John Clarke in coversation with our own Sherryl Clark
John Clarke was just as you imagine him to be. Down-to-earth and straightforward. Answering the question on everybody's lips of Why don't you ever dress up and pretend to be the person you are impersonating, he replied that he's not so good as an actor, and much better at just being himself, so rather than try and reconstruct the politicians, he deconstructs them. (Follow that?)
Like most of us, he hates pitching to the hierarchy to get his ideas across. Maybe we all need an agent at some time? His conversation about his early difficult home and school life gave an interesting insight: "It's nice to be getting paid for what I got kicked out of school for". Perhaps careers advisers might note that?
As a mature-aged student, it was enjoyable to take my husband whose only contribution to this blog post is "the audience were in awe of him. Everybody was silent and totally attentive". When asked if he'd have a blog, John replied "Never", which made some of us squirm a little, but then he added "I just don't have time". He did however, have time to chat while signing books, and to stay and listen to the five readings at the end of the night.
One of the messages I came away with was to be true to your own style, and to write for the audience. Try to remember what it's like to be the audience looking back at you.
Kathy Mexted
Thanks, Kathy. Terrific report on a terrific man. He was very generous, I thought. Most gracious. And informative and entertaining -- he really is the complete package.
ReplyDeleteAnd didn't Sherryl do a great job? I thought she looked like she'd been interviewing on TV or something for years.
Tracey