David Mitchell and Robert Webb

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

NPR

Society & Culture

4.5 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 13 April 2021

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

British comedy duo David Mitchell and Robert Webb have been making audiences laugh for over two decades. They began their career performing on stage and eventually transitioned to the world of television with their breakout sketch comedy shows The Mitchell and Webb Situation and That Mitchell and Webb Look. In 2003, they starred on the hit British sitcom Peep Show, a cult favorite that helped them reach international audiences. In 2017, they reunited for the sitcom Back, which is now in its second season. Mitchell and Webb join Bullseye to talk about their latest show, their experiences performing together as a double act over the years, and why they often create "unpleasant" characters in their shows. Near the end of the interview, we also talk with Robert Webb about some controversial tweets he posted in 2018 and later deleted that criticized a charity that provides care and support for transgender and gender nonconforming kids.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.
0:10.6	It's Bullseye, I'm Jesse Thorne.
0:22.2	David Mitchell and Robert Webb met in 1993.
0:25.4	They were college students at Cambridge in the UK.
0:29.0	They were doing fear and when they worked together they realized it really clicked.
0:35.2	So they took to the stage as a double act.
0:37.7	Mitchell and Webb.
0:39.1	Stage shows turned into TV writing gigs, TV writing gigs turned into their own sketch
0:43.2	TV shows.
0:44.6	The Mitchell and Webb situation, the Mitchell and Webb sound, the Mitchell and Webb look.
0:49.3	Then in 2003 they starred on a British sitcom called Peep Show, which helped make them
0:54.8	international names.
0:56.8	Peep Show is sort of like the odd couple.
0:59.2	There are two roommates, one sloppy, the other up type.
1:03.2	But instead of being shot like a movie or set on a stage in front of a live audience,
1:07.6	the camera in the show is mounted on each character's head.
1:12.9	Literally.
1:14.2	Every shot is a point of view shot.
1:16.7	You see what they see and when you are looking through their eyes you can also hear their
1:22.0	thoughts.
1:23.0	Also, unlike the odd couple, Peep Show is a great example of the story.
1:26.7	It's deeply, deeply dark.
	...

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