Hello, fans of listening to conversations. Rob Bryden here. I hope this is the podcast you thought

you were clicking on and you weren't expecting a searing insight into the current state of politics

in Britain. My guest today is Nina Conti, known most now as a ventriloquist, although she is also a

director, and will soon be seen, much to my delight, in the new Spinal Tap film. We talk a little bit

about that. Sheik has, of course, a very famous father, Tom Conti, the very

celebrated actor. We discuss in our conversation how she started out as what you might call

a straightforward actress. A bit like Ruth Jones, she found herself playing very small, non-speaking roles at the Royal Shakespeare Company.

And like Ruth, she found it rather frustrating.

It was a meeting with Ken Campbell.

If you don't know who Ken Campbell was, look him up, it'll be well worth your time.

And that was to prove very influential.

It basically set the course of her professional life.

So many lovely things. And we analyze. We analyze ventriloquism. And small man in a box ism.

I'm not sure that we come to any great discoveries, but it's fun along the way. Pour the water

into your bath, add some salts, lie back, turn out the lights and enjoy, right, and Nina Conti.

I'm looking for approval from Nina Conti because she is my guest today.

Welcome.

Hello.

And has turned up in a similar thing with the poppers and, you know.

I know they're not laminate.

They're just quite a basic silver.

We look like a country music. My thing is it rises up at the back and makes that cold where you'd have your tramp stamp.

...