Catherine Tate appeared on three seasons of The Office, playing the crass, deadpan (and dead funny) Nellie Bertram. Photo / Getty Images
Catherine Tate appeared on three seasons of The Office, playing the crass, deadpan (and dead funny) Nellie Bertram. Photo / Getty Images
As the comedian returns to New Zealand, where she will appear at Armageddon this month, she reflects on why we find humour so compelling, and comforting.
Catherine Tate is jetlagged and soon to jump on another plane, this one bound for New Zealand, where she will attend the Armageddon Expoin Wellington and Christchurch. “I’m really looking forward to it. I can’t imagine what it will be like.”
The event is a singular part of New Zealand culture. It’s been running since 1995 and provides an annual hub of entertainment and fandom, spanning TV, movies, comics, cosplay and more. Niche interests converge.
Tate’s on the bill primarily for her tenure as Donna Noble in Doctor Who, but her career spans a multitude of culturally significant shows – including the pitch-perfect corporate satire as Nellie Bertram on The Office, and the character-led sketch comedy of BBC2′s The Catherine Tate Show – and standup performances.
The nuanced messages of comedy can hit harder and require more expertise she thinks. “You can tell straight away if a comedy isn’t good because no one’s laughing. Drama is a much more forgiving genre,” Tate tells me from London. “A comedy crowd is far more discerning, they’re harder to please.”
A commentary on culture and society, class and status, Tate’s comedy has always centred around characters, finding humour in different kinds of people; she’s played a foul-mouthed grandmother and a belligerent adolescent. “Ideas come from everywhere,” she says. “It’s the strangest of things that can trigger you,” she says. “An overheard snippet of a conversation, or a particular hairstyle.”
One of the comedian's most famous characters, stroppy schoolgirl Lauren Cooper, featured on sketch comedy series The Catherine Tate Show. Photo / Getty Images
She creates a bricolage of elements for the character, layering mannerisms accents and appearances. The root of her inspiration often isn’t always clear.
It helps that people only tend to recognise their physical characteristics. “You can literally lift someone’s personality, with all their wonderful nuances and foibles and personality quirks, but as long as you don’t represent them in the way they see themselves, physically,” she says, they won’t see themselves in a character. Most people identify themselves by what their hair is like.
“I’ve lifted mercilessly and shamelessly from my own family, even my mum.” Nervous, screaming Margaret was partly based on Tate’s mother, who would scream all the time when Tate was a child. As they watched the show together and the character shrieked at the microwave, and Tate pointed out the reference, her mum said “my hair’s not like that”.
She’s come across some unbelievable personalities in her time, some bigger than fiction. “There are far more outrageous and extraordinary and interesting people out there that you can lampoon. Some stuff is just too funny to replicate.”
Tate’s a chameleon, shrugging characters on and off and transforming her appearance, bringing characters to life through wigs and makeup and other tells. Does she enjoy that part of the job? “I love it,” she says. “I love disappearing. It’s great fun.”
Why do we latch on to characters? It’s a core part of the fandoms that flock to Armageddon, slipping into a fictional role in real life, even just for a day. It wasn’t until Tate started attending conventions that she understood the scope of awareness and appreciation.
“I had no idea the impact Dr Who had,” Tate says “It’s a huge compliment when you see people come dressed as your character.”
Catherine Tate and David Tennant (pictured together in London in 2011) were co-stars in Doctor Who. Photo / Dave M. Benett, Getty Images
Escapism is a core appeal of the science fiction genre. “In sci-fi, the possibilities are endless,” says Tate. “In a sometimes hum-drum world or a nine-to-five lifestyle, it’s very seductive and appealing to put on a different character and venture into the vast unknown.”
What about those of us who find escapism in the mundane? Another Tate show, The Office, has become an evergreen hit – I rewatch it at least once a year – as fans find comfort in its normality (it helps that it functions as ambient television) and familiar behaviours in the ensemble cast of recognisable office tropes.
Why are shows like this so reassuring? “The Office is the everyday. Not everyone’s been to outer space,” says Tate. “Most people have been in an office.”
The American mockumentary ran for nine seasons, and Tate was a massive fan of the show before joining the cast in 2011.
It was based on the British series, but they’re two different beasts, Tate says. “It’s really interesting how the American office was extremely mainstream, and The Office UK was almost like an outlier.”
However, she thinks Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant achieved something truly special with the British version. “I do think it’s a piece of modern art. He moved the needle in comedy when that came out.”
The culture of British comedy is far less cosy she says. “We are more inclined to show a warts-and-all, slightly uncomfortable.”
This resonates with Kiwis. “There is much more of an affinity with Britain and the sensibilities, comedically, with New Zealand and Australia,” she says and Kiwis in particular have a sense of robustness akin to the UK style.
But she understands why. The two countries share a sense of dark humour, satire and self-loathing. “There’s a much more self-deprecating way of finding humour,” she says. “You want to be the master of your own demise.”
It creates strong comedy. Hard periods can lead to the most interesting culture, as people try to process what they’re going through. “Buoyant times don’t make for particularly creative endeavours.”
Challenging situations can be fundamental for creatives, especially comedians, she says, who often draw their best material from struggles. “There’s always a risk that the more successful you get the less creative you become,” she says. “You’re going to always work a lot harder when you walk out on stage and no one knows who you are.”
Success doesn’t always come easy, or quickly. “I used to work in jobs I absolutely hated,” says Tate. “I had loads of jobs, some I liked, some I didn’t, but I’m really grateful that I did them.” They make her appreciate what she does now.
“I don’t ever look up to anyone who is a so-called celebrity. The big kudos goes to the people who are doing the stuff they don’t like to do, that isn’t their dream job. That’s where true character is.”
How will our current mood influence comedy?
“When we are, as a people, a little bit insecure and a little bit down, we will strive to find stuff to pull ourselves up,” she says. “So, potentially we’re about to have a creative boom”
Humour can be a salve. When things are bad, we turn to something to make us laugh and bring some joy. “It’s not nothing to spend your day laughing, or have some laughs in your day.”
