The Essay: Top of the Bill

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The Essay: Top of the Bill: Mark Watson on The Simpsons

Mark Watson on The Simpsons

Top of the Bill

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Comedian Mark Watson on The Simpsons and the show's impact on his own work.

Mark Watson was 12 when he first saw the cartoons about this dysfunctional family.  In this essay he considers, after all these years, how The Simpsons still informs his work.

Mark Watson was 12 when he first watched The Simpsons.  At that time only available on satellite TV, which the Watson household did not have, his father had brought home two VHS tapes each with a couple of episodes from the first series.  Initially rather sceptical and wary – wasn’t this just a cartoon about a skateboarding schoolboy prankster? – he was bowled over, and now acknowledges that it has influenced much of his work.  Each new endeavour has been motivated by the fearlessness of the creators of this long-running show.  

Mark is a multi-award-winning stand-up comedian who works regularly around the world and on television and radio.  He has had several series on BBC Radio 4 including, in 2011, the first live transmission of a radio comedy show for many years.  A fearless act in itself, it was perhaps almost as fearless as performing 24 hour Comedy Marathons at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and agreeing to be cast away on Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls in what turned out to be quite a gruelling experience.  Mark is now also well established as a writer, having published six novels, and in 2017 he had his first play broadcast on Radio 4. 

Written and read by Mark Watson
Produced by Caroline Raphael for Dora Productions

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Stand-up comedians talk about their interest in a particular aspect of comedy.

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