Interview: Phil Cool

“Hang on a minute, I’ll just go and get me brew.”

Safely reunited with his morning cuppa, the man of a thousand voices — and faces — is happy to talk about his forthcoming tour, which sees him play Darwen Library Theatre as part of the You Must Be Joking Comedy Festival.

“Festival dates are a little different,” he said, “because you might well get a few people coming along who wouldn’t normally be at a show.

“I’ll be doing a real mixture of stuff, with some stories, some impressions and some music.

"I like a show to have plenty of light and shade.

"I don’t like to give an audience time to settle into an easy routine.”

With TV shows like Cool It and his capacity to contort his face to look like virtually anyone, Phil Cool became a major comedy star. Recently he has been less visible.

“TV has changed and all my contacts within the industry have really moved on,” he said. But as a live performer he has plenty to offer new audiences.

“I’ve got pages of ideas which I’ve still not tried out,” he said. “I do like to experiment with ideas and develop routines. I enjoy the whole process from creation of an idea to the performance. I’m not really that comfortable doing other people’s lines. I prefer to be involved in every aspect of a routine.”

Phil first discovered a talent for making people laugh through his extraordinary facial expressions when he was at school.

“I think I first pulled a face like Quasimodo when I was about 12,” he said. “Actually, I recently did that face in a routine I haven’t done for about 20 years and it went down really well so I might keep that in.”

In perfecting his impressions, Phil’s greatest help is a mirror.

“If in doubt always go to consult the mirror,” he said. “I was really struggling for a while to get George Bush right, so I went back and just practised in front of the mirror. I’ve had a good innings from him but that will come to an end soon once he’s out of office.”

The transient nature of celebrity can play havoc with an impressionist’s routine.

“It can be frustrating as it can take a while to perfect someone then just as you’ve got it they just fade away,” he said.

As well as his comedy tour, Phil is busy preparing for a busy new year which will see him realise a lifelong ambition.

With musician Ken Nichol he will form a duo who will support folk legends Fairport Convention on a major UK tour.

“I’ve always written songs and wanted to perform them,” he said. “Ken is a brilliant musician and we’ll be performing a number of songs we’ve written. Some will be funny but this is not a comedy routine.”

Is he worried about moving away from his natural audience?

“I’m not nervous at all actually,” he said. “I just know a Fairport audience is made up of my kind of people. I did a charity show with the band when I was the only one doing comedy on the night and the audience didn’t miss a beat. I thought it was my birthday. So I’m sure they’ll be right with Ken and I when we perform for them.”

And Phil’s ambitions to be taken seriously for his music don’t end with the tour.

“Ideally it might give us some publicity and people will appreciate us and even play our music on the radio. It would be nice to be able to fill 500-seat venues in our own right at some stage.”

But before then, Phil’s looking forward to his date in Darwen “I’ve played the Library Theatre before and it’s always been a really good crowd,” he said.

l Phil Cool plays Darwen Library Theatre on Sunday, November 23. Details from the box office on 01254 706006.