Having grown up watching Harry Hill on TV, Ben Duncombe never imagined he’d get the chance to come face-to-face with his comedy hero.
But the De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) student has not only had the chance to meet the comedian, but also got to put him on the spot about his career.
Comedian Harry Hill with DMU students James Hunt and Ben Duncombe
Ben, 20, interviewed the multi award winning comedian for his show on student radio-station DemonFM. The interview will be broadcast at 1pm today (Tuesday, 13 February).
The third-year Music Technology student became the envy of many fellow students when he secured the interview with one of the UK’s most-loved comedians, who was in the city for the Leicester Comedy Festival.
Ben said: “I grew up watching Harry Hill on TV. He was a big part of my childhood and I’ve been a fan ever since.
“I remember watching him on You’ve Been Framed and Harry Hill’s TV Burp.
“He was everywhere when I was growing up, you could say I grew up with him, I’m a huge fan.”
Ben did lots of research on the comedian and prepared the questions he wanted to ask. But he still admits to being nervous as he thought Harry might “give him grief.”
He said: “Luckily I had nothing to worry about as Harry is such a nice guy and we got chatting straight away.
“He’s so eccentric on TV. But I was pleasantly surprised as in real-life, he’s very laid-back and down-to-earth. He told me he was a very good actor on stage!”
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Ben used his initiative and asked for an interview with Harry when he was interviewing Geoff Rowe, the founder and director of Leicester Comedy Festival.
Just a few days later, Ben was sitting in a dressing room at the Curve theatre asking Harry a series of questions. He asked him what it was like to take part in the first Leicester Comedy Festival 25 years ago, what he thought about the city, where the name Harry Hill came from, and to coincide with Shrove Tuesday, what he likes on his pancakes.
Ben said: “I just kind of asked Geoff ‘is there any possibility I’d be able to have an interview with Harry?’
“I just thought I’d try it, it had to be done, I couldn’t resist.
“I thought I had nothing to lose…but I didn’t want to get my hopes up, I didn’t really think it would actually happen.”
Ben is now urging other students to ‘try their luck’ and ‘make the most of potential opportunities’ as Harry is the most well-known celebrity he has interviewed.
He is interested in a future career in radio production and plans to include the Harry Hill interview on his CV.
Ben said: “When I got the email from Geoff saying an interview had been arranged, I was in shock. I was happy but shocked at the same time.
“It just shows that you don’t know what can happen until you ask. It also shows that it’s all about who you know in the industry.”
Ben and fellow student James Hunt, 21, who is also a third-year Music Technology student, spent about 15 minutes with Harry after the comedy festival event ‘An Interview With Harry Hill.’ Ben asked the questions, while James was the technician, the students then edited the interview together.
DMU is the Higher Education Partner of the Leicester Comedy Festival.
Posted on Tuesday 13 February 2018