Mark Watson hosts a new, high-tech comedy improv show. TV&Satellite Week magazine caught up with him for a totally unrehearsed chat to find out more... A regular guest on the panel show circuit, self-deprecating, fast-talking Bristolian stand-up Mark Watson this week gets to play host on Dave's new panel show Improvisation My Dear Watson (Dave, Tuesday 5 July, 10pm). I'm the host on this show... The improvising is done by more quick-thinking people like Rufus Hound and Josie Long. There's a green screen, so the animators can put them into virtually any situation, and we use lots of graphics and sound effects. Compared with a classic improv show like Whose Line Is It Anyway? there's much more technology. There's audience participation, too... For instance, we pick out one audience member and the guests have to write a funeral eulogy based on what they find on that person’s Facebook page. My wife says I can't switch off... I'm quite a twitchy person and it's one of my personality flaws not being able to compartmentalise very well. It’s useful as a stage device for comedy, but not so easy to live with. My backstage rider when I'm on tour is pretty modest... It's a bottle of red wine. In fact we bring our own because the one you get given is usually rubbish. I don't want to sound like an alcoholic, but I find it difficult to go on stage without having a drink first. I tend to give my live shows long titles about quite big subjects, like the meaning of life... But then, as a punter, £12 for a comedy show that attempts to unravel the mysteries of the universe is good value. There's been a lot of fuss about having a joint GB football team for the Olympics... I think they should as it would be fun talking about who’d get picked. And given how bad the individual national sides are, there’s definitely a case for it. My dad was a chemistry teacher at my school... Thank God he didn't teach me as we would both have found that embarrassing. Luckily he was quite popular and I never got any stick over it. But I couldn't afford to get into too much trouble in order not to show him up. I feel more English than Welsh... My mum is Welsh and I have a lot of Welsh family, but I’ve spent more time in England. However, Cardiff is probably my favourite venue and I did a lot of my early gigs there. I recently read that someone pulled a gun in a pub in Wales when some drinks were ordered in Welsh... The language issue is a heated one, but not that heated. I'd say pulling a gun is an over-reaction.
