Talking Spike (with Henry Normal)

On Sunday it’s 20 years since Spike Milligan died and this week Tyler is joined by comedy writer, poet, performer and producer Henry Normal to talk about his memories of Spike and the Goons.

Henry, along with Steve Coogan, launched Baby Cow in the late nineties and over the course of 30 years Henry has been closely involved with a wide range of films and television series such as Paul Calf’s Video Diary, Coogan’s Run, Nighty Night, Philomena, 24 Hour Party People, The Mighty Boosh, The Royle Family, Gavin & Stacey, Mid-Morning Matters With Alan Partridge, The Parole Officer and much much more.

Henry talks about listening to the Goons growing up and about Spike in particular, and remembers the time he met him - Spike coined a phrase which has haunted Henry ever since. As a teenager he found he could separate Spike Milligan the Goon from Spike Milligan the Poet having discovered his book Small Dreams Of A Scorpion, and this had a major impact upon him which has stayed with Henry to this day.

He also talks about his close collaborations with both Coogan and Caroline Aherne, his poetry, writing and performing as well as working alongside the late Linda Smith. And he has a few words to say about dear old Uncle Baz.

Find out about Henry’s latest tour, The Escape Plan – details on his website: http://henrynormal.com/