A vintage year: an interview with Tom Rosenthal

A vintage year: an interview with Tom Rosenthal

19 July, 2011
by: Emma

Emma McAlpine talks to Tom Rosenthal about Friday Night Dinner, his first stage role and upcoming Fringe debut.

Last year, Tom Rosenthal was a young, up-and-coming comic with a few student comedy awards behind him and a famous dad. This year, his career may as well have been injected with steroids. After being named Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year in March, he landed a role on Channel 4’s Friday Night Dinner, written by sitcom genius Robert Popper. Co-starring Simon Bird and Tamsin Greig, it was watched by an average of 1.4 million people over its first four episodes. Not bad for a TV debut.

This led to a part in award-winning director Dominic Cooke’s superb revival of Chicken Soup with Barley at the Royal Court Theatre, a runaway success which sold out its extended run. On top of all this, Rosenthal is taking his first solo stand-up show to the Edinburgh Festival this summer. I caught up with the busy comic (in between an audition and a Royal Court performance), to find out about his whirlwind start to the year and what’s he’s got planned for the Fringe...

Hi Tom. So what was your audition for?

I’m not going to say - I don't want to jinx it! Then when you see it on TV you'll go "oh, that was the guy who was better than Tom."

Fair enough! Can you tell me about your Edinburgh show then? Are you excited, nervous, both...

I’m flitting between excitement and fear. One minute you think it’s going to be great and the next you think it’s the worst thing ever. I've been doing this play at the moment which is taking up loads of time so I haven't been able to do too much previewing. It was such an amazing opportunity I couldn’t not do it. If the show goes badly - I can just blame it on the play.

What’s it about?

My show is called Child of Privilege. It’s me trying to save the world as we live in a very unfair, unjust society, and I want to remind everyone who comes to see the show how privileged we are and in some way fix the rank injustice that is a fundamental part of the way we operate within our lives. But being a comedy show I think I probably fail to save the world or have any real message. Hopefully the joke at the end will be on me!

Is your stand-up usually so political?

No, but the more that I've done stand-up, I've felt there needs to be some value in it beyond it being just amusing. I did philosophy at uni and I think that definitely feeds into my show. The whole idea behind it is thinking about the world and looking at viewpoints beyond your own which is what philosophy is all about.

You’ve got a bit of a famous dad (sports presenter Jim Rosenthal). Will you be talking about him in the show?

Very much so. For first three years I didn't talk about him at all - I didn't want to be known as that guy's son - but when I got to a level where people were recognising me as an ok stand-up, I saw it as a gift. It’s a good USP. 

Does he come and watch a lot?

Yeah, it's always really fun when he comes and watches. They’re my favourite gigs because he usually pipes up and says something. It's great to have that support and encouragement. 

Do you think his career in the limelight gave you a taste for it?

I’m not sure. One benefit I definitely got from being around so many sports personalities is the ability to be relaxed around famous people. If I do a gig with Stephen Merchant now, I’m not going to piss my pants.

So why did you want to get into stand-up comedy?

I did public speaking at school and loved the attention. Then I went to King’s College and started doing a few gigs in London. The more I’ve done it, the more I've wanted to be good at it. I care passionately about great stand-up, there's nothing better than that feeling of leaving a gig enriched and enlivened. If I just work really hard all my life, I could be an Andrew Maxwell or a Louis CK. That's another reason why I'm a child of privilege. If I don’t work as hard as I can to make the most of these gifts, I'm a scumbag!

What were Simon Bird and Robert Popper like to work with on Friday Night Dinner?

Simon Bird is great to hang out with, a really funny and clever guy. And Pops – I’m so indebted to him. He's given me everything by getting me on the show. He's mental, though. He makes prank phone calls the whole time and writes these hilarious Time Waster letters. He's an exceptional mental being!

Is acting something you’d like to do more of now?

When I get these acting opportunities, I’m so thankful, I don't want to turn them down but I'm conscious as well that stand-up is something you need to be doing all the time to improve at. People keep throwing things at me and I don't want to regret not doing them. You're never going to regret not doing 20 minutes at Jongleurs Battersea!

I tried to get a ticket to Chicken Soup but it was completely sold out. Were you expecting it to be such a hit? 

We were prepared for it to fail as it was quite a brave choice for the Royal Court. They normally like new writing and this is quite an old play about communism in the 1930s. Everyone seems to love it though. I'm a bit obsessed with reading reviews but no one has said anything bad so far, it's amazing. I might have to steal some of the stars Chicken Soup has got for my Edinburgh show.

Tom Rosenthal: Child of Privilege is at the Pleasance Courtyard from 3rd-29th August

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