Jack Whitehall has travelled with his father, parented with his father and this month will be touring a new live show in Aotearoa with, you guessed it, his father. This time, however, his mother is coming as well.
“I definitely have an idea in my head of what the show is,” says the British comedian and television personality when asked about Jack and Michael Whitehall Live. “But that seems to be very different to the idea of what the show is in my mum’s head and what the show is in my dad’s head.”
It is in constant evolution. It was first created in November for the New York Comedy Festival, which invited the pair to perform. The festival’s pitch was for a curated Q&A at Carnegie Hall. Whitehall’s family had other ideas.
“My dad was a theatre producer back in the day, my mother was an actress and I’m a comedian, so we instantly wanted to up the ante and make it something more theatrical,” Whitehall says. “It’s become a whole production. There’s singing, there’s dancing, there’s special guests and surprises, and bits of stand-up and performance. It’s grown into something quite funny.”
There’s a mixture of bemusement and weary resignation in his voice when he discusses some of his parents’ ideas for the show. Dad Michael was keen on performing a song and dance number to a Barry Manilow tune.
Mum Hilary wanted to incorporate elements of that most horrific category of British theatre, pantomime. Whitehall quickly put the kibosh on both.
He scratches his head in thought and says, “I think nominally I’m still in charge. Maybe my powers are dwindling now that Michael’s ego is bloated to the size that it is. He’s started throwing his weight around a bit.”
This could be attributed to his curmudgeonly dad becoming the breakout global star of Whitehall’s series Travels with My Father, thanks to his quick wit and grumpy demeanour towards his son’s exhausting enthusiasm and jocularity.
“I always feel very envious of my father because it’s not even a persona he’s created. His personality on screen is that he is cantankerous and miserable and dismissive and utterly disinterested in people. It’s kind of a superpower because if someone catches him on an off day – which is, to be clear, every day – they’re never disappointed.
“We were somewhere the other day and it was quite crowded and someone was trying to come up and he told them to fuck off. I was like, ‘Oh god, that’s not great,’ and then I turned around and saw this woman and it literally made her day. She was like, ‘Oh my god, he did his catchphrase to me!’”
This is worlds apart from Whitehall’s own public persona which, he says, was created as a “defence mechanism” to manage his social anxiety long before becoming a comedian. “It’s a good tool if you’re in a situation where you’re feeling in any way anxious. You sort of ‘turn on’ a version of yourself and it helps you navigate through those moments.
“The downside is that you’re tethered to that persona, which is something I feel a lot. I’ve created a personality, in terms of the shows I do, that’s quite high-energy, cheerful, upbeat and a bit of a joker. Which, obviously, I’m not all of the time.”
Whitehall’s comedy career has intertwined with his dad for about 15 years. After performing a couple of solo shows talking about their relationship, he felt he’d exhausted the idea. His producer suggested that instead of abandoning the concept for an upcoming Edinburgh festival run, he embrace it by getting his dad on stage with him.
“The plan was that I was going to do a chat show and Michael was going to sit on stage like a flesh prop – a bit like The Dame Edna Experience – and I would make jokes at his expense and he would sit there and look grumpy. That was the pitch.”
He persuaded his father to be the butt of his jokes for an hour each night with promises of a five-star hotel and Edinburgh art gallery visits.
“Michael reluctantly agreed to do it, having never been on stage in 70 years. He came up and couldn’t resist the urge to undermine me and throw abuse at my interviewing style and ask the guests questions that were very inappropriate and generally just derail the whole thing.”
A chap from the BBC found their double act hilarious and approached them to do a show. A pilot episode led to many more.
“We did five series of that chat show and then five series of the travel show on Netflix and then the documentary. I can’t get rid of him now,” Whitehall says. “It’s maybe one of the worst mistakes I made.”
He’s joking, of course. He describes the work he does away from his dad ‒ stand-up, TV, film roles ‒ as a “circuit break” from constantly working with Michael.
“But I do always seem to drift back,” he muses. “I do love spending time with him and Mum. It is fun to do stuff with him and I’m very aware that it’s not going to be forever as well.”
Michael is in remarkable shape for a man of his years, but each time they work together, they both think that’ll probably be it. But it never is.
“You know, he’s 84, and he’s amazing. He’s still got energy and is completely with it and firing on all cylinders.
“He’s always up for doing things. It makes me very thankful for the time that I do get to spend with him.”
That includes their tour here, which he likens to a family holiday. “As far as I can tell, my mum and dad have basically a wino trip planned for New Zealand,” he says. “They’re going to go to some island with a load of vineyards on it for a couple of days. My dad’s a real wine aficionado; he loves wine so much.”
Whitehall won’t be joining him on what we guess is Waiheke. Instead, he has more low-key plans for his family, partner Roxy Horner and their one-year-old daughter, Elsie.”I’d like to just get out in nature,” he says. “I live in the city, so it’d be good to just explore a little bit while Michael’s out getting drunk.” l
Tour dates: Christchurch Town Hall, January 23 & 24, 7pm; Spark Arena, Auckland, January 25, 7pm; Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington, January 27, 7pm. Jack Whitehall: Fatherhood with My Father and Jack Whitehall: Travels with My Father are available on Netflix.
