gilligan yeah and then there's people who are like no I need everything in the way I like it have you got like an OCD like the way you pack I'm not gonna say OCD I'm not gonna I'm not gonna slight the OCD community but you're very like I'm particular.

3:42I take a pillow with me. I take my own towel.

3:46Mo Gilligan: Okay. I take a pillow sometimes when I travel. Right. If I'm going long haul, then I will take a pillow. Yeah. What's your cutoff point? Number of miles before you need your own pillow? No, it is. Anything over like 10 hours. I need a pillow. But overnight on tour, surely you... Can't take a pillow. Right. I tried to take a bag with as many less things as possible. It's so much cooler to do. I wish I was, I wish I'd be like, yeah, I'm fine. Whatever. That's cool. I'm trying to think what's the randomest thing I take. Okay. The randomest thing I take at the moment, I've got a express coffee machine.

4:24Mo Gilligan: So I can put the powder in it. Nice. And then thing it and I can make it a double espresso. Nice. That's like the one thing that I'm like, and I kind of need this. That's nice. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'd have put that second to a towel, but you've gone in with that and no towel. That's, you like your coffee. That's not my thing. I know. I love my coffee, especially, you know, it's like when you tour and you're like, I just need a coffee, but I know that the closest shot might be 20 minutes away. And you're in the middle of Stoke. Yeah. You're like, yeah, you're like, I just want my coffee, man. What's the randomest thing you take when you're on?

4:56The randomest thing I take. Oh my God. But what can't you live without? I'm just, I've just found a winning formula. You know, as you get older, you just get more confident in what you like, right? So you're not afraid. I just like, I've got this. I like this pillow. Yeah. I don't like that pillow. Yeah. I like this pillow. It's so uncool. Yeah. But kind of being comfortable with yourself is quite cool.

5:20Mo Gilligan: Yeah. Yeah. So. Do you take blankets? I don't take blankets. But if I needed one, I wouldn't be ashamed to take a blanket. But we're then moved to the stage. Just dude, you've got a hotel that you're carrying with you. Yeah. Yeah. I wonder about that. You know, you take the vans, the sleepers, you know, you see on TikTok. Yeah. This is my van. Yeah. And they're going to travel in a van and go to the gigs. They use a 0.5 lens to make it look like it's livable. Do you think that kind of, that preparation came from you? Because you was like a, was you a trained doctor? You qualified as a doctor. A lot of training.

5:54Yeah. Not much doctoring.

5:55Mo Gilligan: How many years training was it? Because I know the training is. Six years. Rawr. That's, you're a doctor, bruv. Come on. I'm a doctor. Six years of training. That's a doctor. I was, I was a doctor. Really? Yeah. What, like, like, what, like, I don't want to say what was your field in because like the training is what like. So you do the training. Is it four years you go to uni and you do another two years additional? Five years. Yeah. And then I was on the wards. I was, this is Dr. Brodkin. He's got his own pillow with him. But yeah, so I did it. Hold on The poor patients When did you stop them?

6:35Years and years ago I only did one year In the hospital You worked in In retail

6:44Mo Gilligan: And then you look back at that What was I doing? No I just had to do that My mum was like you've got to pay the bills So I was like this is what I've got to do But do you know I think the thing is with retail Is that I was also doing stand up on the side right so it was like retail was paying the bills it was like your restaurant it was like your i'm gonna be a waiter this is yeah i knew i could i could get any retail job right i know that sounds cocky but i worked in i've heard cockier things i can work in any of the top 10 i could right i could as long as i knew what i was talking about yeah yeah it's not like you're expecting that from someone.

7:25It's not like when I go in to like a, you know, a top man for them to actually know. They just go, that looks, that's great. No,

7:33Mo Gilligan: I was good. Do you know why? Are you sure I'm not too small? No, that looks great, mate. No, I was good. Do you know what I say this year? Because when I was working retail, especially menswear, I was very good at just like, someone could come up to me and be like, oh, listen, man, I need a top. I'm going out. So I'm like, what's the vibe? So already they're like, oh, yeah. So it's like, mate of mine it's a stag I just want to get like a nice shirt but nothing too expensive I'm like listen come up with some sale ones man these ones ain't all that and already they're like you know what I appreciate you've even showed me the sale ones the fact that you care puts you in an elite and then what I do as well I'll be like listen you're better off buying one of these if it's a stag but if you want to wear it more than once let me show you these ones and then look what might go well okay I want to go shopping with you how much for a private session with you now to pull you out of retirement I'm fucking stylish you know to pull out of retirement You should have that You know on Cameo They do like messages I will do a shopping session for you I would I'll be really good I always thought like retail Like Do you know what it was with retail?

8:32Mo Gilligan: I think what I used to hate Was when it used to feel like You know You get the managers And be like We've got to do stock take And how much have you not sold And da da da da And I'm like I know this place needs to make money I get that innit But I was always like Come on man The customers though innit Do you know We really tap into these customers The best thing you can do is probably slag off something there so then you get their trust to go listen I'll be honest with you they're overpriced and they're like oh my god I like this now I can trust him yeah yeah yeah yeah he's just said the socks are overpriced yeah or you say no this is the same suit as that yeah basically it's just a different thread count on the cotton but you can't tell brilliant oh yeah really oh my god you know what we're good at fucking blagging is what you're good at yeah no I'll be I was saying so like in terms of you you was a trained doctor trained yes but I just trying so where so how did you go from that i love the way your brain is just like what the fuck no because bro i don't mean doctor like hang on let me just ask you again you're a doctor let me you're looking at the notes here it says he was a trained guys it says he trained doctor we got the wrong notes this guy i'm trying to if it helps you i was fucking awful at it it was not for me being a doctor i assume no what you get better as you go on yeah or did you just feel like it just wasn't for you well ask some of the patients who are no longer with us that's the answer that it's it's not for me when i look back at it i'm like it's just the square peg round hole yeah um you you know it's um um and i loved the training the training was fun because um five years you go to university oh yeah yeah so it's fun it's fun yeah it's five a few years of fun so did it feel real once that's it you're in so it went from hanging out with my mates doing the bare minimum to get by yeah like i had to work hard my mates just sit on their bed do you have mates like that who just take in a book by just looking at it yeah yeah and i was there in my room like post-it notes everywhere looking like some serial killer but don't come in Yeah.

10:40I got to focus, right? And then I, so that was fun, apart from the exam bits. And then doing the actual doctoring bit, that's NHS.

10:54Mo Gilligan: NHS is hardcore. NHS is crumbling buildings. If you think backstage on tour is bad, you should see the showers for junior doctors. It's hard. It's long hours. You're not getting paid a lot at all. So where did the comedy that's going to be the route in? Well, the comedy, I was always funny. I mean, I would get chucked out of lectures for making silly jokes. Did you go to Edinburgh? Edinburgh Festival, yes. Yeah. So that happened. And you're saying from medicine to comedy, this is the start. This is where I'm now getting the name of the podcast. We have beginning, middle, and left. Come on, bro.

11:43He just snuck that up on me. This guy's a professional. I see what he's done there. So, yeah, so I went. I just didn't know anything about comedy. I just knew I was funny. I knew I really wanted to do it and I knew the medicine was just I don't know about you but if I'm I'm all in like I'm either doing something and I'm just that is everything yeah or I fall out of love with it and the medicine I just knew my heart wasn't in it and you've really got to want it and the comedy even I didn't know what I was like that's I gotta do that and then I I was it was a one-year contract as a junior doctor and that ended I drove back to London I was in manchester drove overnight to london rung on my parents house like guys i'm moving back they're well happy obviously yeah and then i put together videos of um of me just doing characters i didn't know what i was doing at all and um and then i sent them to these production companies i did not know well i was just fucking blagging it was almost great i didn't know if it's like if you knew if i if i'd have known what is involved yeah you can't do that but because i was like yeah i'll do it yeah of course do comedy yeah uh and then i and then a couple of people it was actually channel four um that got back to me like straight up we like this come in so before you know it i was on television totally out my depth um doing a character thing and it was it was like spotting someone with decent talent and then putting them in the, in the premier league.

13:32I'm like, what's going on?

13:33Mo Gilligan: What was the first character? The first character was a doctor. Guess where I got that idea from. He's great. This guy, his imagination knows no bounds. He used to be a doctor and now he's doing a doctor. So I was this Iraqi doctor. And the show was called from Baghdad to Balam. Okay. About this. Cause I, one of the videos that I put together that impressed them was me. busking on the tube. There's this Iraqi doctor who couldn't get a license over here. Yeah. So he was just busking on the tube. And we had a mate of mine was filming the thing on the tube and I was singing silly verses to Beatles tunes and just enjoying it.

14:20I couldn't play the guitar. I didn't know what I was doing, but it was clearly funny.

14:23Mo Gilligan: it's mad because I feel like now like you see that stuff all over social media do you know what I mean especially with a with a with a stuff that's like outside like someone on the tube yes do you know what I mean all the stuff whereas I feel like back then because you needed like to put it on a youtube yeah yeah do you know thank you for putting my stuff in perspective back then it was funnier than it sounds now thank you no but I think you know what it was I think because comedy had different places for it to like like you know television is where you would see like like let's say like a Don Jolly for example doing like some of the pranks I've called Jackass Jeremy Beedle and now it's like social media where you've got and have you seen the guys who've got the little binoculars and you look at the people on the phone and then they turn away and stuff it's that silly stuff now if you're on the tube and someone isn't doing something through Instagram this is weird someone gonna prank me on this or what speak to the guy at the tube sorry there was no one on Instagram on my carriage something so it wasn't there then so this what year are we talking roughly uh early 2000s because then after that you done you had the lee nelson show that yeah so so that must have been let's get my timelines so that must have been yeah about that so then one of the characters i did was lee was that from a person they're all from people right your characters are from people right they are that my character is always a bit like caricatures yeah of like someone like i i know this person but i also know i don't know this person but i know their surroundings does that make sense what do you mean by surroundings so like even the geezer character that i do yeah that character is not based on anyone i properly know right but i know people when the sun is out they're like fucking hell he's fucking fucking baking in here jesus christ what are we doing here it's like fucking is it is this and i know those people i know how they sound i know the stuff they like i know how they take the piss yeah um but it's not like based on like a no but you would have absorbed that yeah yeah yeah a hundred people you've seen over the years yes distilled into that so that's what all the good characters are yeah definitely but it was definitely like from just yeah people around the area and stuff and you you hear it do you know i mean um so like when you've done the show and that was the character that that was the one that that kind of took off because you had other characters as well i really used to like you know the one that the football character you've done jason bent bruv that one there we go

17:06yeah so that that was like an amalgamation of yeah yeah yeah yeah rooney that was yeah um so that so then i did these characters and then suddenly i was introduced to stand-up comedy which sounds mad like but i was television that was so then the festival and i did um a show up there with different characters one of them was lee yeah bbcc were like bbc3 were like we'll have a bit of that lee nelson's well good show yeah with jason bent with dr bob which originated as the iraqi doctor yeah yeah and that was then that blew up oh wow yeah how was it having like your own show like what was that like yeah uh because i felt like you know you know what it It was right.

17:55Mo Gilligan: BBC Three was so good at that time because a show would be on and they would just keep putting the show on. BBC Three was exciting, wasn't it? BBC Three was... Well, it was like, you know, like you go to bed and you put on BBC Three. Do you know what I mean? And I felt like there was, like you had like comedy on there. You had like maybe like a drama, but you had like, you know, bits of sport every now and then and stuff. But it was like, okay, cool. I'm going to go to bed. I'm going to put this on. and I get to watch all the shows I like. Do you know what I mean? It had some balls. It had some, it felt like it had its identity.

18:29Mo Gilligan: It felt like if I wanted a show, that's where I wanted it to be. Do you know what I mean? It definitely spoke to a whole generation. What was it like for you at that time? I mean, I was just, I wasn't sort of basking in the glory going, I was head down doing the thing. I remember the first show was half empty. No one came to the show on the pilot. Really? did you do it at a television centre I did it no I did it at in Hammersmith what was those studios called is it the is it Riverside Riverside Studios and that was always funny we had to cover like half of the thing with like a black cloth yeah yeah yeah and then the difference as then it kept picked up so it was a lot of fun it was I mean those shows were me genuinely having fun yeah um i remember the cut through when i was still so i was doing stand-up because i'd start doing the stand-up and i okay i'll do it as lee and then edinburgh and then the show i was still doing the stand-up people think you get on tv it's like well the chop will pick you up sir you don't you stay there now you're on television yeah you let me take your shoes off sir It's like you carry on everything.

19:49Mo Gilligan: Did you find that like there was a bit of animosity towards you because you had kind of done the thing and then you're now going over to stand up? Does that make sense? Oh, I see. Normally the transition is different. Yeah. If there was, I didn't feel it. I remember going through Leicester Square one day and Friday night. Yeah. Probably a few of your character were out. Yeah, yeah. A few geysers. Shatning, you're right. And I remember performing, I was going to perform a comedy club in Leicester Square, a little comedy club. And do you remember the 99 club? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was where it used to be with the comedy stores.

20:34Yeah. And I'm going there. And I was, when I did my stand up, I would wear the Lee tracksuit. Yeah. Right. That was. So you would turn up in the tracksuit? I would turn up in the tracksuit. I swear. Yeah, yeah. That was just, that was like, it was, it was, it was, you know, first of all, again, backstage. Guys, can I have two minutes just to, just to get change? Yeah. None of that, right? You turned up in the tracksuit. That's just because that, it's funny. But when I, it was because I wanted to do character comedy. So if you do character comedy. You stay as the character. You stay, you just, I mean, I didn't turn up, I didn't talk like Lee.

21:09Yeah. But I'm like, I've got to wear the tracksuit.

21:11Mo Gilligan: Let's just, it wasn't like some mental tracksuit, but I turn up in the. so you walk the streets as the character walk the streets as the character oh that's insane which is funny and I remember someone shouting hey Nelson hey Nelson and this group of lads probably about three pints down they go you can't in that way that British people use that word and I was like oh I'm on television that was the moment I go it's it's something's cut through here wow um that was the first of multiple times of being called a cunt fondly mo um i remember the third cunt calling was can we say this word it's probably yeah yeah you can say this you can bleep it if you want we want everyone to be listening and um yeah i've had some funny scrapes for that addressed as leakers before i was on television before i went out again doing the stuff like with the the doctor character on the tube i was just like looking let's get some stuff let's just have some fun and i went it was i think it was near highbury we went out there right and i went with my mate um like just filmed some stuff of lee and we're like oh yeah right hey guys yeah i'm just like let's graffiti some stuff yeah right early lee was just like this yeah yeah right as we brought these these spray cans with us right yeah and we went up to things were already graffitied i'm a good boy well i didn't want to graffiti them I was just pretending to graffiti so we'd go to somewhere that already graffiti on and be like yeah there we go yeah get that in funny right and the guy comes out of his house with a knife and he's like that's my fucking van bro you've been spray painting it you fuck I'm gonna because he I mean to be fair to him if I saw someone with a graffiti in a can with a spray can and I'm like no Oh, it's not.

23:12How do you prove you're not? I'm in the tracksuit. I've got the spray and everything. I remember as a desperate thing, I was going, these, do you remember herbal cigarettes? Get herbal. These are herbals. These are herbals. Please. Did he believe you? No, the police were called and then the police basically had to decide who to believe. and I think they knew this guy was a bit of a menace. Okay. Because they sided with us. But it was really funny because they had, they looked back at the footage and some of the footage we had was from me pretending to graffiti stuff earlier in a different place.

23:55Yeah, yeah. It just doesn't look very good. The police must have hated this guy so much.

23:58Mo Gilligan: So let me ask you, right? You've done these characters and then you started like, some of your stunts, bro, are absolutely insane, man. Like to the point where like I sit there and I'm sure everyone says how, how, how, how, one did you come up with the concept and how did you execute? Because it's one thing to come up with something, but bro, your stunts are like there's stunts and then there's your stunts. Do you know what I mean? Like the one that I always think about that FIFA one with the money, the money yeah bro that was insane because you know what i think what was really interesting when you when you started like doing the stunts because i you know a lot of us had kind of grown up and watched you know like your character comedy but then the stunts were like oh raw like i i knew you for the for the comedy you know i mean so when you started doing the stunts it was like oh raw how what before you you get into it how do you even come up with the idea does that make sense yeah because they're funny they have a statement but they're also like how have you done that how does that how do you start how do you do you write it do you have an idea like you know how did how did it come around with the yeah i think it's just what would it's like writing a joke he's like wouldn't it be funny if set blatter and everybody's obviously just getting bribed wouldn't It'd be funny if I like bribed him in front of everyone like that.

25:33And then you're off and away. Oh, let's do that as Jason. Cause he could like, and you know, Beckham's we could make him, we make, I'll make Jason like, what's the worst country in the world, right? North Korea. Let's make him the football ambassador for North Korea.

25:50Mo Gilligan: Yeah. Giving set the money for the world cup. And then it just got, and then the idea, I guess they stem from reality clashing with comedy. Yeah. Just throw in some comedy into the real world. How did you get the access to then get to the, do you know what I mean? I don't know if you want to reveal the, well, there's probably less to it than people think is, you know, determination, blagging, planning. I can be obsessive. Yeah. A man who carries his own pillow is probably, is just going to be an overthinker, right? So overthinking, like, sometimes great when you're trying to prank presidents. So just what if, what if, and can I, and do this, and, you know, just keep, yeah.

26:40Mo Gilligan: Do you ever fear for your safety, though? Because in some of the places you're doing these stunts. I mean, in hindsight, because the number of people who said, don't you fear for your safety? I'm like, I think I should have feared for my safety, but it's a bit late now. Yeah. um so yeah there's been some the one i actually did the one i thought hang on i'm gonna get i must be getting i probably get could could get shot here i need to be careful is with um uh teresa may yeah because i'm gonna give the p45 insane um at the tory party conference and um so that was i thought if you get close to a british head of state they're like no messing around that right yeah or at least the red dot on you you're like yeah yeah guys sorry it's just it's being silly here guys um but all that happened is clearly i don't know where james bond was that day but he wasn't anywhere near because i gave for the p45 and i just got lowered back down into the pool of people up front did you get arrested i did eventually because you've got shit there's no point in planning a stunt if you're not getting arrested as they say in the stunt game yeah you ain't pushed it far enough yeah so i gave you the p45 and then they lured me back down i'm like guys i don't anyone any i'm just i'm not meant so you wanted to get the incompetence can someone please arrest me so then i turned around and went over to boris and he's hanging around boris that went marvelously absolutely as we planned good man What did Boris say?

28:21He just looked at me and went, I think he said complete and utter tool or something. He said pillock. That's it. He said massive pillock. I mean, he's a pretty big pillock himself. So I think he knows what he's talking about. In the pillock game, he's the don. So, and obviously he was trying to sort of pretend. because obviously the the the p45 was um it was to get it was from boris i think to get for boris to be in next which obviously everyone knew was happening yeah everyone knew boris was going to take over so then this happens he's like absolutely and that's when people are okay he's just given that that that seemed not quite right but now he's slapping boris johnson on the thigh and say good work.

29:17I think, guys, I think this guy isn't meant to be here.

29:21Mo Gilligan: How good does it feel for you, though, when like you do these stunts and then they're on like the 10 o 'clock news? Because that's normally, I feel like, how a lot of us find out about it. Because you might see the clip maybe on social media and the pictures, but you're like, oh, this hit the 10 o 'clock news. And that is the first story. Do you know what I mean? You're like, wow. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, I probably should have filmed the cup. I should have done a bit more like, I should have like, you know, filmed it, put it on my YouTube, where I was just like, let's just have a laugh.

29:57Let's just do it. And so, yeah, I actually remember getting back from that one. So it was in Manchester and I got back home. And as you say, it's a good day at work. As pranksters go, you've had a good one. you give it you involve the prime minister you slap boris johnson on the thigh you've got on every news channel you're headlining the news and you're out at home before dinner that's a good network so you sat home and you you watched it on the news i didn't watch it on the news okay it's like you know um and i remember coming into my kids and i was like guys have a listen to this and i've turned on um i think they were like doing play-doh or something i turned on the radio i on the radio i was like as you said dong yeah you know simon brodkin that's daddy is what and they just fucking couldn't have given less of a shit i was like okay i can see why i do these pranks now just get out the house i'm a guys i'm a don out there i'm but yes i will help you make a fruit

31:01Mo Gilligan: salad with your play-doh okay what's been like your most like challenging one that you've ever done like because i know like i feel like the fifa one and the theresa may one are like they're the ones that i was like i don't know how you yeah done that but also i kept thinking to myself how does no one recognize you do you know i mean is there anyone that feels like hey hang on a minute or it maybe they're just like hey let him do what he's doing i mean i think i think yeah most people they're probably going i hope he's gonna prank someone what's been your your most like okay that was a challenge to pull off the trump one was that was meticulous planning and i talk about that actually that was for a channel 4 show yeah they were following me around for a year while i did some some um got on britain's got talent as a rapping rabbi yeah as you do um got on and then did the trump one with the with the with the nazi golf balls and then what was the other one on that one oh the philip green when i renamed his boat the bhs destroyer oh yeah so that one's but the trump one that was meticulous some of them were just pure were blagging yeah on stage with Kanye blag just blag blag blag blag till you get on stage whereas the Trump one was like and you know wow yeah that was how are we going to get the balls what about this how are we going to get across that like that was meticulous is there ever been you know the stunt where you're like no that might be not like too far but that's too hard or my life might be in danger or yeah I don't know if I can do that do you know I mean where I think Putin's always been on the, on the wish list.

32:41It could be, it'd be my last ever stunt. I think that's,

32:44Mo Gilligan: yeah, yeah, yeah. He's bowed out on a high. Yeah. He's given his service.

32:51He knew he was going down. It's like the equivalent of a kamikaze pilot in Japan. He's, he knew he was going to get it, but he still went for it. He pulled down Putin's kegs. Do you know what? He pants Putin.

33:02Mo Gilligan: But you know what's like, it's the fact that like, you, you still keep doing it, but on top of that, you, you still, you know, you do stand up as well, you know, you do world tours and stuff as well. And like, do you ever find like when you are, you know, touring that you have an audience that, well, I've seen you on that video. Yeah. And I'm coming to your tour and are you going to speak about this on tour? Or do you know what I mean? It's been interesting because so people know, people will still think my name is Lee Nelson. Probably shouldn't have worn the tracksuit. I can't lie, you know, back in the day, I thought your name was Lee Nelson.

33:35Right, right, right. right people think uh people think that it's lee people and you know what i'm happy if anyone's talking to me yeah yeah but people come up to me and go mate where what have you been are you are you doing comedy anymore i'm like dude i'm working my balls off yeah why has no one told you so

33:52Mo Gilligan: there's like simon you you do you know you've had your show with your characters and stuff where you still now to this day like some of those sketches are still going viral and are still doing numbers, do you know what I mean? You have your stand-up as well, which again, you know, those clips do well and then they go viral and then you have your stunts, which, so you've got like three facets to what you do as well. Do you know what I mean? Which is great, but people are like, who are you? If you were to stop people in the street and they did recognise me, they would, some people go, he's the Lee guy, and some people go, no, he's the stunt guy.

34:25And some people go, no, I've seen his stand-up on Insta. and um so um it's kind of funny to get that mess try and go no i'm i'm the guy did these things yeah because this is you talk beginning middle end obviously it's not an end but my my most the thing i'm most passionate about right now is doing the stand-up you know so i'm all in and i'm all into the stand-up i'm loving the stand-up because that was a real change so i did the stuff in character yeah and then i'll do the pranks in character ish and then doing the stuff as myself that was the big hard breakthrough yeah where i start i had the channels as myself because i was always at lee nelson right at jason bent yeah jason nine bent and then doing the stuff as myself to start again i just i did stuff up the creek which is uh no um you do a lot of

35:19Mo Gilligan: stuff there yeah yeah i always do like little work you know i say little i'll do my work in progress is there brunch shows and stuff right yeah yeah so um um you know you've made it when you've got a brunch show i love that you know i love doing a brunch show man because you know why i think i met so many people that would come to shows and then be like oh like we've got to go because we've got the kids and i started realizing i was like oh my audience are in that place where you know they've got something going on in the evening and they want to come to this and they can get the babysitter and whatnot so the brunch show was like the the middle because i was like i can't do this on a saturday in the evening because i can't even be there do you know what i mean not in a rude way but you're like i want to have my weekend i want to like chill at my mom's house so the brunch was like and it allowed comics to be like oh i can do a show in the afternoon chill out and do two in the evening or whatever you know what i mean and it's the atmosphere oh yeah it's rocking man yeah yeah you gotta come and do one if you want to just let me know yeah come and it's a really nice vibe you know it's what i like about it as well is seeing like like my age mates and they're just everyone's drunk at like two o 'clock amazing and everyone the vibe i'm like oh my god we got because we tried it as like let's just see if it works because it was less of the oh i'm coming from work and then you know you get to nine o 'clock and you know it's like after like 9 30 you see your audience you're telling material you're like you see someone go like this and they go yeah yeah yeah late shows at the late shows at the comedy store oh man so it really worked do you know that's nice for us how are you finding because you've got your new tour yes which starts as well new tour another world tour how are you how are you feeling for this because you know is there a part of you that wants to you know whether it's you know do the stunts you know you've got big time you know america and stuff world cup is happening and stuff and we never know when we're gonna see you do you know i mean it's not like You don't announce it.

37:14It's just like. Got a stunt coming up, guys. Keep your eyes peeled for Donald Trump in two weeks.

37:19Mo Gilligan: Yeah, there's never like, guys, watch, check out Wimbledon. It's going to be eventful. Do you know what I mean? But you're definitely like a pioneer in that space because it's like we was talking a little bit before of people doing stuff on Instagram and stuff where, you know, now you get your camera phone and a mic and you can do that stuff. But some of the things you do have inspired a whole generation. Do you know what I mean? And off the back of that, you know, you're like, I could double down on that, but I'm also doing my stand up, which is a big tour. It's, I mean, creatively, you know what it's like.

37:54You want to keep things fresh. You want to keep moving. Plus, if I get arrested one more time, I'm not sure I've got the American visa left in me. You've got to be a good boy. Otherwise, Uncle Donald doesn't let you come to his house.

38:09Mo Gilligan: Do you think they'll let you over there? I hope so. yeah i mean yeah that was a sweaty moment actually getting the american visa was like no i haven't done anything at all nothing to do the president i like the guy god bless america um so yeah this big tour unleashed as i said started off putting out the clips of little gigs up the creek and whatever and people like they were liking it you're never sure when you're doing new thing whether people are gonna and but your clips go viral a lot man there you know i I mean, they do numbers, man. Which is really great. Obviously, we're all doing this for attention.

38:46Yeah, it's true. Let's say it how it is. It's true, man. Notice me. See it, man. Help me sell tickets. See what I'm doing right now. Exactly. So, yeah, this is, so it's got, I think, Sweden, Australia, and then the UK starts in September, biggest ever tour, unleashed, proper, you know, and I just want this to be, the last tour screwed up was, was people loving it. And it rolled and rolled and we had three Apollos and eight Leicester squares or whatever. I know you're a big time O2 guy over there. Big time O2 guy looking at me. I tried, man. Oh, three Apollos.

39:23Mo Gilligan: No, the Apollo. A sweet sight. Do you know, I think Apollo is my favourite place to do in London. That's like, it's such a sweet place to do. It's the biggest small theatre. yeah but it's like the raw you get is yeah unmatched i think the o2 for me is i don't know there's it's like there's a part of you that's like can i do it of course and i think it always used to feel like a shadow really to be like i don't know if i can do it but then the minute i've done it and i was lucky enough to do it last year yeah i was like i don't know if i can do it again but then a part of that shadow was like you can't so that was the reason why i was like i'm just going to do it again nice we might not sell out but it's to just see if we can that's interesting but i'll be honest like going to like a creek you know doing like you know you know it's like 200 and it's nice and closed in that's where we find our magic do you know i mean where we come up with a thing and we're like oh that person really liked over there maybe i can extend it out or see how it works the big shows are great but there is something in that small space 100 gives you your I'm like making love past a certain number of people in the room.

40:32It's good to tick it off your list, but it just isn't as good.

40:37Mo Gilligan: I want to agree, but my girlfriend watches this and she's like, what is that what you think? It was my idea, not Mo's. Can I ask you something? What's been like your favourite thing to do? Because I feel like, you know, you've had your TV show and you've done, you know like I said like iconic TV shows that a generation like myself has watched and been like oh right like that's you know character comedy we don't even really get that on television anymore and the fact that you was on BBC 3 at a time and also because it will cross over on like BBC 1 and stuff but it was at a time which was like the shows that came out at that time were like oof yeah I remember when I was like I want to have a show if I get it on BBC 3 that's where you want to have a show um and then it's the fact that you know you have these amazing stunts that again it's you know there's no better place to have your stunt shown on 10 o 'clock news in the UK I don't need a TV show but also it's like it's already a show but also you've got to remember it's like that your stunts people will still watch it now and it's still do you know when it's still relevant it's not just like a oh there's that thing that happened it's not it's not a streaker at Wimbledon.

41:47Mo Gilligan: Do you know what I mean? I thought about that. Yeah, yeah. That went into the reject pile. I looked in the mirror. I'm like, I think leave that for next year. But you know, I feel like there's some that we see, you know, I think there was one not so long ago where someone ran on to, I think it might be an NFL game or a football game and they had a sponsor on or something like that. Sponsored. But it's like, we've seen that. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. We never seen someone throw money at Set Blatter at the FIFA. And I wound up with the City team. That was fun. Oh, yeah. You took a picture with them?

42:18Mo Gilligan: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, I remember that. And they were all like, who's that? Oh, shit. It was really funny. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And joined the England team. Remember that? Yes, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

42:30So, yeah, I don't know. I'm a let's move on. Let's keep going. Next, next, next. So the thing that I'm now excited about is the stand-up. I'm like a kid when they get the new toy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm like, nah, I don't want that. I want this. So the stand-up now, that's feeding.

42:46Mo Gilligan: Does that for you feel like, not like the one to crack for some reason, but does it feel like there's a niche there? Do you know what I mean? Yeah. To be like, okay, cool. I know you like this. Because the reason why I asked, because when I started doing the characters on social media, I was like, this is great. And people come up to me and say, oh, a couple of cans. We're not the blood clot, Julie. And every, you know, it gets hot. It's the thing that people say to me, which I'll always be, you know, I'm so blessed that people even, you know, people can call you a cunt in the street if they wanted to, but like people, they're doing it with joy.

43:21Mo Gilligan: Do you know what I mean? But also I knew that I was like, the thing that I love doing is stand up. Right. If that can take, that's going to be the thing that will probably take me around the world. And I can do from now until I'm old and stuff. Is that the same itch for you? I think you're wiser than me. And you knew about stand up and you about those things. So for me, this is like a new thing. So I've been doing it that many years. Yeah. I didn't ever do stand up as myself until I tried it a few years ago. Yeah. Few months after the Theresa May thing. And I was like, I want to give this a go.

43:56Cause I was on stage doing stuff as Lee.

43:58Mo Gilligan: Yeah. And I was like, I'm sure there's a, I'm sure that, that bit of banter that was, I'm sure I was doing that. Was that, it wasn't Lee. That was, I just wanted to give it a go. And, and, and then that is, yeah. I'm like, wow, this, this is cool. This stand up's great. You can write about anything, talk about anything. Yeah. Yeah. And you say, go around the world. If it's going well, that's, that's a pretty, that's a great, that's a good job. Yeah. That beats, that beats being a junior doctor. How do you start to look at like, like your, you know, what you want to do in, in, in the future, like in terms of like your legacy, because I feel like you've done so much already.

44:43Mo Gilligan: Do you know what I mean? And I know that comedy also for you is the itch that you still want to scratch. Do you know what I mean? But is there also a part of you that's like, oh, maybe there is to, you know, because you're going to get a new generation now who are, again, they're doing stuff on Instagram and stuff and they're like, oh, we've seen that. That's where you can take it. Do you know what I mean? What's that for you? Because I know you're, you know, when you do like your comedy and your announcements, your wife and your kids are involved as well. Do you know what I mean? And is that a path you feel like wherever they want to take, you want to say, hey, listen, it's great, but this is what comes with it.

45:21Mo Gilligan: Do you know what I mean? There is the good side, but also the bad side of this is very stressful. It's very hard. And people might know as one thing and might not know you as another thing. Do you know what I mean? So you're saying like, what is the, what am I most passionate to move forward with? Yeah, yeah. Like in terms of like in the next 10 years, what would you, or not even that actually what would you tell the 26 year old junior doctor who's like listen bro I watch all your stuff and I want to do stand up and I've watched the sketches I love your stand up and yeah like I'd say don't be a selfish arsehole stay in the NHS alright there's fucking people are dying in there alright don't follow your dreams you idiot help that poor woman who needs a new hip I'd say like anyone if you've got to do what you're passionate you've got to do what you love um and take some risks yeah you know go for it um what would you say to you like let's say if your younger kids wanted to you know follow in your footsteps yeah i think um that's the funny thing about kids and they push back against whatever the the parents ask they're probably accountants but they start swearing with your kids early just a little tip there because then it's just the least cool thing to do I'm like getting home vaping like guys bong anyone you've seen the worst they don't want to do that that's so uncool so yeah I mean whatever you've got to follow what you what brings joy to you because when i you know what's the hardest thing i'm going to do travel for miles get there into some crappy hotel and realize i've forgotten to pack my pillow if that's the worst my job is is it's it's pretty freaking cool yeah right so all the stress of course the stress is you know stand up you're there it's a little bit like a duck you're meant to look just completely effortless under the water whether that's in the moment or the five years that have been building up to that but those stresses compared to it's not a proper job is it let's be honest this isn't you know it's so it's a joy to do and that's the where you know bigger tours more countries making the world laugh that's the plan and do you love it?

47:47I love it

47:48Mo Gilligan: yeah love it because I know comedy is such a it can be you can put it in such a hard place sometimes where you know you have this love hate for it where you're like love it now but summertime when you're trying to do a gig and people are like i'm outside you know i'm i'm outside in the park and i'm like oh i can't stand yeah yeah honestly brunch the brunch yeah yeah oh man but honestly bro it's such a pleasure to have you on the pod man okay like bro like when i mean like i grew up watching like your show do you know what i mean and then especially like i wouldn't say you transitioned into like some of those sketches but seeing the epicness of those they were like again I still even now I'm sitting there like how to execute it and but also the repercussions after it and like you're saying like you're a touring comic where you you know you want to go to the states and I know we was talking in America and stuff but also you realize that that could be an implication of do you know what I mean later on but also there's such a generation of people that grew up watching your stuff and again to have a sketch of characters as a character comic as well is like your stuff's inspiring as well absolutely knocking it out on instagram the characters are thank you absolutely bang on oh thanks bro that means a lot move from the brilliant characters brilliantly observed brilliantly written so naturally performed oh thank you bro it's beautiful to watch and then seeing the success that follows from your hard work online and smashing it there and being a bit of a pioneer there oh thanks bro no i appreciate that a lot man simon it's been such a pleasure to have you on the pod man thanks for coming on my pleasure thank you for the this thing is my back is it feeling good it's really working man but bro it's such a pleasure to have you on you're absolutely a legend in your field man so to have you on here is a big pleasure for me and everyone associate with the pod so this has been your beginning middle and end thank you so much brother appreciate it man thank you so much man hey what's up thank you so much for listening to the podcast today now a lot goes in to making each episode i know you hear my voice but there's a team behind the scenes who helped make it and if you did enjoy it i'd really really appreciate if you could show the love to them by giving us five stars and if you also have the time please leave us a review it's always appreciated and we love reading the comments and of course we want to keep making it better thank you for listening and have a great day peace