Co-writer Shaun Pye on working with David Cross, and the noble traditions of British comedy writing.
How did you come to be involved in The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret?
David came to London to meet a load of writers. Luckily I was last on the list and he wanted a drink. I can't remember everything
that happened after that but it must have worked out.
Did you and David Cross get to spend a lot of time together, or was this often a long-distance relationship?
We decided early on that we should write nearly everything together in a room as we both believe that is the best way to write
comedy. It meant we both had to compromise - David had to fly to London for weeks at a time. I had to get the 33 bus from my house to
the office every day. I should point out the 33 doesn't drop me outside the office. There is a five minute walk.
Todd Margaret has the hallmarks of a classic sitcom character - deeply flawed, yet somehow still sympathetic. How far is it
possible to write for this balance, and how much is it down to the performance?
The success of the whole thing sort of hinges on this. Hopefully we've got it right. It's hard to distinguish the writing and
performance because David does both. So when we come up with dialogue it's David saying it in the room.
After success acting in Extras with Ricky Gervais, were you tempted to write yourself a cameo part?
Oh, I did write myself a cameo part. And that may not be the end of the story for Man Leaving Cinema 1. Is he all he seems? Is there
more to this ill-shaven misanthrope? Probably not. (Or is there?).
You've written stand-up, gags, sketches, TV scripts, sitcoms - do you have a favourite medium, one that you'd always return to
first?
Not really. I seem to have ended up doing a job where I twat around being superior and smug for a living. It's the twatting around
with other writers that is my real artistic passion. Outside of Todd Margaret, I guess I'm most proud of Monkey Dust. But then I'm
proud of a lot of the collaborations with Jonathan (Ross). Ultimately any day spent twatting around smugly is a good day.
Have you had any other experience of working on American comedy productions? Is it something you'd be interested in doing more
of?
I worked briefly with Sasha Baron Cohen on Bruno and found myself in a room with some American writers who were utterly focussed,
worked 14 hour days and were terrifyingly good. Whereas English writers (and I count David as one of us for the purposes of this
answer), stop giving a fuck at about three in the afternoon. So, I think I prefer it here, being a slightly-bigger-than-average fish
in a small pond. It gives me an exaggerated sense of my overall importance and allows me to start drinking quite early.
