And audiences love him.

Better known as Otis Lee Crenshaw, Hall’s white trash alter ego continues to appeal to sold-out audiences each year at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, throughout the UK (on tour) and at comedy festivals worldwide. With a Perrier, a Time Out Comedy, and two Emmy Awards to his name, the tenth season (1984-85) Saturday Night Live cast member is still on top.

Given his latest work, the DVD release of Rich Hall with Special Guests Otis Lee Crenshaw and the Honky Tonk A**holes – “Hell No I Ain’t Happy” out to own on 23rd November, what better time to speak to the king of spitfire wit himself? In an interview by phone, Hall yanks our chain and speaks freely to OTB about his comic career.


What can you tell us about your upcoming DVD, “Hell No I Ain’t Happy”?

I am going to do one-liners with no physical movement whatsoever, and surround myself with an electric shield. Nah. It is just sketches of me doing jokes. The first half is stand-up and the second half is me being Otis.

What inspired you to “give birth” to Otis Lee Crenshaw in 1998? Was it a natural progression to incorporate music into your act?

Most musical comedians are pretty bad, so I thought, why don’t I try to write some serious funny songs instead of parodies or knock-offs. The only setback in that was I had no musical talent whatsoever, so I had to learn to play the piano. I hoped in 10 years time that I would be a much better musician. It turns out, I was wrong.

How have you sustained such a long career as a comedian?

It is important every 10 years to shift and try something new when you are a comedian, and I have been doing this for 59 years, which is pretty astounded considering I am only 55.

What do you think of comedy today?

A robot can do comedy now. If you cut into Michael McIntyre, you’d probably find a lot of wires and processors and stuff.

How is it working in the UK versus the US? Do you tailor your jokes to different audiences? And how does each respond?

Somehow they buy this shit in Britain. Brits are just glad you showed up. In America, I bomb. I just get open-mouthed fish faces. Americans kind of see stand-up comedy as a sort of illegitimate form of entertainment. Why would I go back to America?

When did you discover your knack for comedy?

I got started after I was a journalist for a while. I ran a newspaper in Bellingham, Washington. I literally put the paper together and wrote a column three times a week. I was 22 and I found that I enjoyed writing columns and somehow that translated into comedy.

Spending 9 months out of the year here, how do you feel about UK television and shows like X Factor?

If it is on, I leave the room. The whole reality thing, I hope it is not here to stay. All these people are going to find that just because you can put dancers behind you and sing doesn’t mean that you can actually go out and have a good show. But I am anti-popular as well and I sure as well have no interest in watching network weatherman dance.

Is there anyone you really look up to for inspiration?

Bill Bailey, Jack Dean. Jonathan Ross, well he is not really a comedian. Alan Carr could develop a good game-show around him.

You have performed worldwide, published books, and garnered accolades. What is next?

Once you’ve played at the Apollo, there is nothing to do but fake your own death.


Danielle Jacoby

Hell No I Ain’t Happy! is out on DVD 23rd November 2009 at all good stockists.

The 19 year-old has already played young delinquents in Eden Lake and This Is England.

In those movies his character may have escaped with nothing more than a grounding, but the outlook isn’t so good for him in Harry Brown – he’s got a gun-toting Michael Caine breathing down his neck.

We caught up with him as he hopped out of bed with one of his many on-set girlfriends…

OTB: Hi Jack, how’s your day been so far?

JO’C: Not bad mate, I’ve just been doing a couple of scenes for Skins, luckily I was in bed with a girl, so that’s always nice…

Excellent! We really enjoyed Harry Brown, what was it like working with Michael Caine?

When I got the part it took a while for it to sink in, especially as he’s nearing the end of his career. I was just happy to be involved really, but we had an awesome cast. Ben Drew was fantastic as one of the main antagonists and no-one else could have played that character as believably as he did, the same with Sean Harris as ‘Stretch’. I think that if you can’t buy at least one character during a film then you become detached.

When you saw the script did you immediately think it was something you wanted to be a part of?

When I saw the script I immediately believed in it and thought it dealt with a really important issue that was yet to be handled correctly. I’m slightly familiar with such culture – although I haven’t experienced anything as bad the stuff in the film – and it’s very worrying. So to be given the chance to portray it without glorifying it was important.

To be honest all the kids are little hoodlums apart from maybe your character (Marky) who is almost as much a victim as Harry Brown himself…

Exactly, and I enjoyed that depth, it demonstrated how you can become a victim of that whole culture while in the middle of it. I’m not suggesting that Marky was blameless, but he ends up performing sex acts to get his fix. The victims don’t always appear on the defence side of the court-room, some of these people don’t deserve our sympathy but a bit of help. Hopefully the film won’t just be seen as a conventional traditional vigilante story, but one that deals with broader issues.

In your career, you’ve been in Skins and Eden Lake – lots of really gritty stuff. Do you not feel like taking a break and doing a rom-com?

As long as I believe in the role, I’ll play anything. I’ve got a lot of time for writers and I’ve been lucky to work with some really good ones. I enjoy a lot of theatre work as well and did ‘Scarborough’ which had a little run at the Royal Court in Sloane Square back in the day, I guess you could call that a rom-com! When you’re starting out, you pretty much take anything, but I got lucky and was given the opportunity to demonstrate a bit of depth. In This Is England I didn’t know what the hell I was getting involved in but it was a fantastic thing to be involved in. In terms of a break – no I’m not up for a break mate, I’m still hungry for it.

What has it been like to be a part of Skins and how do you feel about leaving?

Yeah we finish filming next week actually, but again I’ve been lucky because the cast we’ve had has been excellent. I’m really grateful to everyone involved because they’ve been great for me, but I think the two series contract works really well for everyone because it means we get a chance to go off and do and something else, it keeps everyone really passionate and fresh which might not necessarily be the case in other shows. Believe me mate it’s been one hell of an ejaculation into the industry!

Well that’s one way of putting it! Is it true that Shane Meadows wrote a role especially for you in This Is England?

Yeah he did. Initially I auditioned for the role that Thomas Turgoose played and no-one could done that character any better than he did, but from the audition process I was very confident that I could add something to the film. I’ve got a hell of a lot to thank Shane Meadows for, he gave me enough to go to other auditions with and almost establish myself as a recognised performer. I would love to work with him again.

Has he been the biggest influence on your career?

It’s a combination of several people. Working with Stephen Graham on This Is England was amazing and watching him bounce off Shane Meadows when I was 15 was really cool – I saw it very idealistically. You’d see him rock up on set and he’s just be there to play his character, that kind of certainty just reassures everyone. Once again if you offered me another chance to work with him I would jump at it.

Tell us about Eden Lake, you’re definitely a bit of a nutter in that film…

I loved that script! It was another important issue and it was an easy character for me to play coming off the back of This Is England, especially after watching what Steven Graham did with Combo. I definitely fell for that script…sorry they’re calling me back on to the set….

Quick last question Jack: What’s it like having Michael Caine stick a gun in your face?

No problem mate – I love the pressure….


Sean Marland

Harry Brown may have been a hard b*****d, but did he make it into our hardest Harrys list?

And I don’t mean Hannah Montana-Disney-tweener big. I mean middle-aged-housewife-reader big. So big, I spotted a lipstick kiss on Robert Pattinson’s tube billboard cheek the other day. Someone actually put their lips to an underground poster of the Twilight saga’s second instalment. Gross.

New Moon is the sequel to Twilight, which raked in more than $350 million last year and spawned 100 fan clubs globally. These days, Pattinson (i.e. Cedric Diggory, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) graces the pages of Vanity Fair and his lady, Kristen Stewart (aka Bella), is envied by Team Edward fans worldwide.

With a little more than a week left until New Moon is be released in cinemas across UK and Ireland, the international stars spared a bit of their time to chat it up with us lowly reporters. But the panel was primarily dominated by an adorably loquacious Pattinson.

Sandwiched between Stewart on his left and a newly buff Taylor Lautner (Jacob Black) on his right, he said with a genuine smile, “You get a lot of nipple shots in this movie.” A journalist had just asked him how he stayed so buff, given the number of “topless scenes” in the film. Giggling to himself and glancing over at Lautner, he muttered something about having a “pre-pubescent girl’s body A-cups.” What a charmer.

In the meantime, Stewart proved to be an utter delight. Not. Hunched over in her seat, Stewart was as moody as always. She threw in words like “visceral” and “energy” when responding to questions. It came off as pretentious. “When you have that amount of human energy—that undeniable life-force,” she said regarding the overwhelming fans. “That is why I get so nervous.” Not sure if I entirely believed that.

Buy it really does not matter how these stars come off. With millions of fans worldwide, New Moon is a guaranteed success. Bella and Edward are loved no matter what.

Fine actor though he is, we all know where Michael Caine’s real strengths as an actor lie: Playing in goal for all-star Hollywood football teams, chatting cockney and dishing out justice to unsuspecting thugs.

So it’s great to see him back to his best in Harry Brown. But after watching the vigilante caper we realised that he’s not the first person of that name to be harder than a bucket of nails.

This is OTB’s utterly definitive list of the toughest Harrys in film history…

In last place on our list is possibly the campest mythical creature since Pete’s dragon – Nikolai Valuev lookalike Harry Henderson.

He only makes it into the top 5 ahead of Richard E Grant’s character from When Harry Met Sally because he managed to survive a head-on collision with a station wagon…

He may not have been that hard – but he smelled strong.

This dark-wizard botherer achieved everything by the age of 18 (or at least he will do next year), so it’s easy to see why he makes it into our prestigious final group.

In any normal society he would have been slapped with a series of ASBOs for dealing in illicit substances, picking the pockets of sorcerers and vandalising college property, all on the orders of a Fagin-like OAP.

But any adolescent that goes a few rounds with that ugly bloke who must not be named has got to be given some serious respect – no matter how much he whinges about his parents.

According to movie tradition there are several ways in which a mean ganglord can prove that his nuts wouldn’t look out of place on the average palm tree.

But Guy Ritchie tore up the rule book when he created crime-boss Harry ‘the hatchet’ Lonsdale. Even Mr Callahan himself (the daddy of all Harrys), never beat someone to death with a plastic penis.

Smithy Robinson’s death certificate would have made the funniest viral since that lad in Canada decided to video himself with an imaginary lightsabre.

What was going down in Hollywood circa 1998?

We can only assume that in a film industry where CGI was a burgeoning art-form, the only thing those pioneering special effects geeks had actually mastered was an asteroid – and they played it to death like a six year-old singing a new Disney tune.

Needless to say, the actual films were terrible, in this one clip alone there are several fine examples of the cheesy American movie soundbyte – “Let’s see who’s gonna stay up here and dance.” (What?)

But not even a terrible script could stop Bruce Willis being a raging hero.

At the annual Harry awards, Mr Callahan has won the ‘hardest b*****d’ prize for a record 38 years running, and his mantelpiece seems set to get a little more crowded still after he beat off some tough competition to claim the OTB title.

Who the hell would feel lucky with Clint Eastwood pointing a gun at them?!

Sean Marland

No-one can deny the unfettered, timeless genius of Independence Day, Stargate and… erm… Universal Soldier.

But in recent years 10,000BC and Godzilla are what the polite movie critic would call a slight misstep.

His upcoming BLOW THE CRAP OUT OF THE WORLD action movie 2012 – which explores what could really happen if the world ends in December 2012 as the uncannily specific Mayan calendar would have us believe – had us on the fence. Until we saw this clip.

Holy Balls. With this much mindless destruction, we’ll happily sit through hackneyed dialogue and pants ‘characterisation. Hold onto your seats.

2012 will open in cinemas everywhere across the UK from Friday 13th November 2009

And so it did for the corporate piggies at Sony. No longer could it mean fifty gigs in London or the return of the King of Pop™, but it could still be a great title for a film that gives us one last chance to see the man doing what made him famous, right?

On 28th October This Is It was released, promising a look back at the rehearsals and build-up to Jacko’s final gigs. There is more than a vague whiff of cashing in on a legacy here, but for many fans this will be irrelevant if the film reflects the legend and lives up to the standards of which we know he was capable.

Whether this is possible remains to be seen, but here at OTB we ask you to be wary. For every biopic that truly captures the essence of its subject matter there are hundreds of absolute shockers, and then there are some that are so poor they should never be forgotten…

Wayne Storr

Picking holes in the storyline seems to be as pointless as questioning Rocky’s training methods and any plot discrepancies are pretty easy to sidestep after you see a man backflip from an elephant to clothesline some poor villager.

However as Thailand’s favourite ninja knows only too well, some people are born for kung fu, others have kung-fu forced upon them.

This is OTB’s tribute to the movie heroes who didn’t realise they had it in them…

That’s the common cry from any guy who was forced to sit through the original Twilight (even if our manly reviewer thought it was actually pretty decent).

Yet with King of the Tweens Robert Pattinson missing for most of the New Moon novel, more and more face time is being given to the growly, fight-happy werewolves.

And from the look of this clip, we couldn’t be happier. Bring it on.

Twilight: New Moon is on general release across the UK from Friday 20th November 2009.

Read the books. Watch the movies and television series. What kind of vampire is ashamed of his fangs, “just says no” to bloodsucking and glitters in the sunlight?

These days, you find the modern vampire roaming around public schools in daylight and managing nightclubs in rural America. They are our friends, neighbours, and one-night-stands. And they listen, stalk, care and cry—anything but feed—on us for their survival.

The release of Park Chan-Wook’s Thirst got us thinking. While it’s full of moral angst and whiny monologues, there’s still enough horrific violence and bloody spurts (which is what you’d expect from the guy who did Oldboy) to satisfy the average horror fan.

When was the last time we saw a good to honest ‘poop in your pants’ vampire scarefest?

Fangs for the Memories – where did it all go wrong?!

Usually from a distance and through binoculars, but it’s a very rare day we turn into giggling fan girls.

Today, however, is no ordinary day. To celebrate the launch of the London Film Festival and promote the Gala opening (the excellent stop-frame animation Fantastic Mr Fox), the cast and crew gathered in a rather swanky London hotel to natter about how it went down.

Assorted were director Wes Anderson and, amongst others, stars George Swooney – sorry, Clooney, Bill Murray (whose epic cameo in Zombieland we’re still recovering from) and…. Jarvis Cocker?!

That’s not the weirdest thing – prepare to hear about why Bill Murray hates Roald Dahl’s wife, how he channels his inner badger and why Clooney extols the virtues of stealing….

Fantastic Mr Fox is on general release across the UK from Friday 23rd October 2009, and can be seen right now at the London Film Festival. Check out our review here….