7 Questions for Ben Moor

Comedian and writer Ben Moor is performing at the Idler Festival 2022

How long is it since you had a proper job?

BEN MOOR: It’s been a while. I worked at the Guardian and the Observer in the mid-1990s, and then for a while at Virgin Net when it was starting up. My other proper jobs have included selling beds in a Canterbury department store, cutting hops (a 12-hour day), and bookselling, but so long ago that we used the British Books In Print microfiche – those that know, know.

Do you sleep during the day?

Not often enough. I mean those winter days when it’s dark by teatime, a nap then is perfectly allowable, right?

Do you work during the day?

I do work during the day as I find it’s the ideal thing to do between snacks. At the Edinburgh Fringe, Who Here’s Lost? will be starting at 11.35am every day, and shows in my venue will run well past midnight. It’s a long old schedule and you have to pace yourself to make it through the month.

Name three of your favourite games.

I’ve written for the Idler before about Frisbee Tree Golf – we’ve been playing regularly in Regent’s Park for 20 years, and it was always a highlight of the sadly missed Port Eliot Festival. I also like Qwirkle and Contraband (“A Battle of Fun!”), where you have to smuggle valuable cameras, perfume and brandy through a customs check.

Launderette or laundrette?

It can’t be both. Can it be both? Yes it can be both. In fact I’ve seen one in Brighton that spells it both ways on concurrent signs, hedging its bets.

Home is … ?

The N7 district of London; sort of Holloway, sort of Caledonia Road. I think we should have a national day on November 7th each year, as when I tell people it over the phone I use the NATO phonetic alphabet.

What are you doing at the Idler Festival?

I’m performing a storytelling comedy theatre show called Who Here’s Lost? It’s a dreamlike road trip of the soul taken by an architect and an artist, involving weird party games, ants and ice cream. For the final three Port Eliot Festivals, I presented a new piece every year at the Idler Academy, and it is going to be a pleasure to share it at the Idler Festival.

Ben Moor is appearing at the Idler Festival 2022. Join Ben’s mailing list here.

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