Pat Condell: interview
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By Malcolm Hay
Posted: Fri Nov 3 2006 He attended half a dozen different schools as the family moved from one south London rented flat to another. ‘We never had any money. My father was a compulsive gambler who worked in a betting shop – not the ideal combination. He ended up in prison for stealing money to gamble with. Shortly afterwards he died of leukaemia.’
Condell ‘fell into comedy’ in the 1980s, after a series of jobs, including six years logging in Canada. ‘In those days some of the nights were wild, particularly at the old Tunnel Club, next to the Blackwall Tunnel, where the audience was a nightmare. I had bottles and glasses thrown at me, and one guy even jumped on stage with a pair of shears and tried to cut the mic lead.’ He performed in the trailblazing Cutting Edge team at the Comedy Store. He regularly notched up 200 to 300 gigs a year around Britain. By the mid-’90s he’d had enough of the travelling and late nights. So he started writing for other people. He turned out a couple of plays. He still did occasional live gigs. ‘But this is the first time I’ve set out to write a show in order to say something, rather than just as a vehicle for stand-up.’ Feature continuesAdvertisementCondell’s not aiming to cause offence. After he’d tried out an early version of the show back in Febrary, a woman came up to tell him she’d enjoyed it. ‘But she thought I’d been unnecessarily coarse. There is a certain amount of bad language. There’s also group sex with a donkey – I might as well own up to this now. But I assured her the show was a lot less coarse than I’d have liked it to be, given the subject matter. So in that sense you could say I’m making an effort not to offend.’
That’s not all. ‘Everyone who comes to “Faith Hope and Sanity” should know in advance exactly what to expect,’ he argues. ‘Especially if they check my website first. So, if anyone’s offended, it’s because they want to be offended, and people like that don’t deserve the time of day.’It needs saying that Condell respects some forms of belief. ‘I admire anyone who’s genuinely trying to achieve spiritual enlightenment and live a peaceful life. But religious dogma is a barrier to that. The last thing a dogmatist wants is for anyone to be enlightened, any more than a pharmaceutical company wants anybody cured.’ Or, as Condell puts it on his website: ‘Religion disapproves of original thought the way Dracula does sunlight.’
Is he fearful that fundamentalists of one kind or another could take action against the show? ‘The fact that you need to ask the question demonstrates what a sick society we live in. There’s always a risk, I suppose. But I’m not as afraid of fundamentalists as they are of free thought.’ He’s hoping for a positive reaction. ‘I want people to feel that things are being said that are long overdue, and to leave at the end with a smile on their face and a light heart.’
‘Faith Hope and Sanity’ is at the Etcetera Theatre until Sunday.- Add your comment to this feature
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60 comments
Pat for Prime Minister
in conclusion i think pat is an old angry man with a serious lack of knowledge who is probably suffering from chronic depression because quite clearly if anyone actually looks in to his aquisation its all a bunch of lies. he is an sad man with a dictionary picking out every bad word out of it and using it to describe well established religions. to be honest i think he is the one who is suffering from a mental illness. please do your research and make sure they are from reliable resources. i just cannot believe a mature man of pats age can accuse religions of being as he described with such a small knowledge base, i mean come on he the guy has not got a clue and i cant believe people are actually agreeing with him.
pat does not have a clue about half the things he says. he is accusing religions of things which do not exist. i laugh at his videos not with him. im am amused at the lack of knowledge he is basing his arguements on. islam does not in any way promote woman beating or child abuse and to be honest if pat does his research (thats if he can read) he would not in a single book find any evidence of that. in conclusion i laugh at pat and his ignorance towards the whole topic and i also feel sorry at the fact that he doesnt really no anything and i bet he is being laughed at by alot of people with even the slightest bit of knowledge about any religion. and to the people that are agreeing with him you also do not have any real evidence to support his stupidness. all i can say is "god bless pat"
It doesn't really matter if you agree with Pat Condell nor does it matter if you think he is a racist, the point is, he CAN make them and you are free to decide whatever you want. Try that in some parts of the world!
has alot to say but not exactly knowledge of what he says.
a big dick if you ask me
wow, i am so glad im not alone, pat you took the words right out of my mouth, youre vids on u tube r so right, everyone knows DEEP IN THERE HEARTS its true what u say, but would never admit it, they just carry on behaving badly, well nevermind, as u would say, peace.
Pat is probably one of the most significant contributors to the long awaited debate on religions in this complex day and age. His delivery is both clear and positive and should be listened to and digested and then perhaps others will begin to recognise religion's influence on today's UK undemocratic politics. Carry on the good work Pat.
I watch all of pats videos. He is right. The sad thing is, we have a culture too. The muslims can do what they want in their country, we dont really go over there, and preach whatever we beleive in (because we can be killed for preaching anything but islam) but they seem to feel that islam should take over the world. its working i guess.
to zoe: 'engages the hate speech' ?, when it comes to religion, it is a never ending hate speech , why is religion allowed to have a say then?
It's about time someone among us has the balls, wit and intelligence to lend solid and humorous voice to all I've always wanted to say, but never had the guts to utter...Hooray for Pat!
"Atheists like Pat (and myself) are not racist in any way."
Keep telling yourself that, one day even you might believe it!
To Zoe: Islam is not a RACE. Islam is a RELIGION. Spot the difference. In case you can't, I'll spell it out for you. You can choose your religion but not your race. Atheists like Pat (and myself) are not racist in any way. The solution is to wash away religious dogma by replacing it with reason. Nobody has to get hurt.
Pat Condell is both right and very funny, a rare combination of abilities these days (hell, just being right is hard enough). Go Pat Go!!! Atheists need to use whatever abilities we have to help the deluded open their eyes to reality, and Pat is a hell of a tool! (oops, I hope that came across right, lol)
i was going to post my own comment but i think whoa0 said it all i completely agree...ok mybe just one point : dear attention loving Pat says 'Islam is an illness' if so then what cure does he propose something like the final solution of the Nazis
or ethnic cleansing of Bosnia? This guy is not funny and enages in hate speech Time Out must have better people to feature.
He is right. I am Brit Albanian, who loves the freedom of this country and who cannot understand why religion is given so much of our precious attention (money) just to blind more people with Dogma. I do not respect your beliefs otherwise i would vote for you.