Want to write comedy? At an event for Guardian Members Irvine Welsh and Jesse Armstrong offered their advice. From making playlists for characters to finding inspiration in the people around you, here’s what they shared
“I’m sniffing around for minge on the bridges,” Irvine Welsh hollers. The author’s not looking his usual self - he’s covered in bling and wearing a wig reminiscent of Mott The Hoople as he reads from his latest book, A Decent Ride, at a Guardian Live event in the Bloomsbury Theatre. He’s in character as Juice Terry, a sex-obsessed taxi driver who, in this part, is flinging questions at an increasingly peeved gynecologist in the back of his cab.
It’s an intense act to follow. Welsh’s sparring partner at the event, writer and co-creator of Peep Show and The Thick of It, Jesse Armstrong, admits to “feeling like one of McFly getting to do a duet with Iggy Pop”. He reads from his new (and debut) novel Love, Sex and Other Foreign Policy Goals. “My narrator is a slightly uncomfortable English man, so maybe I can manage that,” he said.
The best bit about having a collaborator is plot
Related: Irvine Welsh webchat – as it happened
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