Stephen Merchant : That was not as spontaneous as I was hoping for.
Stephen Merchant : Cause we got, Stephen Merchant : "Oh, alright.
Stephen Merchant : And so I decided to do some shows here.
Stephen Merchant : 74 dynamite fans Stephen Merchant : And, um, sometimes in the UK the audience can be a bit, even though they're fans they can be a bit sort of
Stephen Merchant : "We had to come out, it was raining.
Stephen Merchant : Muscles are lean and tight Interviewer: You're ready for a long distance?
Stephen Merchant : Well I, yes, I used to do standup when I first left university and the audience was generally indifferent completely indifferent, occasionally rising
Stephen Merchant : I did it on and off for a while then we started doing these TV shows and we won awards and things and there was
Stephen Merchant : Um, once you've been out of the ring for awhile you've gotta get back in and take some punches and get match fit
Stephen Merchant : Oh, a long time, I sort of dabbled with it on and off for a couple of years.
Stephen Merchant : but out there in the real world it can be tough meeting girls.
Stephen Merchant : So, yeah, it was a lot about my experience growing up as something of a geek which I know is a surprise to a
Stephen Merchant : Yeah.
Stephen Merchant : Well it's interesting cause he, I remember reading a quote with him once where he said, "the thing with standup is you sort of walk to the edge of the precipice
Stephen Merchant : Unlike Eddy, so I try to be quite cautious and that was why I spent so long, I think, working out in just small
Stephen Merchant : So bizarre, it's so bizarre and I can't under, there's no rhyme or reason it can sometimes be to do with the shape of the room, the size of the room.
Stephen Merchant : If they don't laugh it has nothing to do with me.
Stephen Merchant : Yeah, I know my audience.
Stephen Merchant : I was concerned about that and, actually, there's a comedian friend of mine who I actually sent the show to, a taping of the show, for him to look through
Stephen Merchant : You know just little things like that.
Stephen Merchant : Well once I was on the road I didn't, I didn't do anything except do the show really.
Stephen Merchant : Some, some groupies.
Stephen Merchant : but there wasn't.
Stephen Merchant : No disrespect if there's any here.
Stephen Merchant : Yeah, but not the kind of playboy bunnies that I was expecting.
Stephen Merchant : but there we are.
Stephen Merchant : It lets your mind wander into other areas, I suppose.
Stephen Merchant : Radio?
Stephen Merchant : Yes.
Stephen Merchant : Well, radio and then, obviously, later pod casting, one of the great things is that it's a lot more, you know, freedom, generally, in just terms of the sense
Stephen Merchant : And, yeah, there's just something different about it.
Stephen Merchant : it's not only that I think it's also, it's very insular TV.
Stephen Merchant : A love partner.
Stephen Merchant : this is my partner in love.
Stephen Merchant : Um, yes, no it's good.
Stephen Merchant : No, I shamelessly ripped off various people and continue to do so; John Cleese, was one of my first influences and then later Woody Allen.
Stephen Merchant : You won't realize.
Stephen Merchant : So it's all shamelessly ripped off from other people.
Stephen Merchant : I tend not to so much now.
Stephen Merchant : Well we realized after the "Office" that I'd missed a trick because Ricky was getting paid three times Stephen Merchant : as a writer, director and an actor, I was only being paid twice.
Stephen Merchant : Um, I don't know if you're aware of this but if you are on TV people just send you things for free; computers,
Stephen Merchant : That's my sole reason to do it.
Stephen Merchant : Chile, that's right.
Stephen Merchant : Not in Brazil, thank you for that.
Stephen Merchant : My accountant there.
Stephen Merchant : Not in bloody Brazil.
Stephen Merchant : I got to see a Japanese version where they just do a really good days work and go home.
Stephen Merchant : I think the work environment is, well I don't know, I don't work here and I don't know, I know there's this, Google's got kind of a relaxed approach but my suspicion
Stephen Merchant : So, to us, there were certain universal things like the fact that you're often, you work alongside people who, and you spend more time with them, probably, than your friends and family at times, so
Stephen Merchant : The show itself?