September 24, 2025 • 5 mins
The hilarious Ben Elton joins Jonesy & Amanda for a fantastic chat!
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
My Heart podcasts here, more Gold one on one point
seven podcasts.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Playlists and listen live on the Free iHeart app.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Jersey and Amanda jam Nation.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
N Elton has entertained us for other thirty five years
with his humor, his wit, his life insights and his storytelling. Well,
he's now written an autobiography called What Have I Done?
And he joined us now. Ben High, Hello.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Thank you for having me on the show. It's always
good to talk to you.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
What have it you done? And as I was reading
this book, I've read a lot of your fiction work,
which I always love. And as I was reading this book,
I thought, well, why was he didn't written a book
about himself before? It's almost You pretty much answered that
question straight away, And it was a pretty tough time
when you first embarked on writing a book back in
twenty twelve about yourself.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
Yes, I'd never particularly up until quiet, well up until
twenty fourteen, really, I'd never thought about writing a biography.
I always thought it was a bit funny writing them,
you know, when they were really quite young. But obviously
you get famous, you get off of the book deal,
and I guess you do it. Sometimes people are write
more than one biography. My very dear friend Stephen Fry's
(01:20):
got three out and I don't think he's out of
short trousers yet. But anyway, I didn't think about it
for most of my life, but then after Rick died,
and also I had a particularly you know, I was
in a bit of a career slump and feeling very
slightly sorry for myself, which is unlike me, very kind
of angry about a lot of things about Rick's early death,
and so I dropped it. But then quite recently last year,
(01:43):
you know, my mom died, which left me a very
old orphan, and also there's quite a bit of dementia
out about and in my family, and I just thought
it was time.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
I loved reading about your university years, and obviously the
places that you were living gave birth to the young ones.
But it's such a love letter to Rick mail. You
said the second you saw him, you pretty much fell
in love with him.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Yeah, it was, it was.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
I mean, it looked like a like all love affairs,
this one was very much a platonic love affair. But
I did love him. It was kind of love at
first sight. He was a third year, I was a
first year, so that was, you know, he was very impressive.
He was incredibly handsome. I'm not normally a great you know,
one who notices male beauty, you know, but no one
could ever fail to look at Rick and not be
(02:30):
incredibly struck by his sort of mesmerizing.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
He was mesmerizing, and he had immense star quality.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
And he was the star of a student show that
they put on for fresh a week, and I described
in the book just how even though he was a
kind of spotty twenty year old third year in a
cold big coat and a cold autumn day in nineteen seven,
he literally controlled the room so beautifully and we became
friends very quickly. Aid was in that show as well Edmondson,
(02:59):
and was also brilliant, but he was much more difficult
to get to know.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
We've been close friends ever since. He came up with
the title what Have I Done?
Speaker 2 (03:07):
And then that's what you said in the start of
the book. The BBC passed on a new show that
you and he were working on it in twenty twelve.
I find that extraordinary that someone would pass on Rick
Male and.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Yeah, had a BBC knocked him back. It was they
thought he was too big a present for BBC. One
they were aiming for a sort of family audit. I
don't know what they were aiming for.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
I like how you're right about You knew you could
write gags, but writing a long form comedy or a
story was a different a different story and the length
and breath of how your brain works with Blackadder, I mean,
was it your Did you have a childhood love of history?
Where does the stuff come from?
Speaker 3 (03:44):
I think, yeah, I talk.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
I mean the book's you know, got lots of great
anecdotes in it, I hope, lots of stories. You know,
how I saved Stephen Fry's life, Robert de Niro eating
my food, George Harrison tried to get.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Me to drink my own weed. If you want to
know why, you'll have to look in the.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Book or come to see you talk about it exactly.
Going to be coming to Australia to talk about all
the stories in the book.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
I am, indeed, And because of course there's a huge
Australian element of the book.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
I mean more than an element.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
I mean, when I was twenty eight, my life became
half Australian, you know, and it's partly because of Rick Mayl.
Rick Mail and I were coming to tour Australia, and
the Australian Unions in those days insisted on two Ozzi's
for every Pom on any bill, you are to employ
two Australians. And to our great good fortune, our our
Ossie promoter, Michael Edgeley booked an old girl banned from
(04:36):
Perth and I ended up marrying the bass player and
my life changed completely because you know here, I am
an Australian. I'm not just an Australian. I've got an AO.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
I'm an Order of Australian. And let me tell you now,
the Poms haven't given me anything. That's for sure, a
ninety ball rick, can you believe that nothing? Anyway? So HG.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Nelson, my dear friend who was on my British show
back in the nineties with Roy is Coming, is going
to talk to me about my book on stage live
and we'll take some questions. So you know, if you
want to come along, I'm sure with HG there it'll
get it'll get rough and ready.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
You could come along and see me canceled. It could happen.
You never know, because we're going to be being very honest.
I'm not going to stand in our truth.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Maybe if you go full gandy and start drinking a
cup of your own around there.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
That could be a thing. Yeah, take George Harrison's advice. Finally,
it was very loving.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
You might have missed You might have missed out on something, Ben,
It might be really good.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Did I've got to be honest, there's pretty much.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
I pretty much do anything for a beetle, but not that.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Ben Elton. It's always great to talk to you. For
tickets to see Ben Elton on tour, head to fane
dot com dot are you and check out his new book,
What Have I Done? It's available right now. It's a
great read.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Ben, thank you for joining us. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Good idea
My Heart podcasts here, more Gold one on one point
seven podcasts.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Playlists and listen live on the Free iHeart app.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Jersey and Amanda jam Nation.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
N Elton has entertained us for other thirty five years
with his humor, his wit, his life insights and his storytelling. Well,
he's now written an autobiography called What Have I Done?
And he joined us now. Ben High, Hello.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Thank you for having me on the show. It's always
good to talk to you.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
What have it you done? And as I was reading
this book, I've read a lot of your fiction work,
which I always love. And as I was reading this book,
I thought, well, why was he didn't written a book
about himself before? It's almost You pretty much answered that
question straight away, And it was a pretty tough time
when you first embarked on writing a book back in
twenty twelve about yourself.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
Yes, I'd never particularly up until quiet, well up until
twenty fourteen, really, I'd never thought about writing a biography.
I always thought it was a bit funny writing them,
you know, when they were really quite young. But obviously
you get famous, you get off of the book deal,
and I guess you do it. Sometimes people are write
more than one biography. My very dear friend Stephen Fry's
(01:20):
got three out and I don't think he's out of
short trousers yet. But anyway, I didn't think about it
for most of my life, but then after Rick died,
and also I had a particularly you know, I was
in a bit of a career slump and feeling very
slightly sorry for myself, which is unlike me, very kind
of angry about a lot of things about Rick's early death,
and so I dropped it. But then quite recently last year,
(01:43):
you know, my mom died, which left me a very
old orphan, and also there's quite a bit of dementia
out about and in my family, and I just thought
it was time.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
I loved reading about your university years, and obviously the
places that you were living gave birth to the young ones.
But it's such a love letter to Rick mail. You
said the second you saw him, you pretty much fell
in love with him.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Yeah, it was, it was.
Speaker 4 (02:07):
I mean, it looked like a like all love affairs,
this one was very much a platonic love affair. But
I did love him. It was kind of love at
first sight. He was a third year, I was a
first year, so that was, you know, he was very impressive.
He was incredibly handsome. I'm not normally a great you know,
one who notices male beauty, you know, but no one
could ever fail to look at Rick and not be
(02:30):
incredibly struck by his sort of mesmerizing.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
He was mesmerizing, and he had immense star quality.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
And he was the star of a student show that
they put on for fresh a week, and I described
in the book just how even though he was a
kind of spotty twenty year old third year in a
cold big coat and a cold autumn day in nineteen seven,
he literally controlled the room so beautifully and we became
friends very quickly. Aid was in that show as well Edmondson,
(02:59):
and was also brilliant, but he was much more difficult
to get to know.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
We've been close friends ever since. He came up with
the title what Have I Done?
Speaker 2 (03:07):
And then that's what you said in the start of
the book. The BBC passed on a new show that
you and he were working on it in twenty twelve.
I find that extraordinary that someone would pass on Rick
Male and.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Yeah, had a BBC knocked him back. It was they
thought he was too big a present for BBC. One
they were aiming for a sort of family audit. I
don't know what they were aiming for.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
I like how you're right about You knew you could
write gags, but writing a long form comedy or a
story was a different a different story and the length
and breath of how your brain works with Blackadder, I mean,
was it your Did you have a childhood love of history?
Where does the stuff come from?
Speaker 3 (03:44):
I think, yeah, I talk.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
I mean the book's you know, got lots of great
anecdotes in it, I hope, lots of stories. You know,
how I saved Stephen Fry's life, Robert de Niro eating
my food, George Harrison tried to get.
Speaker 3 (03:56):
Me to drink my own weed. If you want to
know why, you'll have to look in the.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Book or come to see you talk about it exactly.
Going to be coming to Australia to talk about all
the stories in the book.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
I am, indeed, And because of course there's a huge
Australian element of the book.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
I mean more than an element.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
I mean, when I was twenty eight, my life became
half Australian, you know, and it's partly because of Rick Mayl.
Rick Mail and I were coming to tour Australia, and
the Australian Unions in those days insisted on two Ozzi's
for every Pom on any bill, you are to employ
two Australians. And to our great good fortune, our our
Ossie promoter, Michael Edgeley booked an old girl banned from
(04:36):
Perth and I ended up marrying the bass player and
my life changed completely because you know here, I am
an Australian. I'm not just an Australian. I've got an AO.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
I'm an Order of Australian. And let me tell you now,
the Poms haven't given me anything. That's for sure, a
ninety ball rick, can you believe that nothing? Anyway? So HG.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
Nelson, my dear friend who was on my British show
back in the nineties with Roy is Coming, is going
to talk to me about my book on stage live
and we'll take some questions. So you know, if you
want to come along, I'm sure with HG there it'll
get it'll get rough and ready.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
You could come along and see me canceled. It could happen.
You never know, because we're going to be being very honest.
I'm not going to stand in our truth.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Maybe if you go full gandy and start drinking a
cup of your own around there.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
That could be a thing. Yeah, take George Harrison's advice. Finally,
it was very loving.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
You might have missed You might have missed out on something, Ben,
It might be really good.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Did I've got to be honest, there's pretty much.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
I pretty much do anything for a beetle, but not that.
Speaker 2 (05:37):
Ben Elton. It's always great to talk to you. For
tickets to see Ben Elton on tour, head to fane
dot com dot are you and check out his new book,
What Have I Done? It's available right now. It's a
great read.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
Ben, thank you for joining us. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Good idea
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