Saturday 31 October 2009

An article from AfterElton

[Source]
Exclusive: Is "White Collar"'s Matt Bomer an Out, Gay Man? "No comment," Says Publicist
Posted by Michael Jensen, Editor on October 31, 2009

Matt Bomer
Earlier this week Perez Hilton posted an item about Matthew Bomer, the star of USA Network's White Collar. In the item, Hilton claims Bomer is openly gay and dating a high-powered publicist, though Hilton offers nothing to backup either claim.

Given that we are not a gossip site and have a longstanding policy against outing people, I wasn't about to go with Perez's unsourced reporting, nor any of the other blogs that simply repeated what Perez claimed. (Bomer's Wikipedia page was briefly changed to say he was gay, only to be changed back again.)

But if Bomer was openly gay, that was definitely news we would report and he is someone we would certainly interview. I got in touch with his publicist to get a confirmation and to request an interview if Bomer was, in fact, out.

However, Bomer's publicist told me late on Friday that she had "No comment" and "We don't comment on any of our client's personal lives." They also passed on the interview.

So I have no idea whether Bomer is gay or not, but the "openly" part is clearly not the case as part of being open would involve a public acknowledgment of the fact. (Yes, I've seen the photos. Those are someone's personal private property and shouldn't be posted without the owner's  permission.)

So until Bomer has something more to say on the matter or, if he is gay, lives his life openly in some other manner which fits our definition of out, we won't have more to say on the matter of his sexuality.

Thursday 29 October 2009

Eric Millegan on Living (and Acting) with Bipolar Disorder

[Source]

Jamie Frevele
Jamie Frevele
Posted: October 27, 2009 10:19 PM

Eric Millegan on Living (and Acting) with Bipolar Disorder: Part 1

Mental illness is one of the most frightening things that can happen to a human being. It's like fighting an invisible war. Not imaginary -- invisible. It's there, but no one can see it, but the person fighting it feels every inch of it. And hopefully, others will believe it exists. When our organs have something wrong with them, like our hearts, livers or bones, there is a pretty tangible effect for those around us to witness. But we can, for the most part, still function. When the organ afflicted is the brain, however, the organ running the show, deciding how we act, react, communicate, socialize, etc., it's just...different. There are no open wounds, bruises, swelling, anything other people can see. How do they know it's not fake?

And what if you're an actor for a living?

I've been a fan of Eric Millegan since early 2008, when I started watching the Fox show Bones. He played my favorite character, the unintentionally hilarious Asperger's case Zack Addy. Ironically, while he was shooting the seasons that made me a fan of the show, Eric Millegan, while playing a wholly unemotional character, was going through emotional hell. Recently, he posted on his YouTube channel that he had been living with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder and was ready to talk about it. Creative types are, by nature, excellent storytellers, so here, in his own words, is Eric Millegan's story:

There were times when I was going through hell inside, but people on the outside didn't necessarily notice. [So], I was able to press forward. I remember at the up-fronts for Bones the very first season, I was going through a nasty episode. With me, everything gets very, very quick in my chest, everything really hurts, and everything's really fast, and I was on the verge of tears, and I even had to excuse myself so I could leave and cry my eyes out. And I remember Emily [Deschanel] and I were in a limo together and I said, "I'm really going through a tough time right now," and she was like, "I can't tell at all." And in a way, it was a nice breakthrough for me, like "I can just keep trying to do things even though I feel a certain way."

On performing at New York's Cast Party:

I wanted to sing a song at Cast Party, but I was really a mess inside. My emotions were all over the place. I [thought], "I don't think I can do it," but I kinda wanted to get up and sing a song. So, I got up -- Chita Rivera was in the audience, of all people -- and I sang "Leaving's Not the Only Way to Go" from Big River, and I got a standing ovation and cheers from Chita Rivera, and I remember that being so exciting. I remember I walked up onto the stage, like I didn't take my coat off or anything, and I sat there in the stool and sang, and I really connected with people. I connected with Chita Rivera, even though I was going through a [bipolar] episode.

On support from Bones:

A lot of times I feel I probably would have ended up in a mental hospital if it weren't for the structure that Bones gave me. But [showrunner] Hart Hanson came to me at the end of the first season and said "You're valuable to the show, so if you need to [leave] and get better, you'll still have your job when you come back." And that meant a lot. And I did not end up going to the mental hospital because I've worked my whole life to get a job like Bones. To get a job that's that high-paying, that high-profile, and it was my big break, and I didn't want to miss one second of my big break... But very specifically, Emily and Hart were the ones who knew about it early on, and they were very, very supportive.

Hart Hanson, who has experience with loved ones who were mentally ill, says he "had a little warning of what was coming with Eric." 

"On the pilot, he seemed lost and slightly awkward and slightly timid -- none of this was true, by the way. But what I noticed first was that he would tie his shoes many, many, many times until they were balanced...There's any number of things [that the] symptoms I recognized could be. Depression was one, although I did recognize mania. I was hoping that he was obsessive-compulsive."

On his breakthrough:

The big breakthrough day was when I woke up really, really depressed one morning -- very, very, very depressed -- then I got really happy and decided I would go to Disneyland. And then I got to Disneyland and I started crying. And I was like, "Something's wrong with me," and I called Charles, my partner, and said, "Something is wrong with me. I was crying and crying and crying and I have no idea what's wrong." And that's when I knew something was wrong. I had just gone from really depressed, to really happy, to crying, and something was just not right.

After Disneyland, Hanson became a crucial figure in Millegan's support system.


"I felt I had no choice. It was odd, because it was just somebody I hired, and I saw he was in trouble, and the next thing you knew, we were in there, in the midst of this thing, and there was just no hope of turning your back on him. It's like sticking your foot in a river and getting pulled in, and I was just in it. And I'd just shrug and say, 'I'm in it. I'm in it with him, and he will be okay, he will take his medication, and he will get better,' and it all turned out to be true, but it was very stressful at the time. It was very stressful being around someone who was having such a hard time. Such a terrible time, and terrified of making a misstep. Terrified to say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing. It was really quite something."

When he got the part on 'Bones,' Millegan moved from New York to Los Angeles, which he says "definitely" triggered symptoms of bipolar disorder. "The combination of the move to LA and getting the television show."

On denial: 

I thought, "Oh, this is just moving to LA. I moved to LA and they're going to give me a bunch of drugs and make me eat sushi and stuff."

On being diagnosed and telling the cast and crew:


Hart knew when I knew. When I was diagnosed, he was the first person I told. Emily I probably told not long after that. The others didn't know for a while. Eventually they found out. Hart was slowly telling crew, producers and actors on the set. I don't think I told Michaela [Conlin] directly. I think she found out. Tamara [Taylor], didn't come in till second season, but early in the second season, I pulled Tamara aside and said "Hey, this is what I'm going through."

Hanson recalls, "He had a very tough time. It was a very tough time with mood swings and mania. Essentially, he and I had a talk and I said it was up to him and I wanted him to talk to his shrink, but I thought it would be better if the people he was working with knew what he was wrestling with." 

On working:

For whatever reason, I was able to still do what I had to do. From "Action" to "Cut," I could hold it together. Then in my trailer, I would be a mess. But when we actually shot the scenes, I just did it. I just did it because I didn't want to lose it.

Hanson says, "He'd recover from just about being a puddle on the floor and then do his scenes. And it was very impressive. Not everyone could have done that."

In Part 2: Going on medication, suicidal thoughts, and going public.

Eric also recommends the book "Detour: My Bipolar Road Trip in 4-D" by Lizzie Simon, a gift from Emily Deschanel, which recounts stories of several people living with bipolar disorder.

For more information on bipolar disorder and mental illness, visit the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance.





[Source]

Jamie Frevele
Jamie Frevele
Posted: October 29, 2009 11:14 AM

Eric Millegan on Living (and Acting) with Bipolar Disorder: Part 2

Going on medication to treat mental illness is yet another painful aspect of the disease. First admitting that there is a problem, but then coming to grips with the fact that one's brain cannot function without pharmaceutical intervention is especially difficult. Those already suffering from a mental illness are forced to accept that the very organ controlling every part of their body and mind is not working correctly, is "defective," and can only be helped with drugs. As if to think, "I'm not just mentally screwed up, I'm also organically, naturally screwed up. There was no escaping this." It is admitting defeat.

Hart Hanson on getting Eric Millegan to trust medications: "I just kept telling him that the drugs gave him a fighting chance at starting from the same place everyone else started. And it wasn't something extra, it was that he lacked something that needed to be replaced with these medications. And he was good about that. Every once in a while, he'd think that there was a slight conspiracy to make him take his drugs, between me and his manager and his doctor. But he got by that pretty quickly. And the odd thing was that, of course, we were conspiring against him to get him to take his drugs. [Laughs]"

Again, Eric in his own words:

On medication:

Over a two-year period, we fiddled with the amounts of medication and certain kinds of medication that would make everything fall into place for me. And it did, and we have, and I feel great now. And it's been a year or two years or so since I've really had any problems at all.

Right from the get-go, I was all worried, "Am I going to lose my creativity? What am I going to lose if I go on this medication?" Well it was all very slow. The very first thing we tried was Lamictal. A therapeutic dose is considered around 100 to 200 mg. We started at 25 mg. I was still getting worse and worse, not because of the medication, but the medication was "chasing it," if you know what I mean. It was like if I wasn't on medication, it was [still] going to get worse and worse and worse. So we upped it to 50, and we upped it to 100, and we upped it to 150. Ultimately, at about 150, I finally had a day that wasn't bad. And we eventually went up to 550.

And then we went on a different medication called Zyprexa, which has two things it does that I've had to come to terms with and deal with. One thing is it makes people gain weight. It really, really increases your appetite. And I heard all sorts of stories about people saying they took it and gained 60 pounds, and I was like, "No! I can't have that!" But it made my mania go away and I gained a little weight, but I was like, "I'd rather gain a little weight and be happy." The other thing is that it really does knock you out. On this medication, I tend to want to sleep between 12 to 13 hours a day, and that's very hard if you have auditions and work to do.

Then I went on Lexapro. Zyprexa kind of slowed down my manias, stopped my manias altogether. But I would still occasionally have some depression. So I went on 5 mg of Lexapro. And there were some side effects I wasn't very cool with. And I had to cut the teeny little tablets in half, to make it 2.5 mg - perfect. It had no side effects, and no depression.

On the worst of it:

I used to be a mess, I was really mentally ill, going through these horrible emotional episodes. I used to wonder before this befell me, Why do people get depressed, or why does anyone want to kill themselves? You realize when you have a mental illness like this, you don't want to kill yourself for any specific reason. You want to kill yourself because your brain is actually programmed to want to kill itself. When you live this illness, you end up just being wired to want to kill yourself. And it's very painful.

As a supporter, Hanson felt "in over [his] head" and sought advice from professionals on how to help. "[Eric] was in big, big trouble, and it was very easy for me to imagine standing over a grave, and having not done the right thing. So I got a lot of very good advice on what to do with it. But I've raised two boys, and as I've said, I had a bipolar girlfriend for a year [whom] I lived with, and my pal [from college], and I've lived a life. I'm an old guy, I'm a middle-aged man, but I was way over my head. This was big, serious business, someone in real distress and real trouble. So I couldn't just say, 'Oh, common sense is the way to deal with this.' It's not common sense, it's a whole different thing."

On going public:

I was hoping that I could say stuff about mental illness that maybe people didn't know. You know, speak up for bipolar disorder and let people know a little bit more about it that they may not have known. And hopefully give inspiration, or consolation, or comfort to other people who are bipolar. To hear someone else say, "Yes, I'm bipolar too." To come out, like coming out as a gay man, letting other young gay men know like "Look, there's this guy on a TV show and he's gay." Just to let people know, too, that you can be bipolar, you can be going through hell...you can get through it.


Bipolar disorder is a scary disease, but it is manageable. And I feel blessed that I was able to get the right attention and the right medication to deal with my specific illness. And if you have it, just take your medicine, get to people who are supportive of you, and know that you can get through it. You can do it. And if you're not bipolar, and you're just wondering what it is, just know that it's very real, it's very painful, and it's not who the people are. Once you get the right combination of medicine, you can find out and be who you really are and not this illness that is making you go nuts.

If you know people who are suicidal, or if you know people who are bipolar, depressed, have panic attack disorder, just be there for them. They're going through something that's very, very hard. And even if you don't understand it, understand that it's hard for them. If you have a friend or a family member who's bipolar, or has panic attack disorder, or is depressed, read up on it a little bit so you can get to know where they're coming from. I, luckily, had someone like that in my life who called the bipolar hotline, went on the Internet and looked up bipolar disorder, and was very supportive and understanding, and that man was Hart Hanson. He was very understanding and well read on everything that was going on with me.

Hanson on Millegan's fight:
 
I think that one of the things that's toughest is that if you're suffering from something, you have to become suspicious of your feelings. All of a sudden, you can't trust your feelings. And you have to have your brain or your intellect go "Wait a minute, what I'm feeling is not correct." Eric went between great happiness and great sadness. Despair and euphoria. And he is rapid-cycling, so that would happen several times a day. It would kill a regular human being. And I could see it happening in moments. And Eric has never been good at not trusting his gut.

Things are so much better now, and he's just so strong now. He's just such a strong human being for having gone through hell. Hell he went through. I mean, I get breathless thinking back on it.

Hanson on being a support system:
 
I would say, "Watch out - you're not a white knight." You can't save anyone. You cannot save anyone. I say that because I think people have a romantic idea of going in and being the savior for someone who is mentally ill. And you can't do it. You cannot do it. It's a big, big deal. Also, you have to acquaint yourself. You have to make yourself knowledgeable in what they are going through so that you know how to respond to them. Because 90% of the time you want to say, "Oh, stop it." If Eric was crying, I would say, "Everything is all right." Well, it's not. It is on the outside, but it's not. You have to find out how to deal with that. And then, you know, hang on. It's a rough road. It's a tough go. I would say on the plus side, Eric and I were strangers when we met. And all of a sudden, we were in a war together, a quiet war. So you get to know someone. And luckily for me, Eric is someone worth knowing. There's a mighty soul in there. It was kind of a privilege to be standing there with him when he was going through all of this, to get to know someone like that. To see them in their worst and their best and all that, and that doesn't come along every day.

For more information on bipolar disorder and mental illness, visit the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance

To watch Eric Millegan talk further about his story (and other things, including basketball), visit his YouTube channel.

Wednesday 21 October 2009

Needless to say

I've never doubted his talent, and here is a proof. This is his new single and it's featured for theme song of the movie 2010.
And his new pictures kissing with woman has been released recently, Details Magazine.
Whatever he does, it's sexy. He says "It doesn't mean I'm necessarily sleeping with them." in Access Hollywood.
Anyway, here is his new single.

Update: The clip has been deleted once but it's back.


Thursday 15 October 2009

I can't wait

Here is the interview with producer Rob Cavallo, he talks about Adam Lambert's album. His new album will be released on the 24th of November. It's more than a month. I can't wait.

originality

A Danish musical drama film released in 2000, "Dancer in the Dark" made me realise of the existence of a fabulous singer, Björk. I knew her but actually I hadn't heard her songs until then. She has a.., let me say, a transparent voice, I mean clear voice. Of course her voice sometimes become strong, colourful, fragile, and etc. What should make a special mention is her way of singing. I think it is quite original.

"All is Full of Love"

Wednesday 14 October 2009

Unique & Fun

In the early 80's, around me, there were two groups. One of them was the Madonna faction, and another one was the Cyndi Lauper faction. I belonged to Cyndi's. Comparing to Madonna, she is not such commercial, but Cindy is still a big person in me. She is cute and a good singer. She has various tone voice. She also appeared in Queer As Folk (US version).
For me, she is a flesh and blood who has warm heart. I think that she is not only the appearance, she has her own policy and she follows what she thinks, she shows us her real feelings in her attitude, including charity activity, against war and etc.

"True Colors"

Starting point of my music

I actually don't remember when I started to listen to Queen. But I can say it was definitely in the 70's. Probably middle of the 70's, in my early teen age. How many songs I tried to remember? I already gave up counting. Mostly it depended on Freddie Mercury. He has a wide range of voice, he plays many instruments, he writes songs, and sometimes he also arranges it. In addition, he keeps bearing music that rows with the tide in mind, and being always a top runner. I know I should've written in past tense but he is still in my heart.

"Bohemian Rhapsody"

Tuesday 13 October 2009

Genius

I can do nothing but refer to George Michael. George Michael cannot be removed from my music life. From the very beginning of time when he started his career as a member of Wham!, I've been a big fan of him. After they split up and George started solo career, I had become more enthusiastic.
I guess he has a lot of problems with his private life, but it doesn't matter. I love his music and him. He is genius in music.

His single "Jesus to a Child" is a tribute to Anselmo Feleppa, then partner, and he always dedicates it to him before performing it live. Sadly I haven't had any opportunities being at his concert.

"Jesus to a Child"

Sweet voice

I don't remember when I heard his singing first. He has very sweet voice. Basically he was the runner-up in the 2004 season of Australian Idol. His voice makes me comfortable. I don't know the theory but I think his voice wave synchronizes to my wave.
He released two albums so far and he is currently working on the third album. It supposed to be released last year though, he was on musicals, Rent and Wicked, so he couldn't work on recording. Some people say he's not popular as he was in 2005, 2006, but I don't care. I only want to have his new album.

"Rain"

Delicate falsetto

One of my favourite singers, Darren Hayes. He has so beautiful voice. If I describe his voice, it's delicate and colourful. I can't count how many times I listened to his songs. Now he is making a new album. I can't wait.
After I started to write about his songs, I realised I didn't have enough vocabulary to describe them. I love all of his songs but especially I love "Insatiable" very much. Also "Strange Relationship", "I Miss You", "Heart Attack"... I should stop writing down, haha.
I wanted to put a clip of "Insatiable", but embedding has been disabled by request. Then I found that it's been allowed recently. When did it happen?

"Strange Relationship"

"Insatiable"

Monday 12 October 2009

2012

Adam Lambert's new song, "Time for Miracles" is the theme song for disaster-movie '2012.' I'm not sure if I'll watch this film, but I've already pre-ordered his new album.
When I heard his singing at first, I couldn't resist to listening his singing many times. I watch all episodes of American Idol usually, but I had very busy time when last season was airing, so I just recorded them on DVR and watched only Adam's part later. So I actually don't know much about other people singing.
I love music, I listen to music a lot, and I think Adam has beautiful voice and talent, I assume he is definitely one of the most fabulous singers.


Stephen Gately

I found his death from Darren Hayes's twitter. It was a big shock to me. As of today, they don't release any details of his death though, it is said that he was drinking for eight hours at bar, and got back their place, then fell asleep. It caused him vomit and he choked by them.
He was only 33 years old.
Their manager, Louis Walsh who is a judge of X Facter, wasn't on the show yesterday, so Simon Cowell who is one of the judges expressed his condolences.
I was shocked with Michael Jackson's death, but I wasn't a big fan of him, so I wasn't sad compare to this time.
R.I.P... the date of death 10th Oct. 2009.

Saturday 10 October 2009

An article from The Guardian

There's life after Simon Amstell for Never Mind The Buzzcocks – and it's funny

We go behind the scenes at the comedy music quiz, where it's all "flowers and unicorns" according to Noel Fielding


Priya Elan / The Guardian,
backstage never mind the uzzcocks
Taking care of Buzzness: guests including Peter Serafinowicz and Newton Faulkner get miked-up backstage at Never Mind The Buzzcocks Photograph: Brian Ritchie/BBC

They are Googling "Alex James" in the production office of Never Mind The Buzzcocks. The Blur bassist is this week's guest presenter.

"How old is he?" asks a twentysomething member of the team. CLICK.

"Oh my god! Born in ... 68... He's well old!" she says scanning a web page. CLICK-CLICK.

"And his real name is Steven? He is so married, too ... Damn. But he doesn't look happy with it does he?" CLICK-CLICK-CLICK.

At the other end of the crowded room, a couple of producers iron out a few bits of the script.

"Is 'Googlebox' a word?"

They are brainstorming names for the former pop star lineup section of the show. This week it's ViX from Fuzzbox and they want names that play on "box".

A few furious scribblings out later, they've got it.

"Graham Box-on," says a producer, proud of his play on Alex James's sometime bandmate. "That's funny isn't it?"

We're here on the set of the third episode of the 23rd series of the panel show. Host Simon Amstell has departed since the last series because he wants "to concentrate on his stand-up" and the powers that be have decided that instead of a permanent replacement, a series of weekly guest hosts will better usher in the programme's new age.

"The thinking behind it was that we wanted to give airtime to some new comic talent who wouldn't otherwise get the chance," says the show's producer, Stuart Mather.

In that vein they've got the likes of stand-ups Jack Whitehall and Rhod Gilbert to fill Amstell's rather large comedy shoes.

"It's also really hard to book pop stars in advance …"

While Mather is keen to play down Amstell's hold on the show, he admits that his Bafta award-nominated tenure changed Buzzcocks forever.

"Our demographic changed with Simon," he says "He showed you could do things in a TV format that you couldn't do before."

There was an outcry when he departed, with posters on web forums wondering how the show would continue without the comic ("I'm done with Buzzcocks," said one), who, as he did on C4's Popworld, made his ability to cut musicians down to size a defining characteristic of the show.

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'Everyone is chipping in … I think the show is working better' - Noel Fielding
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So how has it changed the on-screen vibe?

"It's like a Mad Hatter's tea party now," Noel Fielding thinks. The Mighty Boosh star is another new element, replacing Bill Bailey as a team captain. "Everyone is chipping in," he says. "And I think that the show is working better for that actually, instead of the focus being on Simon having a go at someone in particular. He's genius at that, but sometimes it makes some of the musicians a bit tense and they don't open up."

Fielding cites last week's appearance by burlesque pop star Paloma Faith as a prime example. "When she started she was a bit weird. But then as the show went on she became funnier and funnier. Everyone ended up loving her," he says. "I don't think she would have been given that chance if Simon was still here."

Still, some of the show's best moments were the ones where Amstell baited the stars. Producer Mather recalls booking a pre-chart success Dappy from N-Dubz after Blue's Lee Ryan had pulled out.

"He was a last-minute booking; we got him the night before the show. Dappy was quite taken aback with Simon going, 'Who the hell are you?', and making fun of his hat, but the tension made for brilliant TV. The second time he came on we played on the fact that in the press he'd said he'd like to spank Simon. He was a bona fide pop star by this point and I just thought, 'We made you!'"

More infamous was Preston and Chantelle-gate: the ex-Ordinary Boy walked off mid-show when Amstell began reading from his then wife's autobiography Living The Dream.

"Hang on," says Mather. He then asks the PR if he's allowed to "talk freely" about the former Celebrity Big Brother contestant ("I don't want Talkback to go mental," he says). He's given the go-ahead.

"I saw the interview in Heat where he said he was wrong to react the way he did to the incident. And then I read that he said, 'I've always been about pop,' and I thought, 'No, you wanted to be a fucking mod!"

Would you have had him on again?

"Well we could have made a joke about it if he came back on but we'd rather have a new comic on the show than him. He was just one joke, really. The thing is, Preston needs the PR more than we do."

Clearly. His single didn't even make the top 100.

"Fuck me!" says Mather, genuinely shocked.

Watching the show being filmed, the absence of Amstell as curly-haired ringmaster has inexorably changed the panel's dynamic. This is mainly thanks to the captains; long-serving Phill Jupitus and new guy Fielding.

They've transformed the slightly tense and caustic atmosphere created by Amstell to one of mild surrealism.

"The chemistry is different to something like Mock the Week," says Fielding. "They are brilliant and skilful but it's a bit aggressive and male; they need some women on there. I'm a token woman anyway. Phill can be aggressive if he wants to, but he doesn't like to. But it was never going to be a bear-pit-type panel show. When shows become a bit 'alpha male' I don't like them. I prefer them when they're all flowers and unicorns." He laughs at the idea: "The ladyboy speaketh …"

Guest host Alex James is surprisingly eloquent. Pre-show he says, "They've made me funny, it's amazing! Despite the fact I'm slipping into Simon's shoes, it's not intimidating. Only because I've got six people writing for me."

Indeed, tonight he puts his previous hosting experiences in the shade. Sadly there's nothing like BBC2's If Music Be The Food Of Love where he played a cheese bass, but there are lots of dairy-centric gags and obscure Blur tracks in the intros round.

Interestingly, the interjections by panelist comics Peter Serafinowicz and Holly Walsh fall a little flat in comparison.

"It doesn't work if you're constantly worrying about getting gags in," says Jupitus.

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'I can pinpoint the moment that Chris Moyles crumbled' – Phill Jupitus
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"All the comics who've had a hard time on the show are thinking, 'Must do jokes, must do jokes', instead of interacting. And it's 90% about listening to what the other people are saying."

He cites the example of Chris Moyles, who appeared on the show and slagged it off the next day on his radio show.

"He got me on his show and accused me of having a J-Lo-like fit about chips not arriving from catering, which was a lie. It was ungracious," he says.

"I can pinpoint the moment he crumbled. We were doing the intros round, he wasn't doing well, and Vic Reeves turned around and said to him, 'Chris, do you actually like music at all?" Just because he wasn't funny on the show … he should have just gotten over it."

During the show's two-and-a- half-hour filming session, it's somewhat startling to find that the Buzzcocks' format and stalwart set pieces still work, 22 series and many lineup changes later.

It's still edgy (potentially unbroadcastable gags include ones about Kirsty Wark blacking up, Gordon The Gopher being a prostitute killer, Tom Cruise's sexuality, and "retarded Wombles"). Most importantly, it's enjoyable.

Jupitus believes it's "purely maths" that makes it work. "The show is constantly refreshed because the new faces outnumber the old ones. And we have a great mix of comedy people and pop people. So we get a zeitgeisty mash-up. I said when I began on the first series that I'd still being doing it if it was fun. And it still is."