Tim Key on Steve Coogan, Alan Partridge and Carey Mulligan

Actor, poet and the best known sidekick in radio. This week's guest is far from low- key, it is of course the comedy genius, Tim Key. Rob finds out how Tim found his own unique brand of comedy on stage and the pair share Saxondale stories. Tim reveals what it was like being cast as Sidekick Simon and being in a scene with the character Alan Partridge. Tim also discusses his new poetry anthology, Chapters.
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Rob Brydon is best known for his work on The Trip, Gavin & Stacey and presenting the BBC One comedy panel show Would I Lie To You?
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🎥 This channel is a co-production with The Talent Bank

[@autistickakarot]

Tim Key is genuinely just so naturally fun, just his demeanor and the way he speaks is entertaining.

[@ItsSafehands]

just a shame he didn't do much talking - Rob wouldn't shut up.... Frustrating.

[@autistickakarot]

@@ItsSafehands he talks more in the full podcast.

[@ackerjawaka4742]

His cameo in Life's too short is hilarious and I think he has got a handle on things 😜

[@stephenbarrette610]

Mid Morning Matters was superb - locked off cameras, very minimal, Steve doing Partridge, and the icing on this car crash of hugely embarrassing moments was Tim’s ‘Sidekick Simon.’ The chemistry was just brilliant.

[@apchsiri1156]

Key's character on Saxondale wasn't selling timeshares but asks Tommy if he's considered consolidating his credit card debts. Tommy replied, "No, but I've thought about caning them all into the red then faking my own death."

[@alexandriarousseau7239]

This is great banter! It really is...!

[@MrDominic152]

I see what you did there!! 😁

[@Tezzzaaa]

are you on an E?!

[@Etcher]

But not too informal; it's not Nigel Pinsent's "In Depth" but neither is it Wally Banter's "Junk-Box"

[@YvonneWilson312]

I love Tim Key's brand of comedy - he is so completely off the wall and full of surprises.

[@theambergambler1]

Tim Key's Late Night Poetry programme is a jewel of a show. Perfection. Just got Chapters and the two lockdown books are outstanding. Honourable mentions from below the line for No More Jockeys. Tim is so much more than a sidekick!

[@lernerleben]

Came across the TKLNP prog. Absolute fever dream-like plots. Hilarious

[@00tommo]

Wish it would come back

[@theambergambler1]

​@@00tommo First episode was 12 years ago. 12!! Someone else below the line said there was a new series coming. I haven't found any information on it, but, it would be welcome.

[@ChrisFarrellChannel]

The subtle 'I've got about 4" at 6'02" is hilarious. Even Brydon missed it.

[@jackabalas]

“Are you an anecdotalist?”

[@user-ix5wj2lh7n]

I think I am turning into a massive Tim Key fan just by watching this... what a lovely man!

[@jase6709]

I've been a massive fan since he was on Taskmaster. Can't believe that was almost a decade ago. 🤯

[@who_stole_my_username]

I was only vaguely aware of him prior to No More Jockeys with Alex Horne and Matt Watson. That made me a fan and now I'll watch anything he's in.

[@jase6709]

@@who_stole_my_username Mark Watson

[@who_stole_my_username]

@@jase6709 Correct, sorry. It didn't look right when I wrote it but I couldn't work out why. It's been a long week.

[@jase6709]

@@who_stole_my_username Ha, I think Matt Watson is a KZbin car guy.

[@hoisin75]

Tim Key is truly a unique comedy voice

[@leona6455]

Anyone else find this man wildly attractive? In so many ways? Just sitting there in his footie gear. No pretentiousness just wonderful wit and humour and humility. He's a total one off. Good luck to him.

[@HarryDuBois616]

Nice try Tim

[@enki345]

Yess!! I keep finding myself confused by how attractive I find Tim!

[@berrinozcan6803]

I’ve been saying this for years!!!

[@enki345]

@@berrinozcan6803 I can not overstate how much joy it gives me to see a Turkish person here joining in the Tim Key praise! Was really wondering whether I was his only fan in Turkiye! 😭😭😭

[@CookPassBabtridge1]

@@enki345 Mert?

[@ladyioan]

Martin freeman has worked with Gervais on the Office and Coogan on Hot Fuzz

[@gav2759]

Yes and Joanna Page and Jenna Ortega I hear.

[@stephendonovan6773]

Spent about an hour trying to think of someone...

[@chriscope7292]

Ben Stiller as well - in same film - night in the museum

[@hawthornberry]

Larry David too.

[@davisuture9610]

Simon Pegg: Ricky Gervais was in spaced, and Simon Pegg was in Alan partridge

[@hoot7588]

PLEASE listen to Tim Key's Late Night Poetry Programme on BBC Sounds - it is radio comedy perfection.

[@leona6455]

It's genius. The comic timing is perfection from both Key and Basden. The episode where Diane Morgan plays the magicians assistant is brilliant.

[@hannahl8]

It really is brilliant, there's nothing else like it.

[@emmajean8631]

New series coming soon apparently! 🥳

[@theambergambler1]

I don't think I will be able to say St. Albans the same way ever again

[@hoot7588]

@@emmajean8631 Oh wow, that's great news!

[@hoot7588]

Also, make sure you listen to The Adam Buxton Podcast episode 77 with Tim Key, one of the all time great podcast episodes!

[@bethrique]

His off menu episode is hilarious too

[@davidseymour6246]

It’s so rare to come across somebody with a unique comic voice. I watch the Witchfinder series practically on repeat just to marvel again and again at Tim Key’s performance and perfect timing.

[@SongBillong]

Yes! Brilliant show, that. Went under the radar but it was hilarious!

[@SongBillong]

@@jlc7841 Yep!

[@adriennethomas7174]

I agree I love Witchfinder.....brilliant cast......but Tim Key was superb

[@JamieAtSLC]

I love the idea of Carey Mulligan winning an Oscar and then saying, “I must do a film with that chap from No More Jockeys.”

[@sera2775]

carey mulligan gorgeous and refined.

[@phild5322]

Will never ever get bored of Tim

[@autolykus1230]

Mid Morning Matters is the best Partridge and Sidekick Simon is a big part of that.

[@frankshailes3205]

I think the Kathy Burke thing was "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme", a differemnt Abba lyric :). As for money films there is "The Color of Money", a sequel to "The Hustler" with Paul Newman and Tom Cruise...

[@JChip57828]

I think his performances in Cowards was very understated. Very cool guy.

[@SongBillong]

Tim Key is so naturally hilarious. His last line in this is perfect!

[@69mpaice]

Fantastic interview. Excellent chipping-in.

[@Steve-kl3yl]

I have never seen anybody nail comedic timing and subtle facial expression as Tim Key did with Sidekick Simon. Thank you

[@tastewithjase]

Such a funny, warm, humble man. Love him.

[@pokerpope1]

Ben Stiller. Gervais and Coogan were both in Night at the Museum.

[@garyshaw7826]

And Ben Stiller worked with them both separately. Gervais in Extras, and Coogan in Tropic Thunder.

[@frankshailes3205]

That was lovely, I could listen to those two all night. As to Steve Coogan, his talent knows no bounds - just look at the Stan and Ollie film. To channel the essence of one of the greatest comic actors so thoroughly that you forget you're watching an impersonation and go away feeling like you've seen the real thing. He is definitely up there with the likes of Stan Laurel himself as one of our top performers.

[@mikkifly]

Tim’s such a great comedian,loved him in mid morning matters 😂

[@user-bn7rw8xy8q]

Those little moments Rob pointed out are brilliant , Tim is absolutely perfect for his role…. Love it.

[@jamesedmonds7519]

I love Tim Key. Such a likeable guy.

[@Littlehickish]

An extra lovely element of this is Tim wrote an article for the independent about how much he loves holding hands 2:24

[@christinacumpian952]

Tim Key was brilliant on taskmaster!

[@TheSpyIII]

Tim is amazing! And Chapters is great. Get his lockdown books too. Very on point and hilarious.

[@enki345]

My favourite one of these yet, Tim's a gem!

[@hannahl8]

I could listen to these soothing voices anecdoting & chipping-in all day long. Brilliant interview. Tim is so funny & cute, I love him ❤

[@RalphBrooker-gn9iv]

Became an instant fan when I first saw him as Gerry, Jez’s replacement in Peep Show. He was like Jim Howick. Comedy and acting guns.

[@theheadshotstudio9254]

MMM was probably peak partridge - every episode was flawless

[@awesomefrankrapid]

From the Oasthouse is pretty vintage stuff too

[@theheadshotstudio9254]

1st series was incredbile@@awesomefrankrapid

[@gabriellag2611]

Utterly delightful. Two of my all-time favorite people.

[@PBRStreetGang68]

The scene where Simon has betrayed Alan by going on the Branning show is wonderful ❤

[@garychiles4924]

Diane Morgan - the person Rob & Tim couldn't think of who has worked with both Coogan and Gervais is Diane Morgan.

[@helethead]

I love her.

[@krisinsaigon]

The scene in This Time they are talking about with the interactive screen is just brilliant. The bit where he looks looking for the phone calls, and he gets to a screen where every icon is a phone 📱📞☎️ is sublime. We are lucky to have such brilliant people making comedy

[@polyglotuk]

I love the offbeat pace of Tim Key's delivery. Always surprising.

[@canadaclaret]

A chipper in... Yes. A special talent unto itself.

[@Ted_K_Have_a_nice_day]

Tim key as Mushki… the new slave on Plebs was wonderful. Also. I think Tim should bring Tom Basden with him everywhere he goes to play a musical accompaniment when he speaks.

[@emilybitzel7242]

key is so lovable. chipper-inner 💗

[@alexmearns3637]

Truly wonderful. Thank you

[@Magicalfluidprocess]

Cracking banter ! It really is

[@WhatInTheDeepestShadeOfFeck]

For me, Mid Morning Matters is peak Partridge, and Tim Key as Simon was obviously a huge part of that. A very talented comedy actor.

[@dellwright1407]

Love the Harold Pinter anecdote.... v.funny.

[@sratus]

I've shared a pint with Tim Key, a ruddy nice bloke

[@brendandarkside1207]

Did you hold hands?

[@awesomefrankrapid]

Why didn’t you get your own one?

[@sratus]

@@brendandarkside1207 No Brendan.

[@VAPIDISM]

Whenever I hear Pinter mentioned I always think back to when I used to listen Derek and Clive (Peter Cook and Dudley Moore`s hilariously filthy alter egos). “Prick in the hands of Pinter is pure gold

[@neonatalpenguin]

David Mitchell was in the film Greed with Steve Coogan and co-wrote the sketch show Bruiser with Ricky Gervais.

[@thejudethecat]

Great to Timkey, a shame he didn't play his magic flute

[@JamesVytas]

Tim key is hilarious.

[@frankiez7414]

the most brilliant and most funny thing I ever seen was Alan during a bit of improv saying "hey there baby girl" and the look on Tim's face totally cracked me up. Good team work and the camera to get Tims look was so clever. Priceless.

[@Netlife-001]

yeah, doing his Al Pacino in the acting class. lol

[@Isleofskye]

Tim Key interviewing Simon Amstell 12 years ago,on You Tube is golden,like this. The way Simon and Tim bounce of each other is superb.

[@hackapump]

Tim playing a local tv journalist trying to interview Warwick Davis on Life’s Too Short is still some of the funniest shit I’ve ever seen.

[@nickmoranis2865]

I was watching that episode last night! The aggression! Hope he was less abusive to the A Team van.

[@nickmoranis2865]

Probably the most underrated series of all time. Like Darkplace it seems to be getting new appreciation.

[@nickmoranis2865]

I’ve always wondered, if he was calling Warwick a midget; did he call the A Team van black? A midgeophobe and a van racist.

[@iandennis1]

Gimme, Gimme, Gimme was the sitcom with Kathy Burke and James Dreyfus not Money, Money, Money

[@graciehughes4359]

Thank god someone also heard this and corrected them 🙏

[@simond5208]

Two for the show........excellent.

[@simonsaysrewind]

Tim Key 🗝️ locked in to this interview 😊

[@Isleofskye]

A Recession was,officially,announced this very day and THIS is EXACTLY the type of material we need to overcome these dark times..

[@Isleofskye]

Absolutely loved all of this and, especially, the first 4 minutes which were golden but a lovely Podcast. Thank You.

[@mattbrighton1819]

Lovely stuff

[@jamesfield1674]

Tim Key is such a funny guy his awkward sidekick Simon on Alan Partridge is hilarious

[@uptake2]

This is such a warm conversation. Affable and garrulous.

[@cameronbruce9650]

The first 5 minutes were like an episode of between 2 ferns

[@timothygraham4304]

I was racking my brain as to why that voice was so familiar, and then it clicked. He sounds like Nick Mohammed, and I Just recently binged Ted Lasso. I've seen Tim first, but watching this now, just makes it clear!🤯😂

[@markendicott6874]

Excellent stuff.

[@ddmalarkey]

What a lovely chat

[@annala2956]

I don't remember Rob's anecdote about Pinter. Nice one!

[@danbaxter4216]

I grew to love Tim Keys sense of humour through watching that KZbin thing he does with Alex Horne, no more jockeys

[@michaeldunne3379]

Perfect ending 😂

[@ceriannalflorencina8297]

"I don't know any fashion words!" "Lynn wears a coat that was advertised with the words STRONG COAT FOR SALE" That wonderful scene with Seb Cardinal in This Time is so wonderful.

[@leona6455]

"Juliaaaaaa!"

[@ceriannalflorencina8297]

@@leona6455 it's a HAPPY SKIRT

[@leona6455]

​@@ceriannalflorencina8297 have we maybe watched that scene more than the necessary amount? The bit where Simon awkwardly feels the fabric and pronounces it to be "decent"...😂

[@ceriannalflorencina8297]

@@leona6455 it's possible 😄

[@leona6455]

​@@ceriannalflorencina8297no shame in it!😅

[@TheGrumpyGuide]

THE WITCHFINDER! 🤣👌

[@stephaniewaters1777]

Best poet ❤️

[@Bjarku]

Saw Tim at the fringe in 2010. He was actually very good.

[@SpotlessLeopard]

Possibly the greatest video ever made, and the camera work is truly world class. Shit, I forgot to put a picture of a birds arse in my avi.

[@andrewp1075]

The biggest compliment I ever heard paid to Tim Key was from Steve Coogan himself. He said Tim's funny but he doesn't know how he's funny, and that because he fails to be able to pinpoint this it intrigues him.

[@Peter-ci1zw]

Tim Key has worked with both Coogan and Gervais

[@Isleofskye]

Quite enchanting and an excellent guest. That Technology part of the show with Partridge was hilarious...Partridge a late substitute Presenter a la "One Show" introduces a "rare, special talent" that he has discovered and introduces "Simon" to the Narion amidst glowing praise and, gradually, thru Simon's total ineptitude gets more and more embarrassed by his "find" and cuts the segment,to which Simon enquires if he can still do the weather later and Coogan gives him the darkest look imaginable. Brilliant!

[@jolewis-brown6608]

I wanted to hear the rest of the Impington to Footlights tale. Sometimes Rob just can’t resist hogging it.

[@AmericasChoice]

Such an important part of Tim's life, and we didn't get it...

[@orangemanok5800]

Clink of Crockery would be a great name for a podcast.

[@sera2775]

check out Simon key in a fantastic short film, called Wonderdate. Such a talented and nice guy

[@emmajean8631]

LOVE Wonderdate. So funny, heartfelt and gorgeously filmed too.

[@multirevelator]

my favourite show back in the day was money money money with Kathy Burke and James Dreyfuss

[@NeilTaylor1]

The answer is of course Rob Brydon, whose voice appeared alongside those of Ricky Gervais and Steve Coogan in the classic Robbie the Reindeer: Legend of the Lost Tribe.

[@darrendemello3225]

And that's how you end a great podcast...

[@stengah101]

Lynn, idea for spinoff podcast ‘Trousers Off With Rob Brydon’ oh and can you collect my dry cleaning.

[@sophiewatson4396]

Please have Tom Basden on next Mr Brydon ❤

[@chriscope7292]

Both worked with Ben Stiller actually in the same film Night in the museum

[@simonbath]

This is golf, i mean gold...apart from the absence of cork glass mats, good job.

[@Bendoverstoke]

KEYSEYYYYYYY

[@comface]

I don't mind it.

[@benbradley_123]

When you stop and really think about it, it's great to be below the line. Even if - and it's a tiny if - it isn't the same line

[@pooroldnostradamus]

Nuisance penguins are back at it again

[@aeneasfrancois5636]

Simon Pegg has worked with both Coogan and Gervais. Spaced and Hot Fuzz.

[@RAINE____]

Tim has this bizarre ability to get more out of the interviewer than the interviewer gets out of him. He did the same thing to Richard Herring

[@kneeenaw4]

Tim Key was brilliant with Coogan on mid morning matters

[@babyshambler]

26:07 - It wasn't Money Money Money. It was Gimme Gimme Gimme, lads.

[@paulgee1355]

The Kathy Burke/James Dreyfus series wasn't called money money money, it was called Gimme Gimme Gimme so Tim can use money money money.

[@ENigma-um8zw]

*A lovely bit of skirt!*

[@emmajean8631]

Juliaaaaaa

[@twelveightyone]

Bohnson & Moggeth Bohnson waddled out into the garden… the sun was hot hot hot!. His rays bounced off the side of the house that he rented and into his scruffy, urine coloured hair. He put his fists on his thick hips and surveyed the proceedings; he liked what he saw, put it that way. “Staffers Unwinding” - that’s the headline news! Caps flying off beer… senior politicians wrestling… policy makers unfolding Twister. Finding a flat bit of lawn to peg it down. Bohnson smiled, his tennis shorts bulging with pride. Moggeth handed him a couple of Swedish meatball wraps and ladled some punch down his throat. “Oh Moggeth, you see the vibe?” There was a Government affiliated DJ playing chilled Tory beats, and Bohnson’s trotters started jiggling on the turf. He checked his watch… “well that’s me I reckon” Mogeth almost choked on his Bullmers… “You ain’t fuckin’ off already are you?” Bohnson winked and did an ‘under the thumb’ gesture. He smashed a tin opener against a bottle of Bollinger… “Right, I’m off you ‘horrible lot!” They boo’d, some had their tops off, some had coke running down their chests. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, chaps!” “Narrow it down boss!” The laughter grew & grew, it swept Bohnson back through his French Windows, it rose over the walls and drifted like poison across the city. Tim Key. Genius poet.

[@blazinglazerhawk5826]

My birthday is the 2nd of September!

[@ViewerNumber9]

😂...Do you mean "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme"?

[@1979Frankyboy]

Yes

[@ericstorr9880]

Rob. It's Gimme Gimme Gimme. 👍🙄