Stephen Merchant: ‘Most famous people are f**cked up’

Video Description

Actor, writer and director Stephen Merchant joins How To Fail this week and is reflective, fascinating and - yes - even funny. We talk about what he learned from Ricky Gervais when co-writing The Office, on feeling rattled turning 50 and how it’s hard to fail as a stand-up comedian (but he got over it). Stephen Merchant is this weeks guest on How to Fail. Watch the full episode here, or listen now, wherever you get your podcasts. 00:00 Intro 02:45 Turning 50 and Reflecting on Life 04:56 British vs. American Ambition 06:54 Ordinary Lives in Extraordinary Circumstances 10:34 Comedy and Dark Roles 13:34 Height as an Advantage and Disadvantage 22:10 The Costume Designer Incident 22:58 Catching Up with Fame 23:49 The Celebrity Experience 24:30 Failure to Get into Oxbridge 26:44 University Life and Career Beginnings 30:29 Lessons from Stand-Up Comedy 35:07 Working with Ricky Gervais 36:38 Understanding Life and Success We’d love to hear from you! Get in touch with Elizabeth to share your failures, problems or questions - anonymously or otherwise. She'll go through these each week with the help of her very special guests. And remember: a fail shared is a fail halved. https://howtofailpod.com An Elizabeth Day and Sony Music Entertainment Original Production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow @sonypodcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected]