Panning for gold

Bob Mortimer wasn’t always a comedian

He started out as a solicitor

But one Thursday evening in South London he headed down to the Goldsmiths Tavern

Where in an upstairs room he stumbled across Vic Reeves’ Big Night Out

He said it was the funniest thing he’d ever seen

Like comedy before the posh lads ruined it

He was soon going to see Big Night Out every week

And not long after he started making little cameos

These mainly involved being hit over the head

Or his Judge Nutmeg character giving Vic a telling off

After he’d been working with Vic Reeves for a couple of months

Vic, real name Jim asked him to start writing with him

Bob says the process was always the same 

Vic would sit down and just fire out ideas

Millions of them

And Bob saw his role as to keep Jim talking

Taking note of the good ideas when they came

Then when Jim had a lull Bob would bring back up the good ideas he’d written down

And they’d elaborate on them

As Bob saw it his primary role was not to have great ideas

But to spot them when they arrived

Spot them, protect them, build on them

Having a good spotter is such an important part of the ideas process

Someone who isn’t in love with the sound of their own voice

But who knows the value in finding and protecting ideas

It’s a bit like panning for gold

Sifting through loads of stuff looking for a sparkle

I think being good at strategy requires a lot of this skill

Letting other people talk and keeping them going

And then seeing the glint of something brilliant and capturing it

Protecting it and then developing it

It can be seductive to chase coming up with ideas and killer thoughts

Magicking them out of nowhere

But being able to spot gold

In the midst of the rubbish

Is just as valuable