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ECO'fl‘iéndiymv
dear Watson
Offering a shambolic take on Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, comedian Mark Watson tells Emma Lennox how
he's trying to save the planet
ccording to Mark Watson. saving the
planet would. at the very least. 'look
pretty smart on all our (‘Vs‘. With an already sterling comedy resume. Watson takes on environmentalism in his latest book. ('rup at the Iini'imnrnwit. which through the author‘s leading example. seeks to change people's attitudes on turning green. ‘l'm trying to remain funny at the same time as saving the world.‘ says Watson excitedly. ‘l‘ingers crossed!‘
It‘s Watson's aim to motivate the ordinary people of the world who can‘t see the trees for the tree huggers. No ('aptain l’lanet. himself. Watson uses his everyman qualities of humour and crap-ness to dispel the preconceptions. ‘Basically by being fairly rubbish at it. I defuse any feeling that I might have become a cult member.~ he says. ‘lt would be like a happy-clappy Christian saying. "Mind you. I do sometimes cheat on my wife.”
Yet Watson is now a bona tide activist who has received training from none other than Al Gore himself. This year Watson performed the award-winning lecture from An Int-oni-wiii'nt Truth to 1500 people in Melbourne's town hall. an experience the professional comedian
describes as ‘frightening‘. But why bother
with live lectures when the DVD is readily
68 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE 21 Aug 4 Sep 7008
available'.’ ‘.'\n awful lot of people haven't [seen the filml. because they think it would depress them too muchf says Watson who is appearing at the Book festival in an event sponsored by The List. ‘Why do I need to spend two hours of an already stressful life being told that the planet is about to become uninhabitable'."
Watson is too much of a nice guy to be a fire- and-brimstone speaker. and instead he's returned to what he knows best: comedy. ‘I've doctored some of his slides.‘ he says. ‘l've messed around with the graphics and just presented it in a shainbolic way. ’l'here’s still a long way to go before it's side—splitting. but it's probably more entertaining than Mr ( iore's version.’
If a little laughter helps the medicine go down. then the least the planet could hope for is someone more entertaining than AI (iore. But how would Watson like an ()scar-winning film added to his (‘V'.’ Any plans for the seguel'.’ ‘I might call it {in Ini'mn‘r'nient Life and focus on the way we'll all have to make sacrifices we’re not enormously keen on.’ he says. warming to the idea. ‘Yep. I can just see it on a poster. This is going to be massive.‘
23 Aug, 4.30pm, £9 (£7). Sponsored by The List.
THE HISTORY WOMAN
Rosemary Goring tells Doug Johnstone about finding the voices or ordinary people
There's been a resurgence of interest in Scottish histOry among ordinary punters. a trend Scot/and: The Autobiography taps into brilliantly. Edited by Rosemary Goring. a sometime contributor to The List. now literary editor on The Herald. this extraordinary collection consists of pieces of first- hand experience spanning 2000 years from the people who were actually there. detailing both the monumental events of Scottish history and the stuff of normal life.
‘People are getting more interested in history in a much less academic way.' says Goring. ‘They want to know the story ol it. I think it's all part of self-determination, the move towards (,levolution and possibly independence; people want to know more about our past. We're allowed to feel better about our history now: it's as important as anybody else's.'
The breadth and depth of Scot/and: The Autobiography are remarkable. contributions ranging from Roman historian Tacitus to Mary Queen of Scots and Billy Connolly. With so much material to choose from, how on earth (lid Goring decide what went in'? "The first thing I did was work out a skeleton of Scotland's history by trawling history books.’ she says. ‘Then I had to winnow those events down. because there were far too many. Then I filled it in with other. everyday stuff — an artist's story or a writer's or something from sport. It was really important lor me to portray the social experience throughout those years as well as the big events.‘
The book is incredibly readable. Goring using her day-job experience as a journalist to spot the more attentiongrabbing accounts of our history. The single criteria for inclusion was that something was readable.' she says. 'This book is for ordinary people. not historians or academics. Without wishing to sound crass. it‘s like a tabloid newspaper version of history. it's meant to be immediate and lieadliiie—grabbing.'
I Rosemary Goring and Stephen McG/nty. 25 Aug, 5pm. £79 (£7).