Meet Spencer Jones; Twice nominated in the Edinburgh Festival comedy awards, a regular in BBC2's Upstart Crow and coming to Notts this month for an appearance at Just The Tonic...
Tell us about your 50 Minute Disco Experiment...
I bought a new vocal looper at the start of 2019 and became obsessed with it. For three months. I sat in my pants alone in my 'work room' bent over it, headphones on making noises into a microphone and recording them. All I ate was cheese sandwiches that were placed in front of me by my lovely missus. I ended up with a bad back that required treatment. But I now have 100 loopy weird tracks that could be absolute bangers. We are going to play the best songs I created. Pat Cahill will be on drums and Jonny Wallop from The Mind of Herbert Clunkerdunk will make an appearance. Joe Jacobs will rap and we might do a couple of covers too. Why is it 50 minutes? Well at Edinburgh festival I was contractually obliged to do at least 50 minutes. We might do more up in Nottingham though.
You're a regular in BBC2's in Upstart Crow. Who’s the funniest one on set?
Hmmm. That's difficult to say. Rob Rouse is funny all the time. Dom Coleman is funny when he's dressed as a lady in an uncomfortable corset and fretting about lines. Steve Spiers is funny when he is annoyed. Then Liza Tarbuck does really good pranks. Once she swapped my house keys with topless pictures of Daniel Craig.
How did it feel to get Herbert Clumperdunk on BBC iPlayer?
Well I am going to be a dick now and say it was actually on BBC2 and then on the iPlayer. I was chuffed to bits! We grafted our arses off as a family to get the opportunity and then the cast and crew did everything they could to realise our vision of what we wanted to make. The team effort was rewarded by the lovely people who watched it and liked it.
Tell us a story about Just The Tonic promoter Darrell Martin…
One time me and him stole a horse. It belonged to a farmer who owed him money. I said I could ride and he believed me. Next thing I know, we are both riding it, bare back in Norfolk and I cant stop the bloody thing. Its just galloping towards the sea. Both of us are screaming and the locals call the cops, and we are being chased on a the beach by a police Land Rover. It was like Chariots of Fire on acid. The Horse is shitting its self and just nails it towards the shore. I thought to myself, I don't want to go for a swim so I jump off. But Darrell got his leg caught in the horses mane and he couldn't get off. He was screaming like child. Eventually the horse runs into the sea and disappears under the waves. I've not seen either of them since. I found out a couple of weeks later it was a seahorse. But that's Darrell all over really.
Am I right in thinking the last time you played Nottingham was in the Spiegeltent?
I'm not gonna lie. I cant remember it at all. That means Darrell Martin must have taken me out after. Nottingham is my favourite accent in the world though. I wish I could do it.
Your show's before have involved a lot of weird tat bought from ebay. Is your house totally crammed with weird tat?
All of my stuff is crammed into one room at home. The kids call it 'Daddy's work room'. But to people who visit it looks like the stinky den of a serial killer, with mad notes scrawled in sharpie on peeling paint.
What was the last thing that made you laugh?
My son saying the word "skate park" over and over until it made no sense.
What was the last thing that made you cry?
I cry a lot. I think it was something on TV. The Masked Singer? Harrowing stuff. Really made me think about stuff.
What else should I have asked you about?
Shane Meadows. I love him.
Spencer Jones is appearing at Just The Tonic at Metronome on Saturday 15 February.
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