ROB BECKETT: I’m a Chinese Takeaway & a Pint - If You Don’t Like It, Don’t Come Again

Great Company with Jamie Laing

Host Jamie Laing sits down with comedian Rob Beckett to discuss the highs and lows of a decade-long career in the spotlight. The conversatio

Key takeaways

• Rob Beckett utilized speech therapy as a child to manage a rapid, 'churned out' way of speaking.
• A viral moment during a cricket match in South Africa actually coincided with a period of profound sadness and burnout for Rob.

Main topics

• Comedy career evolution
• Mental health and burnout

Notable quotes

A comic voice is you, but without any worry or preconceptions about what you should or shouldn't be doing.

Conclusion

An insightful exploration of how to maintain authenticity and mental w

Transcript preview

Speaker 5 (0:00) I've definitely had that sort of burnout. It went viral and I've never felt sadder. Imposter syndrome, poverty mindset, it was all just done from worry and panic. Speaker 4 (0:07) What happens when you reach your limit? Speaker 5 (0:09) This is... I'll let this one off because you're nice. I cannot stand cameras, zoomed in shots, crying. Eat shit. Speaker 5 (0:19) Shug a heel, get back on the desk. Just got to review some Speaker 4 (0:22) thumbnails. Speaker 5 (0:26) Ironically, that'll be the thumbnail. Hello, I'm Rob Beckett and I'm in great company. Speaker 4 (0:30) You've got massive teeth, haven't you? Have I? Didn't realise, mate. Speaker 5 (0:33) You never fail to live with a very funny Mr Rob Beckett. I love being stand-up. I'm providing a service. I'm a Chinese takeaway in a pint. Do you know what I mean? It's 30 quid. If they don't like it, don't come again. If they do like it, come back. How Speaker 4 (0:43) do you find your voice? Essentially, your Speaker 5 (0:44) comic voice is you, but without any... worry or preconceptions about what you should or shouldn't be doing. But it takes a long time to lose that. Speaker 4 (0:50) At the age of like 15 to 18, I was very insular, very shy, Speaker 5 (0:55) very anxious. Like if I dropped a glass, I'd like cry. Just sort of, I've done something wrong. So a bit like that. You had a little stutter? I had to go to speech therapy as a kid. I would just talk with no gaps and like that, like sort of physically. It was just like churned out. So they helped me like try and slow down. Speaker 1 (1:31) Ruby, how do you take your tea? Steaming, piping hot and spilled with my best friend. Wednesdays an annunciate. Speaker 2 (1:37) has Speaker 1 (1:37) entered a new era and the tea is better than ever. Join me, Melissa Tattam. And me, Ruby Adler, every Wednesday and Friday as we dive into friendship, pop culture, modern relationships, wellness and the chaos of navigating life. Speaker 2 (1:49) We are best friends and for us, nothing is off limits. Celeb stories, life milestones and Speaker 1 (1:54) your juicy dilemmas. We're here to share it all with you. So fancy joining us? The Speaker 2 (1:59) kettle's on. Speaker 1 (2:00) Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 4 (2:06) Hey guys, welcome back to Great Company. We've got Rob Beckett on the show. I've been trying to get Rob on the show for about seven years, even though this show isn't seven years old, but I've been trying to do a podcast with him for seven years. Rob, one of the biggest comedians in the UK, has his TV show Rob vs. Romesh. Before we start, I want to ask a quick thing about you guys' incredible community. What do you want to see more of? Let us know. It could be guests, it could be content, it could be more of me, it could be anything at all. Let us know in the comments because we want to hear what you would like. And also, if you can click that subscribe button before we start, that'd be amazing. Okay, here we go. Enjoy this wild episode of Great Company with Rob Beckett. Speaker 5 (2:43) I'm just assessing. We've got the stiff back chair. Yeah, yeah, nice. To make you uncomfortable. Speaker 4 (2:47) I can Speaker 5 (2:48) see. I know what you're up to. Speaker 4 (2:49) Wait, wait. But you're once professional. What are you talking about? We haven't got this kind of setup. Speaker 5 (2:53) This is basically Stephen Bartlett with a smile. Speaker 5 (2:58) Is that what Speaker 4 (2:59) you Speaker 5 (2:59) put at the top of the tagline? That's our tagline. I can Speaker 4 (3:01) imagine him around a big conference table, candy kittens everywhere. Right, Speaker 5 (3:05) guys, what's next? We've done the wedding one. We've done the kid one. But now I need one that's just me because I need more of me. Anyway, what are we talking about? Speaker 5 (3:19) That Speaker 4 (3:20) will be alright. You have your new golf channel. And firstly, you do everything. What's that? As in you have a show with Ewan Romesh. You have your podcast. You do your stand-up. You do a radio show. Yeah, to be fair, I have... You're about to do Traitors. You also just started a new golf channel. Yeah, to be fair, I'm truly frightened. You're doing a fucking Speaker 5 (3:42) look. Speaker 4 (3:42) Stones and Glasshouse. Is that the same? Yeah, Speaker 5 (3:44) no, I'm pretty busy. Why did you start Speaker 4 (3:47) the golf channel? Speaker 5 (3:48) Golf Channel because I wanted to get better at golf. And I thought if I do that, I'll be forced to do it because I've got a commitment to put an episode out. Then also I thought, well, if I am going to do it as a hobby, I might as well try and monetize it. Speaker 4 (4:02) Nice. It's Speaker 5 (4:03) quite hard to do that on YouTube. Are Speaker 4 (4:04) you monetizing at the moment? Speaker 5 (4:05) Yeah, but I'm definitely making a lot. Yeah. I need a sponsor. If anyone wants to sponsor it. Does Candid Kittens want to sponsor it? Yeah, maybe. I basically, I just, I don't even care if it earns that much money because I just want to play golf, but I can't make... I can't be making a lot. I can't go from shows that are profitable to make a lot. It's a terrible business move. Speaker 4 (4:24) That's Speaker 5 (4:24) not Speaker 4 (4:24) a Speaker 5 (4:24) good idea. No, like, okay, Rob, you've spent 15 years being a stand-up comedian. Do you want to do a tour? No, I want to, you know, lose a grand a month from playing golf. Speaker 4 (4:32) But who, how do you get people on? Because that, you have to go and play golf with you. Speaker 5 (4:35) Yeah, that's why so far my... That's a lot. Yeah, but so far the people that have appeared on the show have been my dad and my brother Speaker 4 (4:41) and Speaker 5 (4:41) Tom Davis. I Speaker 4 (4:43) know, Tom Davis. Speaker 5 (4:44) It's not like Speaker 4 (4:44) I've got, you know... We're on it now. So who's going to be, who'd be your top guest to get on? Who would you really love? If they said yes, who would you be like? That's great. Who would Speaker 5 (4:54) I Speaker 4 (4:54) really love to play golf with? Stanley Tucci. You'd love that. Speaker 5 (4:57) No. You'd love that. Can I be honest? Yeah. I like Stanley, but he's a bit everywhere and he always looks like he's got the ump. Do you know what I mean? That's how Stanley comes Speaker 4 (5:07) in, slightly with the ump. Speaker 5 (5:09) Chow Man, he was like... Speaker 4 (5:11) He Speaker 5 (5:11) always Speaker 4 (5:12) looks like he's slightly annoyed with everyone. Speaker 5 (5:16) But Speaker 4 (5:16) Holly Willoughby Speaker 5 (5:17) wheeled him out in the first one before she spoke to the girl who has loads of sex. That was punchy. That Speaker 4 (5:23) was punchy. Speaker 5 (5:25) The problem is... You're doing it for the clicks. This whole industry is clicks and views and people get... I'm not doing it for the clicks. Well, you know, you're doing it because of trauma. Speaker 5 (5:37) You can't rest. So if you're not going to rest, it's much better to do this than drink on drugs. This is the thing. This is why there was way more drug addicts and alcoholics back in the day in showbiz. Speaker 4 (5:49) Because? They couldn't do their own podcast. So they were waiting for the next job. They were waiting for the next job. Imagine Speaker 5 (5:54) you, if you weren't in control of your own diary, imagine you waiting. Speaker 4 (5:58) But you're a little bit like me. Speaker 5 (6:00) Yes, I'm very similar to you. We get on well. We get on really well. And also... Same energy, Speaker 4 (6:04) different backgrounds. You have that desperation as well to like, you need to work. You need to do something. You need to keep going, going, going the entire Speaker 5 (6:12) time. And you can't stop. And I think you flip-flop between wanting to stop, but then also keep going. Like, I was giving you a bit of grief, but it's because I say a lot myself and you, but I'm in a transitional point of trying to calm down with work. It's Speaker 4 (6:23) just so much shit. But I Speaker 5 (6:24) can't help it because I sort of... get excited about something, and then I agreed to do it. And before you know it, I'm doing it. But I think I'm trying to make sure that I'm doing it for fun and enjoyment as opposed to, must do this because if I don't do something, I'm, you know, worthless and it's all going to go wrong. You know, that sort of fear and worry. So I'm trying to do it through joy and fun as opposed to fear and worry. Speaker 4 (6:44) It's like one of those things that I keep trying to train my mind to do. The reason why I do this is because I genuinely love it. I love sitting and chatting to people. It's the best thing in the world. Like sitting with you today, how... This is like seven years in the making for me to sit with you on my podcast and like chat to you. Really? Yeah. Well, not really. Speaker 5 (7:02) Wow. Speaker 4 (7:04) Wow. Speaker 5 (7:05) And this is it. This Speaker 4 (7:06) is it. How's it feel? It feels... It's a fancy climax. Speaker 5 (7:09) Fine, actually. Speaker 4 (7:10) Yeah, Speaker 5 (7:10) it's actually Speaker 4 (7:11) alright. But to be Speaker 5 (7:12) fair, because when I first saw you, you used to do Made in Chelsea. Yeah. Obviously a reality show, you had to get that sort of... version of you out the way and we did bits and bobs together and you used to turn up on stuff but all anyone spoke to you about was money or Chelsea and then so you've done really well with the business of Candy Kittens you've proved you're Speaker 4 (7:29) a Speaker 5 (7:29) good businessman and then you've also you're really good at this you sound like an agent am I sitting Speaker 4 (7:34) with my agent Speaker 5 (7:34) you've got an agent Speaker 4 (7:35) you're sounding like it's really good you've actually listen the plan was to do this we've done quite well with it on paper it shouldn't work Speaker 4 (7:44) This boy from absolute privilege in Chelsea Speaker 5 (7:47) now has got his sweet factory in Marylebone. Fuck off. I should hate you. Do you know what I mean? I should really hate you. Actually, say more things out loud about you. I can't believe I'm here. In what's that, a gilet? A fleece Speaker 4 (8:02) gilet? I have a new stylist. You've got a new stylist? Yeah, they got me this. Are you wearing a golf top? Yeah, I am actually, yeah. No, my point is, I love doing this, right? But I try and separate doing stuff because I'm competitive and I want to be successful. And I want to be driven by the love and joy of stuff. Yes. Rather than looking at the numbers and what's doing well. And if that succeeded, I want to separate those two. So you're Speaker 5 (8:27) sort of powered by a little bit of panic and worry. 100%. Wanting to prove that it's going well and you're Speaker 4 (8:33) a Speaker 5 (8:33) success. I Speaker 4 (8:34) think so. Speaker 5 (8:34) Yeah, which is fine. But Speaker 4 (8:35) do you have that? Speaker 5 (8:36) Totally. I have that as well. For me, though, when I started, I was bad at everything. Wasn't good at anything, right? At school, really bad. Dyslexic at school. Didn't find out until I was older. So when I started in comedy, I realised, oh, you're not bad at this. And if you follow this track, because I used to look at who won all the new act competitions, Speaker 4 (8:53) it was Speaker 5 (8:53) like Russell Howard and Kevin Bridges. I was like, oh, and then I was on a par with them at that age. If I do that and do that, and then I should do that. And then I thought, right, well, if I just work really hard, I can get there. And then for about... When I started, I was 23. I'm 40 now. So for the first 12 years, I gigged five, six nights a week, sometimes two or three times. One, because it made me feel really good because I was good at something. You're getting the validation from it. Yeah, exactly. So I always felt like I was rubbish at stuff. All of a sudden, I'm good at stuff. Speaker 4 (9:20) So Speaker 5 (9:20) that was great because I felt unbelievable because especially at the beginning, every gig you got better, really. And it was a big mark to you. It's like when you start running. Speaker 4 (9:27) Yeah. Speaker 5 (9:28) When you first, you're terrible at running, right? And you can do about a minute. But then after a couple of months, you can sort of run for half an hour. You feel unbelievable. But then it plateaus, doesn't it? A little bit. You know, it's not much fun. So it was like that with comedy. And then I sort of did that. And then I come from no money. So then, oh, hang on, I can get security here that I've never had as a kid. So if I work really hard and do loads of tours, I can get some money in so I feel safe. Then married, kids, wow, okay, I need more money to feel safe because there's other people. So you do that, you do that and that, and then you build up. But my problem was... Once I sort of got the money, I still felt scared. Speaker 4 (10:02) But you wouldn't lose it? Speaker 5 (10:05) Maybe lose it, but maybe it wasn't enough. I just felt worried and I didn't feel good. But then all my self-worth was wrapped up in how the gig went. So if the gig went well, I thought I was amazing. If it went bad, I thought I was crap. Speaker 4 (10:18) Even though there were so many gigs before that went really well, one gig would make you straight away go, well, that's it. Yeah, because it's sort of, you know, because everyone also, you know, Speaker 5 (10:27) that kind of thing, which I've... got into it, just be in the moment. But like, if you're being booed off the stage, right, I'm in that moment. They're all booing and shouting your shit. So in this moment, I feel quite shit. So for me, what helped was separating my self-worth from work and normal life. So that helped. And now what I'm trying to do now, I've taken a bit of time off. I've got not much on in the autumn. And I'm trying to float along and enjoy my life without it being so, got to do this, got to do that, got to do this. But that's difficult because, you know, I do my golf channel and I'm enjoying it, but it's sort of a little bit of a fun project. But part of me will still be like, hang on, I've put that out and I've only got 20,000 subscribers and Jamie's got loads and Jamie just interviewed someone and all of a sudden that's 500,000 views and he's Speaker 4 (11:14) got Speaker 5 (11:14) all people doing it. So then I have to go, well, no, no, why are you doing it? If there was an extra zero on that view, would it make me feel much better? Obviously the money would go up, but... I'm in a position now where that's not as crucial as it was. Yeah, Speaker 4 (11:26) so then what am I after? Speaker 5 (11:27) So what is it I'm chasing here? If I take time off, Speaker 4 (11:30) every Speaker 5 (11:30) morning I'll have a battle with that wolf at the door that says, everyone else is improving, everyone else is being better, everyone else is getting more views or selling more tickets. And I have to try and process that thought to sort of relax and enjoy the day. So that's where I'm at in the middle because what I used to do was just work, work, work, work, work. And in that way, the voice of coming of like, you're not enough, you're not doing enough. Oh yeah, I can because I'm doing this now. Speaker 4 (11:53) I'm going to play you something. Is it my own voice? No, you'll know the voice because what you're talking about is basically what this person is talking about. Speaker 3 (12:00) Hello, um, right. Oh, it's my wife. The best thing about Rob, the thing I love most about him is how selfless he is. He will always, always, always, always put the girls and me above himself and what he wants to do or what he wants or needs. has got such a, like, commitment to family and our, like, unit. He has absolutely got us. Go Speaker 4 (12:27) pause it there. So that's from your wife? Speaker 5 (12:28) Yeah. Lou. Speaker 4 (12:30) So that's the best thing about you? Speaker 5 (12:31) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Which Speaker 4 (12:32) sounds obvious, but the amount you work, the amount that you do, fearful maybe of losing whatever it is, you do it all because of your family. True, but then that was a Speaker 5 (12:42) detriment at the start because I would over-prioritise that. I've got to do this, kids. I've got to do that. Provide them this shelter, this money or safety. But then that's the switching point is going, well, that's sort of when's enough so that I can actually be there for them. There's a stage where any sort of extra money or security is great, but you being there when they finish school is more important than that. Speaker 3 (13:05) So Speaker 5 (13:05) that's the transition I'm trying to do at the moment. Because Speaker 4 (13:08) then she goes on to say this, because we're going to talk about this. Speaker 3 (13:10) The worst thing is... Speaker 5 (13:14) She'll Speaker 4 (13:14) be Speaker 5 (13:14) good at this bit. I Speaker 3 (13:16) mean, it kind of goes hand in hand with the best thing, actually. He will always put us first and he will, like I say, to his detriment sometimes, he's turned down career opportunities before because it would have meant too much time away or, you know, all of the above. At the same time as that, he will sometimes work has been a lot and he's been away quite a lot. So then he'll go, I'm not going to work for a year. I'm going to take a whole year off. I'm not going to tour. I'm not going to do anything. I'm going to be at home. We've been repeating this pattern the last 10 years, say, since the girls have been born. And I can see the exact moment that it starts that kind of need for some sort of creative outlet. And if we're being honest, attention that just cannot be satisfied by three people in your kitchen. And he's like... Hey guys, look at this, look at this, look at me, look at me. And we're like, girl, stop it. I'm like, do we have to do this again? Just take some time off, give yourself a little break. And then when you feel ready or you want to make people laugh, just go and do it. This is not any sort of retiring from comedy. This is not Rebecca leaves comedy. Anyway, I'm rambling. This is very long. I'm actually losing my voice. So yeah, I hope you're well. I hope this was all right. Speaker 4 (14:34) She's amazing. Yeah, I love her. She's great. But does that resonate with you? Speaker 5 (14:37) I could never just completely, like, retire like Lee Evans did and do nothing. I don't think I could ever just pull the drawbridge up. Because I do, I love doing the podcast with Josh, love working with Romesh and that kind of stuff. And I will always love stand-up. I want to do gigs. I'm just taking a step back a bit. If you look at my diary now, there's barely anything in it, really, like there was last year. Because I was away for 180 nights that year when I was talking about that, which is insane. That's insane. Because Speaker 4 (15:00) obviously Speaker 5 (15:00) I do all this stuff in the day in the podcast, but then touring in the evening. So I'm like a ball of energy. I have to let it out. I have to go and do a gig. If I did nothing all week, I'd be mad. But what I need to do is a couple of gigs a week in London, not put on a massive tour. You know what I mean? Speaker 4 (15:15) What happens when you reach your limit? Speaker 5 (15:18) Well, I've definitely had that sort of burnout and exhaustion before. I had therapy at the start of lockdown in 2020. Did you? Which really helped because I just... I was just so like that. I was doing all those things we've been talking about, but with no understanding why. I was just getting so ratty when anyone comes to me in public and I had no time for anyone. I just was miserable, basically. And I was working with Romesh. It was an amazing gig. We went over to South Africa to film a show about the cricket and then went on a safari. I flew business class, but it was a problem with my seat, so they put me in first class. staying at a five-star hotel, went to the first day of filming, which was watch the cricket, England versus South Africa. And someone gave me a pint. I went on the big screen, downed it. And then basically the whole stadium went mental, went viral. Producers come up to me, brilliant, we've got the opening of the show, right? And I've never felt sadder. And I was like, this should be the perfect, nothing here. This is perfect. This is what you're working on. But it was just because I just said, I was so exhausted because it was all just done from worry and panic. It wasn't. I've done that. Brilliant. It's all like, oh God, what next? What next? And it was just too long of going 100 miles an hour. So lockdown was quite helpful for me because it enforced my biggest fear, which is what if it all stops? And it did stop. I had a big tour for the whole year booked in. All the gigs got pulled. Nothing in my diary. No money coming in. And at that point, I had, I'd earned well, but I hadn't earned well enough to not work, if you know what I mean. Speaker 4 (16:38) And Speaker 5 (16:38) I had a mortgage and a new house and kids were young. And so I started doing therapy and that's where I sort of understood a lot more about myself. And it's helped me sort of manage sort of a way forward because it was, you know, imposter syndrome, poverty mindset, where you grow up with no money, you think that the tap's going to be turned off. But as you know, there's loads of it everywhere if you keep your eyes open. And all these different things. But then, you know, and I wrote a book about it called A Class Act where I spoke about that. And I know I give you a lot of grief, but I had those things going on. But in my world, in a working class upbringing. like sending your kids to boarding school is child cruelty essentially that would be spoken about that like dropping your kid off at six or seven to boarding school is the worst possible thing you could do with your child whereas the world you came from it was the best opportunity for your child toughen you up give you all these things so it's a really complicated thing and I had a real chip on my shoulder against sort of people from privilege and especially in comedy because there's a lot of that Oxbridge stuff but then as I met them all and actually met the person I realised me and you are not in control over what hand we were dealt. We're only in control over how we deal with it going forward. And it made me understand that these people have got their own problems where I'll be worried about no money, but then you've been dropped