    |
  |
 |
Text-only | Access advice | Disclaimer |
   |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Causing a stirAhmed turns the tables on star presenter and celebrity interviewer Jonathan Ross It sometimes seems as if Jonathan Ross presents most programmes on the BBC these days, but his career began at Channel 4, and this week VEE-TV brought him back for an exclusive interview after he talked about politically incorrect BSL signs on his Friday Night With … show a couple of weeks ago. Ahmed: You have a reputation for using non-PC jokes, but recently you talked about signs. Why? Jonathan: First of all, I don't deliberately try and do non-PC jokes. What I try and do are jokes which are, basically, coming from my perspective. I like to think that being of the age I am and coming from the background I do, I am fairly aware of what is and isn't acceptable. Sometimes I'll say things which are ruled against me. Often I believe it's because the context is, perhaps, not taken into account. Sometimes I do say things which are a bit stupid and a bit wrong. But, overall, I try and deal with things in the way that I would in my normal life, with my kids. It isn't like bending over backwards to make sure no one is offended. I think it's worth saying something that causes a stir, causes a ripple – to draw attention to things as much as anything. The reason why we referred to the changes in sign language was because we thought it was a funny story, specifically because we have four gay members of the team in front of the camera, in our band Four Poofs and a Piano. It was too good an opportunity to miss. It was just kind of fun. But also we genuinely found it interesting that some of the words had changed and some hadn't. For instance, the sign for 'Japanese' had changed but the sign for 'German' hadn't. That seemed to be an interesting situation. • Next week you can check out the rest of Jonathan's interview, in which Ahmed asks him for tips on becoming a top presenter. See Signs of the Times for more on the PC debate. LinksBBC Radio 2: Jonathan Ross Off the Kerb Management: Jonathan Ross |
|
