>>Interviewer: Welcome everyone and welcome
to another at Google event.
We're here today from the Mountain View campus
and we're very excited to welcome Stephen
Merchant who's coming through.
[Applause]
[Cheering]
>>Interviewer: That's just to prove we don't
do laugh tracks.
>>Stephen Merchant: That was not as spontaneous
as I was hoping for.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Cause we got,
[Claps]
>>Stephen Merchant: "Oh, alright.
I'm trying to eat."
[Laughter]
>>Interviewer: So Stephen is actually performing
tonight.
He's doing his stand up routine, "Hello Ladies"
at Cobb's Comedy Club in San Francisco and
we were lucky to grab him on his way through.
So I was just gonna kind of ask some questions
but start
>>Stephen Merchant: Yeah.
>>Interviewer: with how's the tour going?
This is final
>>Stephen Merchant: This is the final show.
>>Interviewer: show
>>Stephen Merchant: final show, yes.
Well, I did about 3 months in the UK and then
I found out that there were 72 fans of me
in America.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: And so I decided to do
some shows here.
So I did some in New York and a couple in
Los Angeles and I'm doing this one in San
Francisco.
So far they've gone very well.
America's always been excellent.
>>Interviewer: So 74 fans?
>>Stephen Merchant: 74 dynamite fans
[Laughter]
>>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
[Sigh]
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: "We had to come out, it
was raining.
This better be funny."
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Where in America, generally
I find people have been really up front and
just set a really good atmosphere and everything.
So, yeah it's been good fun.
So yeah, this is the last show.
>>Interviewer: So coming to the last show
I know in doing a little, in reviewing some
of your interviews and stuff, that standup
you've done before, you kind of started that
way
>>Stephen Merchant: Yeah.
>>Interviewer: but now you kind of had to
rediscover the muscle or how to exercise --
>>Stephen Merchant: Right.
>>Interviewer: --this kind of muscle.
So how are the muscles feeling at the end
of the tour?
>>Stephen Merchant: Muscles are lean and tight
[Laughter]
>>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
to annoyance or anger.
[Laughter]
>>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
no reason to carry on doing standup in small
clubs.
Why was I going to drive for 3 hours to amuse
50 people?
And then just recently I sort of had the urge
to go back and start doing it again and its
bit, like I know, it's a bit like boxing,
I imagine.
[Laughter]
>>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
and everything.
And so I just worked the show in all the clubs
here and there and then over time it sort
of developed and expanded and I started touring.
So by the time I came to America I was in
pretty good shape, I hope.
>>Interviewer: So how much prep work did you
put in before you actually?
>>Stephen Merchant: Oh, a long time, I sort
of dabbled with it on and off for a couple
of years.
Not relentlessly but just when I had free
times and things.
Just because I wanted to remind myself of,
sort of, whether I could do it and my, sort
of, what I would talk about and the thing
I kept on returning to, anecdotally, was just
sort of my failure with women
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: You know people that work
in computers would understand that
>>Interviewer: Is that
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: but out there in the real
world it can be tough meeting girls.
[Laughter]
>>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
lot of you but I was a bit of a nerd.
And yeah, so that's the sort of spine of the
show but there's more stuff we talk about
as well.
>>Interviewer: Did you find the show evolves
every time?
We actually had Mazer in awhile ago and he
kind of evolved the show with each performance.
>>Stephen Merchant: Yeah.
>>Interviewer: Do you find that helps?
>>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
and then step off."
And that's the only way that you can sort
of be brave enough to be more interesting
or experimental because you've got to be willing
to fall and fail, potentially.
I don't have that bravery.
[Laughter]
>>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
clubs because I didn't, I didn't, I suppose
I was a reputation I had and a certain expectation
and it's uncomfortable the idea of sort of
performing to a thousand people and trying
an idea and it just crashing and burning and
it's just that can be, it's just agonizing.
So I think in a weird way I probably braver
when I was younger but I think I'm better
at it now if you know what I mean.
>>Interviewer: And did you find that there's
that kind of joke that hits one night and
doesn't really hit the second night?
>>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.
They always say in comedy never blame the
audience.
It's never the audiences fault.
It's always the audiences fault.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: If they don't laugh it
has nothing to do with me.
It's because they are not paying attention,
because they're stupid
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: whatever the reason.
>>Interviewer: Well, you know your audience.
>>Stephen Merchant: Yeah, I know my audience.
Yeah I just, there's no rhyme or reason to
it it's just sometimes the audience doesn't
gel as an audience, you know, it's like there's
little pockets of people but they're not this
one organism laughing and enjoying it.
Other times they're all, they move as one,
they think as one, they laugh as one and it's
a very strange experience.
>>Interviewer: Are there parts of the act
that you had worked on or had done in the
UK and then when you came to the US they had
a profoundly different reaction?
Or stuff that really resonated different?
>>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
and point out all the references that wouldn't
make sense and substitutions and, just little
things like we say pedophile, you say pedophile
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: You know just little things
like that.
Just to give you a flavor of the show.
[Laughter]
>>Interviewer: How much of a break did you
actually take from writing TV while doing
this?
>>Stephen Merchant: Well once I was on the
road I didn't, I didn't do anything except
do the show really.
I mean, it's just schlepping around, journey
after journey and I thought it would be a
lot more exciting on the road.
I thought it would be a lot more glamorous,
I thought there'd be a lot more groupies
[Laughter]
>>Interviewer: What's a lot more?
>>Stephen Merchant: Some, some groupies.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: but there wasn't.
There wasn't disappointing, disappointingly
and I, a lot of, a lot of the groupies I have
tend to be, sort of, middle age guys who work,
who work in tech support.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: No disrespect if there's
any here.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Yeah, but not the kind
of playboy bunnies that I was expecting.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: but there we are.
But so just kind of touring, it's not as exciting
as I thought and endless hotels rooms and
you get very bored of club sandwiches and
those little bottles of shampoo
[Laughter]
>>Interviewer: Does boredom kind of bring
back the creative ideas about future shows?
>>Stephen Merchant: It lets your mind wander
into other areas, I suppose.
So you're thinking about other possible screen
plays or TV shows and stuff but nothing solid.
A lot of it was just sitting around in my
underwear
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: in hotel rooms and, you
know, just counting the hours until, cause
it, when you know you got to do a show in
the evening there's this kind of strange low
hum of anxiety that builds all day.
It sometimes can be a bit hard to concentrate
on anything else.
>>Interviewer: Well, I know you started off
with radio as one of your main, "The Steve
Show"
>>Stephen Merchant: Right.
>>Interviewer: Which is well named
>>Stephen Merchant: Right.
>>Interviewer: And then you came, you keep
coming back to it as a medium that you're
comfortable with.
>>Stephen Merchant: Radio?
>>Interviewer: Yeah.
>>Stephen Merchant: Yes.
>>Interviewer: Is that something that you,
what is it about radio that you think
kind of keeps you coming back?
>>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
that the audience isn't expecting laughs a
minute, they have to pay attention, they have
to concentrate so you can, you delve down
more, sort of, unusual avenues or you can
just ramble a lot which can be very engaging
and you, I think there's a sort of intimacy
with radio.
It's like you're eavesdropping on a conversation
with friends, hopefully when it's at its best.
With TV and with films and things there's
just so much more manufactured, you know,
there's so much more production involved,
it just takes longer, there's so much more
money, there's so much more personnel and
so you just feel like you've got to just sort
of refine it and polish it and so on.
Whereas with radio you can really talk rubbish
for as long as possible and that's fine.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: And, yeah, there's just
something different about it.
It's unique, it's immediate, I think, an idea
occurs to you and you can just say it.
>>Interviewer: And is having that sort of
diversity of maybe working on TV and then
radio and then doing standup, it just keeps
the ideas flowing cause I've heard, talking
to the other comedians who do go down the
TV route and they do a lot of it, it's kind
of tough to stay fresh.
They feel they need to push themselves more.
>>Stephen Merchant: it's not only that I think
it's also, it's very insular TV.
You know, you, we don't work with a live audience
so you just sort of, there's a danger of forgetting
what it is that makes people laugh or how
to make people laugh.
And so coming back out and doing standup I
think it's sort of reminded myself, I think
it's sort of, I think hopefully it will feed
back into the writing in a positive way.
And, also, I felt like I was getting a bit,
in kind of complacent and it was good to,
sort of, you know, to get out of your comfort
zone, as they say.
often on American Idol or whatever
[Laughter]
>>Interviewer: Does having a partner help
keep you out of your comfort zone?
Is that one of the reasons you decided to
>>Stephen Merchant: a working partner?
>>Interviewer: yeah, go with a working partner?
[Laughter]
>>Interviewer: I know you're so worried about
the other
>>Stephen Merchant: Yeah, I was gonna say
I don't have a love partner.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: A love partner.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: this is my partner in
love.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Um, yes, no it's good.
It's good having a working partner because
you, you know, you just, you're constantly
bouncing ideas back and forth and you suggest
something and then he builds on it and it
can expand that way and stuff.
But the good thing about standup is that the
difference from that is that you are, you're
on your own so you have, you're working on
your own, you know, on your own and there's
something challenging about that.
It's exciting.
You know there's nowhere to run, you can't
hide behind anyone or anything.
So, yeah, it forces you to sort of, to take
responsibility for yourself.
>>Interviewer: And when you were first starting
saying, "Okay, I definitely wanna do comedy"
were you saying, "I wanna be like" you know,
"those guys" Dudley Moore, Peter Cook, the
Pythons?
Or were you saying, "No, it's just gonna be
me."
Or did you just kind of?
>>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.
And then, my act, my standup act is really,
it's Woody Allen with a bit of Jack Benny
and Bob Hope but it's disguised with an English
accent so hopefully
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: You won't realize.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: So it's all shamelessly
ripped off from other people.
>>Interviewer: And you find you go back to
a lot of those kind of heroes and re watch
their stuff?
>>Stephen Merchant: I tend not to so much
now.
Partly cause I'm worried I will literally
just steal joke ideas
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: But I think what it is,
is you respond to certain comic traits.
Like, Woody Allen, what I find revolutionary
when I first started listening to him was
how, sort of, confessional it felt and how
honest and the fact that he felt like he was
talking about adult problems, you know, sex
and love and death and all these other things
which I never, sort of, heard in comedy before.
So I think that's why those people are important
to you, not, it's not just cause you steal
from them but more that you feel, you feel
sort of empowered.
Someone's done; someone's trodden the path
that you can kind of follow them down.
>>Interviewer: Yeah you don't really wanna
meet them and say, "I really enjoyed stealing
from you over the years."
>>Stephen Merchant: There, again, Woody Allen's
always been really honest about who he's sort
of lifted his persona from, so, yeah, I have
no shame in that.
An also, I'm 6 foot 7, John Cleese is very
tall and he was always very physical and used
his body in every comic way which is something
I do in the standup as well.
>>Interviewer: And as you perform more and
more over time, you first, when you started
with the "Office" you only, I think it was
second season [inaudible], yeah, and then
with "Extras" with Darren Lamb and taking
on more of a central role in performing in
that kind of comfort zone and was that just
performing in general or were you kind of
>>Stephen Merchant: Well we realized after
the "Office" that I'd missed a trick because
Ricky was getting paid three times
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: as a writer, director
and an actor, I was only being paid twice.
Plus he was also getting sent a lot of free
stuff.
[Laughter]
>>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,
watches, clothes.
And I was angry about that and jealous and
decided I wanted some free stuff, so pretty,
much I've started performing for free stuff.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: That's my sole reason
to do it.
>>Interviewer: So you're flat as well
>>Stephen Merchant: I got lots of free stuff,
ya, TV and all sorts of stuff that I didn't
even pay for.
[Laughter]
>>Interviewer: So I was back in, I was actually
living in England when the "Office" has hit
and it was a huge success and then they were
talking, they had just broken the news that
it was gonna be moving over the states, the
US, and how did that process work?
Did you have, once you guys practiced did
you think, "Oh this is definitely something
we would export?"
>>Stephen Merchant: Well I was always a huge
fan of American sitcoms.
They were, again, a big influence on me.
"Mash" when I was younger, the later "Roseanne"
which I adored and "Friends" and "Seinfeld"
and I liked, one of the particular things
about "Friends" was it was kind of a soap
opera with laughs.
You know, had a continued narrative, the romance
and so on, which we didn't tend to do in UK
TV.
So that was one of the things that was important
for us was to have a sort of, a story arc,
if you like, which as I say, British sitcoms
didn't do very often and have a romantic thread
running through it.
So when the idea of transporting it to American
happened it didn't seem crazy to me.
People thought of it as being very British
and very small and insular but, actually,
in our minds it was very influenced by American
things; by Billy Wilder films, This is Spinal
Tap and in some way by "Friends" as well.
So it didn't seem crazy to us that they would
try and transpose it but what was important
was that Ricky and I didn't get involved closely
because we thought we would end up trying
to replicate ours bit by bit and that we always
knew was gonna be madness, really.
So we felt it was important to just find someone
here who could just, cause what do we really
know about the mechanics of working 9 to 5
in America?
So it was important that we work with Greg
Daniels, very closely.
>>Interviewer: And now that kind of approach,
you've got what, I think there's "Office"
in Israel, Germany, France, French Canadian
>>Stephen Merchant: French Canadian
>>Interviewer: Sweden?
>>Stephen Merchant: I don't think there's
one in Sweden, there's one in South America
somewhere.
>>Interviewer: Yeah, Brazil and Chile.
>>Stephen Merchant: Chile, that's right.
I thought it was Bolivia.
>>Interviewer: Not in Brazil?
>>Stephen Merchant: Not in Brazil, thank you
for that.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: My accountant there.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Not in bloody Brazil.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: I got to see a Japanese
version where they just do a really good days
work and go home.
[Laughter]
>>Interviewer: But looking back in hindsight,
the idea, there's always, the work environment,
there's something strangely familiar.
>>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
is wherever you work, NASA, the mob, anywhere
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: You still get annoyed
about, in a power politics and then someone
borrowed your chair, you've written your name
on the back and this is my chair.
This is Dave's, he's got Dave's, and people
still get annoyed with that.
[Laughter]
>>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
if you don't get along it can cause a lot
of friction.
And there just seems to be a number of just
universal aspects of working in offices which,
hopefully, is what we translated.
>>Interviewer: And looking back, obviously,
in hindsight, it's kind of clear that that
structure worked and paid off but do you think
it's something you'd ever like to revisit?
>>Stephen Merchant: The show itself?
>>Interviewer: Yeah and actually do it again
cause you only, there was only 2 seasons and
now US is, I think, on its 8th season?
>>Stephen Merchant: Yeah.
Would we revisit?
I've got affection for it I just think going
back to it now would be, would probably be
a mistake.
So, I directed an episode of the American
version which was great, it was like being
in a kind of bizarro parallel universe
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Looked very similar but
everyone was better looking
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: I don't think we will
go back to it but never say never.
Once some of the free stuff starts coming,
stops coming in
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: and we need the money
and I'm living in my car then we'll definitely
do it, yeah.
>>Interviewer: And kind of continuing on TV,
you've recently finished the first season
of "Life's too Short" how to did that come
to pass?
>>Stephen Merchant: Well, we worked with Warwick
Davis in our show extras and Warwick was in
"Willow" and he's in the "Harry Potter" he
was in "Return of the Jedi" and he worked
with us on a lot of extras and he said, "I
wonder if there's a show sort of exploring
the adventures or misadventures of a little
person which is what he is and the more he
told us about kind of the experiences from
his own life the more it amused us and it
sort of seemed like an interesting perspective
and it allowed us to, we like characters who
have chips on their shoulder in some way.
You know, David Brent had issues and all the
characters we've had and what we liked about
Warwick's character was making him a small
person with a small man complex.
You know, he's Napoleonic in some way, he
feels like he deserves more and that he would
be perfectly happy as the real Warwick is
if he just accepted who he is and just lived
is life as best he could.
But the character of Warwick in the show is
very desperate and so, although it's, the
little person aspect is just something to
sort of motivate his behavior, it could have
been anything.
And so, a little bit like "Extras" there are
celebrity appearances; Liam Neeson pops up,
Johnny Depp is in one, Sting and all the time,
Warwick is kind of hustling trying to climb
the ladder.
He plays a version of himself, the real Warwick
is very successful, in the show he's making
much less so, and in the show he's sort of
battling with a divorce and he's got a terrible
tax bill and so he's constantly, and he also
runs an agency for small actors all of who
he's exploiting.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Making them do the worst
possible jobs while he takes the good stuff
for himself.
So yeah, so that's the sort of,
>>Interviewer: And you and Ricky play yourselves?
>>Stephen Merchant: Ricky and I are in it
occasionally as ourselves.
He comes to us and he's desperate for work
and he's, sort of, constantly bothering us.
And the joke is it's as though everyone we've
ever worked with is constantly hassling us
for work and they keep coming to our office
and we can never get anything done and then
the one episode Johnny Depp is making Tim
Burton's "Rumpelstiltskin"
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: And wants to get in the
mindset of a small person so he's spending
time with Warwick and
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: And through that encounters
Ricky and badmouths him at the Golden Globes
and so it's, it's his opportunity for revenge.
>>Interviewer: And how is it to play yourself
after, you're obviously writing for it but
you're yourself in the
>>Stephen Merchant: We don't, it's not hard.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: It's
>>Interviewer: Do you practice in the mirror
or, are you me?
Am I you?
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: I heard Jerry Seinfeld
won an Emmy for his role in Seinfeld and then
a year later he lost and he made the point
that, "Oh, I wasn't as convincing as myself
this year as I was last year."
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Yeah, Ricky and I just
sit there and it's a lot of improvising and
it's not difficult.
Most of the time in the scenes I'm just texting
or not paying attention.
[Laughter]
>>Interviewer: Ordering free stuff.
>>Stephen Merchant: Yeah.
Exactly, exactly.
>>Interviewer: Well, I wanna open up to questions
in a sec so folks wanna go over to the mic.
You've also built up a lot of experience in
voice over now, both in animated as well as
in video games with weekly.
How did that, when they originally called
you and said, "Hey, video game, wanna try
it?" were you into it?
Were you a gamer?
>>Stephen Merchant: I was a big video gamer
when I was younger and then when I got a life
I stopped.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: No I just stopped, I just
stopped playing cause I didn't have the time
to play as much and I was never very good
so it would take me months to finish a game.
And so I sort of, I think we knew what was
happening in the video game world and then
they contacted me and I just thought that
would be interesting, something different
to do and then when I mention it to people,
people got very excited, the Portal 2, they
obviously heard a lot about the first one,
they played it, they loved it, so then I started
feeling this tremendous responsibility of
this weight of expectation
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: And I worked really hard
on that and I thought I just swung in in and
do a sort of half assed voice over, take the
money
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: and I was in this booth
for hours shouting down imaginary corridors
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: and then, of course, what
I didn't realize was with a video game every
possible option that you could play you've
got to cover.
So if some idiot goes down the wrong corridor
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: and doesn't know how to
get out of it you've got to have things for
them and it went on and on just every option.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: And I was thinking, oh,
anyway, eventually we did like four four hour
sessions or something and then it just seemed
to be really popular and they let me improvise
but they were very good, the guys involved,
and it turned out to be really good.
>>Interviewer: Have you started actually playing?
>>Stephen Merchant: They told me they'd send
a free copy.
[Laughter]
>>Interviewer: Only right.
>>Stephen Merchant: They didn't, they haven't
sent one.
I've already, I'm not gonna buy money.
I'm not gonna spend money on a game I was
involved with.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: So I haven't played it,
I don't know.
>>Interviewer: And the name Wheatley, have
you come to own that.
>>Stephen Merchant: I'm amazed at how many
people, particularly, a lot of the people
that wait for me outside the stage door and
have pictures of Wheatley they've drawn or
they've made models of Wheatley and stuff,
which is crazy, amazing.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: I know pathetic, right?
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: I'm sorry, no, I mean
beautiful.
But, no, seriously great, it's amazing.
I don't think I realized how much people engage
with video games.
It sort of, in my, in the same way you do
with a TV show or a film that they respond
to, people respond to video games in the same
way.
So I was, it was revolutional, I just was
amazing and dumbfounded.
>>Interviewer: Why don't we turn it over to
some questions from the group?
>>male #1: Hi, thanks for coming out, in the
recent interview with, I think it was with
Dinner Party Download, you admitted that you've
never seen any of the Rocky movies.
>>Stephen Merchant: The Rocky movies?
No, I've never seen any of the Rocky movies,
no.
>>male #1: Yeah, they kind of gave you a hard
time about that like couldn't believe you
hadn't seen the movies.
[Laughter]
>>male #1: Yeah, so I was wondering if you
have an equivalent British movie or show that
you elicit the same reaction from you, like
I
>>Stephen Merchant: Oh, like if someone said
they hadn't seen it?
Um, well, I'm constantly, I mean it never
surprises me the people, that people aren't
aware of great British TV and films.
What would be the one that I would be surprised
by?
Hm, I guess something like "I'm Alan Partridge"
or "Fawlty Towers."
That was baffling to me, you know, cause they're
just such a phenomenon.
The weirdest one is there's a double act that
were huge in Britain in the 70s called "Morcambe
and Wise" who were the biggest thing on British
television and they still are legends.
Now they were, they used to get sort of 18
million viewers at Christmas.
Their Christmas special was the most hotly
anticipated thing every year and no one over
here generally knows them.
And, again, I have shamelessly stolen from
their act knowing no one over here know anything
about it.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: So whenever I do a film
over here I'm just ripping those guys off.
Safe from the knowledge no one knows.
>>male #2: Yeah, hi, thank you for coming.
>>Stephen Merchant: Thank you.
>>male #2: I have to confess I did bring my
copy of Portal 2
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Not a problem.
>>male #2: I hope that's not to sad or pathetic.
>>Stephen Merchant: Don't worry, don't worry.
[Laughter]
>>male #2: But I think, I think among all
major or kind of, kind of well known British
comedians, I think you're probably the last
person who hasn't been on Doctor Who yet.
>>Stephen Merchant: Right.
>>male #2: Has Stephen Merchant, or Stephen
Moffat, rather, contacted you at all?
>>Stephen Merchant: I've had no contact from
Doctor Who.
We did an episode of "Extras" where we mocked
the way the comedians would pop up in Doctor
Who
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: as a monster, we had Ricky
in a sort of bad prosthetic, and the guy that
was playing Doctor Who, named David Tennant,
throw salt in his eyes cause he's like a giant
slug.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: He throws salt at him
and he's like, "Ah!"
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: So maybe we upset the
people at Doctor Who.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: with that and neither
him or I have had any calls from them.
So who knows, I'd rather play Doctor Who.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: I'd rather do that I think.
It's basically like Sherlock Holmes in space
isn't it?
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: And I always liked the
idea of doing Sherlock Holmes as well.
I was also angling for the role of Q in the
James Bond films but
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: But they gave that to
some good looking young bloke, you know, which
annoyed me but
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Come on Bond pay attention!
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: It'd be brilliant.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Amazing.
[Applause]
>>Interviewer: I think you got the part.
>>male #3: I hate to say it but I'm yet another
one of the Portal 2 fans.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Sure.
>>male #3: I hope you're not offended but
I actually had not heard of you
>>Stephen Merchant: Okay.
>>male #3: before Portal 2 came out but what
I was wondering was of course you were known
for the "Office" and stuff before you actually
did that and, of course, now you have a different
set of fans
>>Stephen Merchant: Yes.
>>male #2: because you did Portal 2.
The question is did you notice anything change
in like how fans, like how those sets of fans
acted differently toward you?
>>Stephen Merchant: Um, they, they are, well,
it's interesting because occasionally I would
stumble across conversations, often online,
about, between Portal fans and people who
knew me before.
I mean it's, "You only know him cause he was
Wheatley, we've know him before!
We knew him for five years before that!"
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: And they just get so angry,
"He's not just a computer!
He's not just a robot!"
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: And it's incredible, I
mean, thank you, it's fine.
They're both welcome and it's amazing.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Passionate people.
I don't go near blogs and things cause those
people terrify me.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: It's absolutely terrifying.
And I think I would have been the same.
I would have been those people.
I would have been equally, kind of, angry
and passionate about things.
But, the sort of Wheatley people, pertaining
to the fans that I've met are far more, are
far more passionate than people I've met through
the TV stuff.
Quite a lot of sort of younger girls, like
15 year old women who kind of quiver as they
come up, "It's Wheatley" they draw a picture
or something, it's very sweet, very nice but
yeah.
As I say it's like they, the character itself
is really important to them.
I guess, again, if you spend, you know, five
or six hours and I'm just talking to you the
whole time
>>Interviewer: Five or six?
>>Stephen Merchant: Or longer, yeah, it may
seem like we're friends
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: by the end of it but we're
not, we're definitely not.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: So kindly step away.
[Laughter]
>>male #4: Thanks for coming
>>Stephen Merchant: Thank you.
>>male #4: I just have to ask, is Karl Pilkington
real?
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Is Karl Pilkington real?
Uh, well
>>male #4: Is he a prod and go type guy?
>>Stephen Merchant: Yeah, he is a humanoid.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: He, I mean, Karl is unique.
There's no one like him.
I mean, he, I can't explain Karl to people,
it's sort of, I mean, he is obviously a moron.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: but sort of like a genius
moron like an idiot savant.
It's, sometimes he doesn't know what he's
talking about, occasionally he does and he'll
stumble across an amazing point, a profound
point.
We were talking to him once about how there's
a lot of these reality stars who are only
famous because of the people that, their fathers,
their fathers or parents, you know; Kim Kardashian
or whoever.
And Karl said, "Well, you could say the same
about Jesus."
[Laughter]
>>male #4: Thank you.
>>Interviewer: And, actually, just to take
one moment to give a little more context for
folks who haven't seen it, Karl was, worked
on the show
>>Stephen Merchant: Right, so Karl worked
on a radio show and then we started asking
him questions and he was just a guy pressing
buttons and things, and we started asking
him questions and he just started saying the
most bizarre things.
What was that one thing, "You never see, you
never see a young Chinese person."
[Laughter]
>>audience member: You never see an old man
eat a Twix.
>>Stephen Merchant: "You never see an old
man eat a Twix which is a candy bar."
Or no, "You only ever see really old Chinese
people or very young Chinese people.
You never see Chinese people in the middle"
was his observation.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Bizarre.
>>Interviewer: And then you invited him in
to regulate
>>Stephen Merchant: And then we started asking,
every week we'd ask him questions and he would
just come out with just utter gobbly goop.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: He's fascinated by monkeys,
he's fascinated by insects, to him insects
are, he can't compute that they have no motivation
for what they're doing beyond a sort of basic
insect motivation.
To him they're rationalizing it.
Like, an ant carrying a twig going, "I don't
know why I'm carrying this twig.
Where am I taking it?"
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: He can't imagine that
they just do things because of instinct.
>>Interviewer: So the perfect person to send
into other climates.
>>Stephen Merchant: Not only to send into
other climates but you just, on the radio
or on the podcast, you just prod him and he'll
go down avenues which can seem offensive but
you know are born out of ignorance not through
any malice.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Just pure ignorance
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: And you try to explain
to him things like the infinite monkeys, model
of infinity, you know, an infinite number
of monkeys given enough typewriters will eventually
do the complete works of Shakespeare, and
he's like "So have they read Shakespeare?"
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: No, it's just random,
it's just random.
"Okay, they must know first, they know the
plots, they know the plots."
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: He's remarkable.
>>Interviewer: And there's "An idiot Abroad"
one and two and now three?
>>Stephen Merchant: No, "An Idiot Abroad"
two just started airing on the science channel
in the U.S. the Science Channel, that's absurd!
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: This is why we send Collin
around, this time he's doing the Bucket List,
so it's things to do before you die.
And he chose the list but obviously when he
shows up it's obviously not the things he
thought.
So he thought he'd be swimming with dolphins,
he swam with sharks.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: And so, just routine mischief.
>>male #5: Hi Stephen, a question about the
"Office."
>>Stephen Merchant: Yes.
>>male #5: Obviously I think the character
of David Brent kind of predated the show itself
and it was kind of Ricky's creation but were
there any aspects of the Office that you would
like to take credit for now, whether that's
characters or plots, do you have clearly defined
roles as writers or do you just bounce it
back and forth?
>>Stephen Merchant: Not really, um, Ricky
had some observations about sort of office
types.
But they weren't sort of coalesced into characters
really and then when we started working on
it we sort of expanded that character and
then we started slotting in the other kinds
of people that we felt we'd worked with in
offices in the past.
But it was never as demarcated as this is
my bit and this is his.
We always sit in a room together and we just
keep talking until ideas bubble up and then
often we'll share anecdotes so we'll talk
about people that we've met who are like David
Brent or who are like Garret and then any
kind of things that spark from them we make
notes of.
So it's a much more organic process than one
of us going away and writing dialogue for
Tim and Dawn or something.
We're always in a room together.
So it's not really as defined as that.
I'm sure there are aspects that have come
from me but I can't, I can't remember specifics
>>male #5: Sorry, I was just gonna say in
terms of comedy writing partnerships, you
were in the movie "Hall Pass" last year, I
may go as far as to say you were the best
thing
>>Stephen Merchant: Thank you.
>>male #5: about "Hall Pass" last year.
[Laughter]
>>male #5: I actually met the Farrelly brothers
last year and they're really nice people.
>>Stephen Merchant: Lovely guys.
>>male #5: And I was just kind of wondering
what your experience was kind of seeing how
they work?
>>Stephen Merchant: I love the Farrelly brothers,
they're amazing.
They, obviously being brothers they have a
strange sort of simpatico way of thinking
and working.
But they're not dissimilar to the way Ricky
and I work.
They sit, they huddle behind little monitors
looking at the performances and are gossiping
with each other, probably saying the tall
English guy was a terrible mistake.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: "You're doing a great
job!"
"What are we gonna do with this"
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Which is very much like
Ricky and I operate.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: "Well done, Johnny Depp!"
"This is crazy, what were we thinking?"
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: But they, they're just
very easy going.
They let the actors improvise and play around
with the script, they're not precious, they
create a great atmosphere on the set, you
know, it all sort of seems very supported
and particularly in comedy I think you need
that.
You need the opportunity, like I was saying
earlier, you need that with any to walk to
edge and walk off and do silly things or brave
things.
So I really enjoyed working with them.
They're great, they're really good.
>>male #5: Great, thank you.
>>male #6: Hi, Stephen.
Thanks for coming in today and I'm with you
on the Malcombe and Wise comment, absolutely
great.
Anyway my, just developing the idea of the
"Office" what's your favorite scene from the
"Office" or are you most proud of looking
back on it?
And that's the British Office.
>>Stephen Merchant: Well, I'm very proud of
the moments of drama, I feel like that was
stuff that always felt like the hardest dive.
And there's an episode where the character,
Tim, decides to sort of confess his feelings
to the receptionist and he takes his microphone
off and sort of, it's like a fake interview
and takes it off and unplugs it and the show
goes silent at that point, you can't hear
what he's saying to her.
And that was one of those moments where I
just felt like everything coalesced, you know,
the star of the show, the fake documentary
and it was realistic but it was also kind
of dramatic and you couldn't do that in any
other medium cause you wouldn't have a microphone
to pull off and so I just thought that was
a moment where everything kind of, and it
was really effective and the performances
were great in that, you know?
It was just one of the moments where what
you imagined in the writing room was just
sort of better than you could have hoped for,
really.
So that's the stuff that I really love.
But, also the funny dance.
[Laughter]
>>male #6: Thank you.
>>Interviewer: And with "Cemetery Junction"
that's a dromedary, dromedary, dramedy, would
you like to do more drama in the future?
>>Stephen Merchant: Yeah and I don't know
that I'm naturally inclined to it.
The thing I love most is drama, it's the thing
I watch as a fan, you know, "The Wild" "The
Sopranos" and that's the stuff I'd rather
do but I'm always fearful of being one of
those comedy people who goes into drama and
is just terrible at it and that makes me anxious.
So I feel like I'll ease my way into it and
hopefully add more drama to the humor.
But the thing I think we've done is hopefully
born out of truth, in some way, or observations
we've experienced, in the standup or in the
TV shows.
No matter how silly they get it's always hopefully
grounded in some kind of reality.
And that seems, to me, sort of the basis of
drama as well so I feel there is some sort
of middle ground somewhere.
>>Interviewer: And now you have a three way
as a writer, actor and director.
>>Stephen Merchant: Right.
>>Interviewer: Is there one that you're really
feeling right now?
>>Stephen Merchant: Well, as an actor I always
feel that I'm just, when I do something like
the Farrelly brother's movie, I'm just showing
up cause I know it's gonna be good fun.
You know, it's just, I don't have any responsibilities
I just have to learn my lines and be silly
on screen and that's easy.
So I love that, that's like taking a day off,
it's like a holiday, that stuff whereas the
writing and the stuff Ricky and I make or
anything I might do on my own, that's just
labor intensive.
You know, the standup, it's hard work to then
make it look easy.
And I never got into show business for hard
work.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: I got into it for the
groupies, that didn't work out.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: And for the free stuff
and that is.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: So, yeah.
I don't know, maybe do another film.
>>female #1: Hi, Stephen.
>>Stephen Merchant: Hello.
>>female #1: thank you for coming.
Besides being a Googler I'm also a filmmaker
because for some reason I like to live in
perpetual suffering.
>>Stephen Merchant: Sure.
[Chuckles]
>>female #1: I wanted to ask you, by any chance,
if you have any advice for someone wanting
to write and direct comedy?
>>Stephen Merchant: Writing and directing
comedy?
Right, well, steal from the best.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: That's the first one.
Um, it's tricky, I do think, it seems a cliché
but I think the writing what you know, at
least to begin with, seems a good way in.
I think, uh, it was sort of what we did with
the "Office" we; it was all based on our observations
and experiences of that.
Sometime, the more unique you are in your
own experience the more people seem to relate
to it.
It's when you start trying to second guess
the audience, that's when it gets harder.
You know, when you try and write something
imaging what people are gonna find funny,
that I've always found troublesome whereas
if you write something that you think is very
funny and is very personal to you and is,
perhaps, a unique experience it's amazing
how many people connect with that.
So that's the way I always sort of proceed.
But I do think writing in partnership is good.
I think, you know, particularly in comedy
it's good to have someone to bounce ideas
off.
It's much harder to just sit in front of a
typewriter on your own.
A typewriter.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: And also I think having
it read out loud.
The sooner you can have people read it, perhaps
in a room like this in front of people, the
sooner you'll realize what isn't funny and
what is and how hard it is.
That's the best I can offer you.
>>female #1: And about directing?
>>Stephen Merchant: And directing, um, point
the camera in the right direction
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Just make sure it's on
the face unless it should be on something
else.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Again, I think, keep it
simple.
Don't, there's no need, personally I'm a fan
of people like Billy Wilder who were never
terribly flash in the way they shot things
they just tried to, it was all about the performances
and making them as effective as possible because
in the end
[Clears throat]
>>Stephen Merchant: telling the story is the
most important thing.
That's what people engage with.
You can show off all you'd like with crane
shots and tracking shots and shooting from
behind a fireplace and people can applaud
but it's not necessarily engaging or useful
to the story.
I think, so keep it simple.
>>Interviewer: Were you surprised at how much
hard work just writing in the entertainment
world was?
>>Stephen Merchant: yeah, it's crazy.
It's terrible.
It's really hard work.
But it's not as hard as doing Portal 2.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: That is the hardest thing.
It's just shouting.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Yeah I suppose, it's funny,
it's just weird and I feel like for the first
time I can say this is what I do now, professionally.
I always felt like I was sort of keen amateur
who couldn't quite believe that they were
doing this for a living.
>>Interviewer: Someone was gonna clue in and
>>Stephen Merchant: Yeah eddy points all is
gonna sort say, "This is silly go back to
a real job."
But, no, so far we've got away with it.
>>Interviewer: So if you were doing a real
job what would that be?
>>Stephen Merchant: If I was doing a real
job, um,
>>Interviewer: Carphone warehouse?
>>Stephen Merchant: Carphone warehouse.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: probably, I don't know,
maybe a teacher, I guess.
I like to think of myself as a kind of dead
poet society Robin Williams figure
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: energizing kid's imaginations
but I wouldn't.
I'd just be one of those ones that shows up
and takes the money
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: I don't give a damn about
these kids
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: goes home again.
>>male #7: Last year we had Phil Rosenthal
who created "Everybody Loves Raymond" the
traditional sitcom and I got to ask him the
same question I wanted to ask you.
How do you feel about four camera shows where
there's a live audience versus the one camera
show like the "Office" and "30 Rock?"
>>Stephen Merchant: I don't have snobbery
toward them.
I know some people are a bit snooty about
the four camera traditional sitcom.
A lot of my favorites, as I say, were always
shot like that, "Friends" "Seinfeld" and probably
"Roseanne."
I've no, I don't have a, I think if a show
is right for it it can be very good.
I think "The Big Bang Theory" is very charming
and often very funny and that works well because
there are very kind of cartoony characters
and they are clearly playing off the audience
a lot.
A shot of the "Office" would have never worked
that way because it had to be like a fake
documentary that was built into the fabric
of the show.
But, I suppose, with the single cameras it's
a little more cinematic maybe, a little bit
more in the lineage of comedy movies.
But, as I say, I think that sort of live performance
in front of an audience brings a different
dynamic, there's an energy to those shows
that is very engage, very infectious I think.
So, I see now, I just think it's all about
what is right for the subject matter.
I certainly don't think there's any reason
why we should try and get rid of one or the
other.
>>male #7: Have you seen their movie "Exporting
Raymond" where they take
>>Stephen Merchant: No I've heard it's very
interesting, yes, that's where they take it
all over the world, right?
>>male #7: They take it to Russia, yeah.
They've showed that here.
>>Stephen Merchant: The Russian "Everyone
Loves Raymond" wow, fascinating, yeah.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Where is the Russian "Office?"
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: I mean there's a lot of
people in that country.
[Laughter]
>>Interviewer: I wanna take a quick moment
and see do we have folks on VC?
I know London and, ask a question or is that
too tough?
Okay, out of time, okay we'll do about two
more questions, one more question maybe now.
[Laughter]
>>male #8: Going back to the real job question,
you like free stuff, we have tons of free
stuff here at Google.
>>Stephen Merchant: Keep talking.
[Laughter]
>>male #8: We're hiring.
>>Stephen Merchant: Okay.
>>male #8: So, would you like to come work
here at Google?
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Okay, let me ask you this,
what do you do at Google?
[Laughter]
>>male #8: Well, there's launch and then there's
>>Stephen Merchant: I mean, isn't, isn't it,
all I know is I type something into Google
and it tells me, but that's the computer doing
that, right?
That's not you people
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: When I'm typing in, you
know, "porn" you're not going, "Steve wants
porn what's, what do you think he's in to?"
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: You're not, that's not
you doing that right?
So what are you, what's going on?
Are you feeding all the information into Google?
I'm so confused.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: I can't understand how
it's this big.
I honestly
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: It's like a man and I
guess there's some IT guys who've got to keep
the computers up and running
[Laughter]
>>Interviewer: And the typewriters
>>Stephen Merchant: And someone who changes
the little Google thing like if it's Halloween
they put little
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: they put a little jack-o-lantern
but it's just, aside from that what are you
up to?
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: That's pretty much it,
right?
[Laughter]
>>male #8: I gotta get back to work.
>>Stephen Merchant: Okay, good.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: But doing what?
[Laughter]
>>Interviewer: Okay, I think, I wanna allow
one more.
>>female #2: Um, one quick question, so obviously
there's a big philosophical difference between
American television shows and British television
shows
>>Stephen Merchant: Right.
>>female #2: Where Americans, you wanna keep
it on as long as possible and all this syndication,
how do you feel about that, especially with
a lot of the projects that you've been working
on?
>>Stephen Merchant: Um, the idea of keeping
the shows running a long time, well obviously
it's financially it's better for me.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: So don't forget to watch
the "Office" Thursdays, NBC.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: But, I don't, I mean I
was always a big fan, as I said, of American
shows and I love the fact that they were on
every week, you know, for like 25 weeks a
year and I could watch "Make a Date" every
week, that was great to me.
I never, I mean, obviously creatively there's
probably a point at which you're gonna run
out of steam but they, you know, they rejuvenate
the show by bringing in new writers and so
on.
In the end I think what makes it suffer is
that the actors grow weary and they wanna
move on and do other stuff.
I remember toward the end of "Roseanne" where
John Goodman was doing more and more films
so every week they'd be like, "Where's Dad?"
"He's away doing some work out of town."
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: Hm?
And so yeah, I think it can be disappointing
from a viewers point of view but I don't sort
of see a, yeah, it obviously makes more sense
to be able to wrap it up nicely and conclude
it but I think, for instance, the last series
of "Friends" I thought they found a new energy
and sort of rejuvenated the show and it, and
I thought the ending was very beautifully
done.
The last episode of "Mash" was fantastic so
I'm, I don't think that just the theory of
it is wrong, I just think it's hard to execute
well.
>>Interviewer: Well I think, unfortunately,
that's all we have time for today.
But, actually, one last question, so what's
next?
>>Stephen Merchant: Just put my feet up, I
think, really I just feel very tired.
Hopefully spend some more time in the states
because I find it very nice here.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: I like it.
And I, who knows, I don't know.
Maybe some more standup, I honestly couldn't
tell you, I really couldn't.
>>Interviewer: That'd be a nice place to be
in.
>>Stephen Merchant: Yeah, maybe I'll work
here at Google.
[Laughter]
>>Stephen Merchant: If I knew what you did.
[Laughter]
[Applause]
>>Interviewer: Thanks again.
[Applause]
