- 2 weeks ago
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00:06Andy hello hi Virginia well there wouldn't be a child in Australia who hasn't read or
00:12heard of one of your books yeah I feel like I've transmitted my love of reading as a child to
00:19the
00:19next generation so very satisfied about that so how did you come to speak fluent kid this
00:25may surprise you but I was a kid for quite a long time and that window just stayed open for
00:32me that
00:33feeling of like anything can happen an infinite possibility I can access that at any time well
00:42you've just published your 41st book and you're taking it on the road can I come along absolutely
00:47see you there great I'll see you in Melbourne bye I'm Virginia Trioli and I've spent my life paying
00:57attention to creative Australians and wondering what is going on in that wild mind of theirs
01:05in this series I'll showcase artists and performers at the peak of their powers and tell the story of
01:11their triumphs their stumbles and why they make the glorious work we love so much Andy Griffiths is
01:22one of Australia's most successful authors he's the punk pied piper of children's reading luring kids
01:29to books all around the world you forgot to tell me about the page his treehouse just and bad books
01:37have been international sensations selling more than 20 million copies and Andy's popularity with kids
01:44has earned him rock star status
01:53I'm thrilled to be unashamedly celebrating the art of making because we are a country of so many brilliant creative
02:01types
02:10thanks for listening to TV so many years from the world with us who have been all around the world
02:16Andy hello how great to see you well I wanted to take us to a quiet space for a quiet
02:22little chat yes yes
02:23it's quiet but it's gonna get pretty loud very soon there's a lot of kids out there waiting to be
02:28very noisy
02:29200 of your fans for your new book.
02:32Yeah, yeah.
02:32And they get very excited.
02:34Should I have brought earplugs?
02:36You should have.
02:36You didn't get the memo.
02:37I didn't get the memo.
02:39All right.
02:40Never mind.
02:50Are you ready to hear from Annie Griffiths?
02:52Yeah!
03:00What are you normally studying on a Wednesday morning?
03:04Math.
03:05All right, would you like me to teach you some math?
03:10I can count to ten,
03:12but I just can't always do it in the right order.
03:19Andy, he never has that distance
03:21that some author might get from their audience.
03:23He's really tapped into what sort of makes kids excited,
03:27what kind of, like, sparks their imagination
03:29and what kind of drives them crazy as well.
03:32He loves that almost kind of combative relationship
03:35with his audience.
03:37This was my best climb ever.
03:43It is.
03:47I'll tell you the truth.
03:48That is me, but I didn't make the climb.
03:51I fell, and I fell many hundreds of metres until I died.
04:01They realise quite early
04:03that this contract of responsible adult and child
04:05has been broken at the start,
04:08and they think,
04:09OK, I've got to screw with this guy now.
04:11He can't finish it.
04:12Does anyone want to finish the banana?
04:14No!
04:16I'll throw it up in the air.
04:20There's this complicated paradox with Andy.
04:28He is both a chaos agent
04:31and a sort of a maestro,
04:35an orchestra conductor in a way.
04:37He knows how to make those two things work together.
04:42There's quite a lot of you.
04:44I've only got one book.
04:45I'll give you each a page from the book.
04:48Would that be fair?
04:52Who's happy for me to rip up the book and give you...
04:58I think we actually found a few hundred lost books
05:03and with this wonderful magic trick...
05:11That's the hero moment,
05:13when the books were revealed.
05:14You're all getting a book.
05:15It was like Oprah Winfrey.
05:17Yeah, yeah.
05:19What do you get out of this?
05:20The joy of the kids,
05:22their inquisitiveness,
05:24their challenging me.
05:25We're just celebrating
05:28reading stories,
05:30silliness.
05:31Yes.
05:32And that all feeds into positive,
05:36pleasurable associations with books.
05:38And farts.
05:40Oh, there's always a fart or two, yes.
05:55In order to write, Andy needs to play.
05:58So at the bottom of his garden,
06:00he's built himself a playroom
06:02to ensure that window to his childhood
06:05stays wide open.
06:07This is the treehouse.
06:09Yes.
06:10It's where all the hard work gets done.
06:16After you.
06:18Oh, wow.
06:22Andy, the 10-year-old in you has never left you.
06:25No, he didn't.
06:27He left me in charge.
06:29Is this a lot of your stuff
06:31from your childhood?
06:32Yeah, many items have been retrieved
06:35from the shoe box
06:36I used to keep under my bed.
06:39It evokes play for me.
06:42I've got a direct window
06:43to that 10-year-old.
06:45And so once he's excited,
06:47then I'm getting ideas to write.
06:54Oh, I love these things.
06:55Oh, they're cool, aren't they?
06:57I have one.
06:58So you've got to make one move
06:59and the other stay.
07:01You're really good.
07:02You're a professional.
07:03I spent hours on my grandmother's little donkey.
07:06And I love...
07:07There's no batteries in them.
07:08No, exactly.
07:09Yes, it's finger control only.
07:11One of my favourites is this little guy.
07:13He's got an eyeball head.
07:16And if we hold it like that,
07:18he's got a little lever at the back.
07:19Uh-oh.
07:21Got it.
07:23The other thing in here is books.
07:26How many books?
07:27Lots of books
07:28and some of the most important ones
07:30that have had an influence on me as a writer.
07:33And from childhood as well?
07:35Absolutely.
07:35This was one of the first books I ever had
07:38was Streville Peter.
07:40I know this book.
07:41I had this book too.
07:42It's called Merry Stories and Funny Pictures.
07:45There's not a single laugh in this book.
07:47Not really.
07:48Well, there's a laugh of surprise.
07:50The poor old little sucker thumb.
07:52Yes, this is the one.
07:53The red-legged scissor man.
07:54Yeah.
07:55His mother goes out and says,
07:56don't suck your thumb while I'm out
07:58or a man with long red legs
07:59and a big pair of scissors will come in
08:01and cut them off.
08:02And bang.
08:03And sure enough,
08:05mother is right.
08:06Poor old Conrad gets his thumbs cut off
08:09and at the end he's just showing his thumbless hands
08:13and Mama comes home.
08:14Ah, said Mama,
08:16I knew he'd come to naughty little sucker thumb.
08:19Just when you want your mother to protect you
08:21and love you.
08:22No sympathy.
08:22She told you.
08:24So even as a five-year-old,
08:26I realised there was something a little absurd about this.
08:29And there was some connection between horror and humour.
08:33Yeah.
08:33Humour helps you digest the horror.
08:36Right.
08:36And stand it in a way.
08:38So you need to build tension in your audience.
08:41But then I'll make them slip on a banana skin
08:45and suddenly the tension is released as a laugh
08:48rather than further nail-biting.
08:52Show me another one.
08:53What's another book that's really important to you?
08:54Oh, Dr Seuss was pretty important very early on.
08:59This was a great book because he starts telling you
09:03about all the different fish there are,
09:05that there's blue fish and old fish and new fish
09:08and some are bad.
09:10And then he just abandons it
09:12and just starts telling silly stories about anything
09:17and mind-blowing imaginative scenarios.
09:21Yes.
09:22A sing-songy, surrealistic landscape,
09:25which I just loved.
09:27And I put that on my hand as a sort of...
09:30Well, my arm.
09:31As a reminder, that's Mount Everest.
09:34That's the pinnacle of what you could achieve,
09:36a nonsensical book that you just fall in love with.
09:41And so that's what I've always been trying to write.
09:43And don't start getting designs on yourself, Buster.
09:47You know it's Seuss there.
09:49You're still not there.
09:50You set your sights high.
09:58The origins of Andy's rebellious spirit
10:01can be found in his listening room.
10:03It's a space filled with some truly impressive audio tech
10:07dedicated to his other great love,
10:09a deep and wild collection of music.
10:16How many years of collecting is this?
10:19Since I was 10 years old.
10:21And how many do you think you've got all up?
10:23I don't know.
10:24Maybe 1,000?
10:26Well, this one's for me,
10:27because that's the models, isn't it?
10:29Absolutely.
10:29And the boys next door on the other side.
10:31Yeah.
10:31Perfect.
10:32Pick one for you.
10:34How can you go past Cosmic Psychos?
10:36Love it.
10:37Punk rock at its finest.
10:39What did punk give you?
10:41Because punk's been really important in your life.
10:43Yeah, it's an energy that makes you feel alive.
10:46And that's what I try to get into the fiction.
10:52Andy loved and lived punk.
10:55As a young man, he fronted his own punk band
10:58called Gothic Farmyard.
11:09Did you love being in the band?
11:11Yeah, absolutely loved it,
11:13because music has been important to me right from the beginning.
11:16We can tell.
11:17And when I'm writing, it's a form of music.
11:20I'm listening to the words and do they sound good
11:23and do they have a nice rhythm?
11:25So there's a continuum there?
11:27Absolutely.
11:27And when I hear a song that excites me,
11:30it's like, oh, I'm so excited.
11:33I want to grab that energy
11:34and transmit it through my fiction to my audience
11:38because I wanted my stories to be like that.
11:42Well, that's so interesting
11:43because this is your youthful, anarchic punk stage.
11:46But that's a heck of a pivot from what I understand
11:50was a very stable, very happy childhood.
11:53Absolutely.
11:53Yeah, it was free-ranging all around Dandenong Creek
11:58and the bush all around that area in the eastern suburbs
12:02and lots of books to read at night.
12:06So surrounded by literature from a young age?
12:08Yeah.
12:08And my mother ran a second-hand bookstall for the school fete
12:12and every year our spare room would fill up
12:16with all the neighbourhood's unwanted books.
12:19Did you get first choice?
12:20Absolutely.
12:21I'd spent hours in there going through books on psychology
12:24and philosophy, potboiler adult thrillers
12:28that I shouldn't have been reading,
12:30but all grist to a growing reader's milk.
12:33We had a lot of kids in our neighbourhood
12:35and we were all out on the streets all the time
12:38and they gravitated towards me
12:40and I couldn't help telling them tall tales
12:44of things that I'd apparently done
12:47that were completely impossible.
12:49And the more they doubted me,
12:51the more I would invent supporting detail
12:53as to why this absolutely was true.
12:56And it was like a game we were playing
12:59for no reason other than the enjoyment of it.
13:03In his late 20s, Andy qualified as a high school teacher
13:07and worked in country Victoria.
13:09His writing life began
13:10with the challenge of trying to get the kids to read.
13:14The kids didn't like reading or writing.
13:17They said, that's, you know, for losers
13:19and who would go to the library?
13:22And by that stage, late 80s,
13:25children's literature appeared to be becoming safer
13:28and more messagey.
13:31And the sort of books I loved
13:33were the anarchy, chaos books
13:36that were just there for the sheer enjoyment of reading.
13:39And so I started doing the same for my students.
13:42So that was the beginning of you thinking,
13:44I can write stories?
13:46I didn't know that I could write stories,
13:49but I knew these kids needed something
13:52that was a little bit more modern,
13:55a little bit more punk rock.
13:56And I'd been watching The Young Ones.
13:59It was about the only television I watched in the 80s.
14:03But that punk rock energy of The Young Ones,
14:06I wanted to capture that in fiction.
14:09And so that's what I applied myself to do.
14:13Andy matched that energy with a steely discipline.
14:16For 10 years, he banked half his annual teaching salary
14:20and then gave himself two years off
14:23to see if he could make it as a writer.
14:26The words poured out of him
14:28and he discovered that he had an unexpected talent.
14:31Two years got me to the foothills of Everest.
14:35It didn't actually get me up top.
14:37But it certainly taught me
14:39I had a comedic gift when I wrote.
14:42So I was like,
14:43ah, so I'm not Shakespeare,
14:45I'm not Raymond Carver.
14:48I'm this clown.
14:49And I was like...
14:50My life will take a different path.
14:52Yeah.
14:52And in fact, I couldn't get myself out of the books.
14:56Andy was always the main character.
14:58This is happening to me.
15:00I tried.
15:01But then I saw Seinfeld and I thought,
15:04well, he's a character in his own sitcom.
15:06I can be a character in my own book.
15:08So that was a real breakthrough.
15:10But I didn't think I would be accepted
15:11as a proper writer if I'm doing this.
15:16But in the end,
15:17that's all I could do
15:18was submit to the voice that came through.
15:21And that's, I guess,
15:22what resulted in the first series of books,
15:24the Just books.
15:25Yeah.
15:25They were about me as a kid
15:28playing jokes on people.
15:30And they were horrendous jokes.
15:32But Andy always suffered
15:34more than anybody else in the end.
15:36He never got away with it.
15:38And that's what a book is to me.
15:40It's a form of play.
15:43And you might as well play hard
15:45rather than play safe.
15:49Andy was never going to play it safe.
15:52Graduating from short stories
15:54to his first full-length novel,
15:56Andy wrote,
15:56The Day My Bum Went Psycho
15:58and his mission to get kids to read
16:01by any means allowable
16:02was underway.
16:04It became an instant bestseller.
16:06May your bum be with you.
16:10The Day My Bum Went Psycho
16:12was the stupidest title
16:13I could think for a story.
16:15And it would also help to loosen up
16:17what I felt was an overly precious approach
16:21to literature for children,
16:23which there was always this idea
16:24it should have some moral uplifting
16:27or send some message.
16:29Yeah.
16:29So I wanted this to be
16:31like a Trojan horse
16:32to get everyone to say bum
16:35so often
16:36that they would just relax.
16:38Was it 1,200?
16:41273 times.
16:43Somebody counted up
16:44the amount of word times
16:45I said bum
16:46in a 50,000 word novel.
16:49It was the beginning
16:50of what we might call
16:51your controversy period
16:52because there was a big controversy
16:54about this book.
16:55I think it came from
16:56educational bureaucrats
16:57who got their bum in a twist
16:59about a particular poster.
17:00Yeah, we had a picture
17:02of a baby's bottom
17:03on the cover.
17:04It was like it was terrorising
17:06an entire city.
17:07Yes.
17:08And they said,
17:08oh, some people might get offended
17:10by the sight of a baby's bottom.
17:12Then it was on page three
17:15of The Age the next day
17:16and I was having a ball.
17:18It would have been a moment,
17:19I guess,
17:19where you got to decide,
17:20okay, what am I fighting for?
17:22Yeah, I need to be able
17:24to entertain these kids
17:26in the most powerful way
17:27I know how.
17:29Whatever you write
17:30is not going to please someone.
17:32I learnt that very early.
17:34So I thought,
17:35I have to please myself
17:36and I have to please my audience.
17:38And the gatekeepers
17:39certainly have to be negotiated.
17:42Yes.
17:42But I'm not going
17:43to compromise for them.
17:48In 2004,
17:49Andy and his collaborator
17:51and illustrator
17:51Terry Denton
17:52created another
17:53very naughty book.
17:55They called it
17:56The Bad Book.
17:58And it's as bad
17:59as you can get.
18:00It's one of my favourites.
18:02And this takes us
18:03right back to Seuss
18:04and to Grimm
18:05and everything
18:06but in the most concise
18:07little form.
18:08It's Bad Little Betty.
18:09Bad Little Betty
18:10wouldn't get out of bed.
18:12Was she being lazy?
18:14No, she was dead.
18:17I love that.
18:18Poor Little Betty.
18:19But also perfect.
18:21Yeah.
18:21And then,
18:23you know,
18:23most children
18:24are not traumatised
18:25by that
18:26because they realise
18:27how stupid that is.
18:28You know, it's like...
18:29That freaked a whole lot
18:30of people out,
18:31that book,
18:31didn't it?
18:32Yeah, once again,
18:33they thought,
18:34oh, kids will be traumatised
18:35by this
18:36or they'll go
18:37and do bad things.
18:38And I said,
18:39no,
18:40this is a thought experiment.
18:41They understand
18:42that if you call
18:43the book
18:43The Bad Book,
18:44it's not really
18:46that bad.
18:47It's a wink.
18:48It's a wink.
18:49But there was
18:49an obnoxious element
18:50in this
18:51which I think
18:51was a key
18:52learning moment
18:53for you
18:53about how far
18:55you can go
18:56and the jokes
18:57that you can't tell
18:58in a book for kids.
18:59Yeah,
18:59there's a strain
19:00of dark,
19:01you know,
19:02humour in Australian
19:03culture
19:04called the
19:05Little Willie
19:07rhymes
19:07and it was like
19:08Little Willie
19:09in his best of sashes
19:10fell in the fire
19:11and was burned to ashes.
19:13By and by
19:14the wind grew chilly
19:15but nobody liked
19:16to poke
19:17poor Willie.
19:18And there are
19:19many such
19:20variations
19:21of these Willie poems
19:22from the 30s
19:23and 40s.
19:23So I made my own.
19:25Little Willie
19:26took a match
19:26and set fire
19:27to the cat
19:28said Little Willie
19:29as it burnt
19:29I bet the cat
19:30hates that.
19:32And then he takes
19:32a match
19:33and sets fire
19:34to his bum
19:34said Little Willie
19:35as it burnt
19:36gee,
19:36that was pretty dumb.
19:38Little Willie
19:38took a match
19:39and set fire
19:40to his head
19:40said Little Willie
19:41as it burnt
19:42soon I will be dead.
19:44Now,
19:45no one minded
19:46him setting fire
19:46to his own bum
19:48or his head
19:49but the cat
19:50got me into
19:51a lot of trouble.
19:54The pylon
19:55was immediate.
19:57Educators,
19:58commentators
19:59and librarians
19:59scolded Andy.
20:01In 2004,
20:03the bad book
20:03was removed
20:04from libraries
20:05and bookstores
20:06around the country.
20:07It was a lesson
20:09he's never forgotten.
20:12I realised
20:13I'd transgressed
20:14the unwritten
20:15moral laws
20:17of fiction.
20:17If someone
20:18does something
20:19bad,
20:20they need to be
20:21punished
20:21in some way
20:22at some point.
20:24Okay.
20:25So I took it out.
20:26I've had him
20:27set fire to his knee
20:28and he said,
20:29ouch,
20:29that's hurting me
20:30and there was
20:31never any more
20:32complaints.
20:33So what is
20:34Too Far
20:35and do you
20:35instinctively know
20:37or is that
20:37just trial and error?
20:38What's odd
20:39about writing
20:40comedy is
20:41that you have
20:42to walk up
20:43to the line
20:43and then not
20:44cross over it
20:45and then the line
20:46changes,
20:47especially if you've
20:48got a long running
20:49series like I do.
20:51I'm on book 20 now.
20:53If you showed me
20:54my writing
20:54in books 1 through 5
20:56right now,
20:57I might cringe a little.
20:58I might not have
20:58written those jokes
20:59in the same way.
21:00And so I think
21:02that that's a really
21:03tricky territory.
21:04I think that humour
21:04doesn't always age well.
21:07Once we expunged
21:08all this obnoxious stuff,
21:10we were able to find
21:12other types of humour.
21:15Hi, my name's Andy.
21:17This is my friend Terry.
21:19We live in a tree.
21:21But it was the
21:22Treehouse series
21:22with illustrator
21:23Terry Denton
21:24that cemented
21:25Andy's reputation
21:26as the undisputed
21:28king of children's books.
21:30He's got a bowling alley,
21:32a see-through swimming pool,
21:34a tank full of
21:35man-eating sharks.
21:37Terry then drew
21:38this 13-storey
21:40wonderland
21:41and I recognised
21:42it instantly
21:43as a place
21:44I would want
21:45to live
21:46and any child
21:48and their parents
21:49would also want
21:50to live in this
21:50place.
21:51So I said,
21:52right,
21:53here's the book.
21:54You and me
21:55and Jill,
21:56my wife
21:56and editor,
21:58we're all living
21:59in the tree
22:00trying to write
22:01a book
22:01but we're distracted
22:02by all the wonderful
22:04stuff that's going on
22:05and that's why
22:06we can't write
22:07the book.
22:08And so that
22:09just took off
22:10in a way
22:11we hadn't
22:11even expected
22:13around,
22:14both in Australia
22:15and around the world.
22:17The Treehouse
22:18series engaged
22:19readers around
22:20the world
22:20and was published
22:21in more than
22:2235 countries.
22:25What struck me
22:26really quickly
22:27was that we
22:28were on the
22:29same wavelength.
22:30I'd been doing
22:30a lot of
22:31kids' books
22:31but I had never
22:33met anyone
22:33with a sense
22:34of humour
22:34that could
22:35drive me
22:36and bring out
22:37of me the stuff
22:38I wanted to do
22:39but somehow
22:40I was able
22:41to go into
22:41Andy Land
22:42as much as
22:43he was able
22:44to go into
22:44Terry Land.
22:54Andy has
22:55another great
22:56passion,
22:56one that gives
22:57him access
22:58to his creative
22:59state of mind.
23:02Running
23:02has always
23:03come very
23:04easily to me.
23:05I enjoy
23:06the repetitive
23:07rhythmic
23:08motion
23:09of it.
23:11I go
23:12into a
23:12different
23:12thought
23:13process.
23:14You're
23:14just in
23:15a more
23:15broad
23:16open
23:17state
23:17of mind
23:18where
23:18ideas
23:19are
23:20coming
23:20and going
23:21like
23:21clouds
23:21and that
23:22can be
23:23really
23:23useful,
23:24the big
23:25picture
23:26of what
23:26you're
23:27doing
23:27when you
23:28come back
23:28to nail
23:29it down
23:29into
23:30words.
23:33Well
23:34when you
23:34were learning
23:34to write
23:35you decided
23:35to apply
23:36your running
23:36regime
23:37to your
23:38writing
23:38talk me
23:39through
23:39that.
23:40Yeah,
23:40I thought
23:41gee,
23:41if I
23:41applied
23:42a
23:42similar
23:42kind
23:43of
23:44discipline
23:44to
23:45writing
23:45practice
23:46as my
23:47running
23:47perhaps I
23:48would
23:48improve
23:49writing.
23:50So yeah,
23:51I started
23:52a writing
23:52practice
23:53which consisted
23:54of timed
23:55writing.
23:55Three minutes
23:56on the clock,
23:57put your pen
23:58down and
23:59start writing
24:00and do not
24:00stop.
24:01So I was
24:02downloading my
24:03subconscious
24:03conscious in
24:04three minute
24:05bursts which
24:06eventually grew
24:06to ten minutes
24:07to half an
24:08hour to
24:09one hour.
24:09So free
24:11running is
24:11almost parallel
24:12to free
24:13writing?
24:14Yes,
24:15yeah.
24:15You're not
24:16trying to
24:16control
24:16anything.
24:17We have a
24:19free expression
24:20part of
24:21ourselves and
24:22we have an
24:22editor part of
24:23ourselves and
24:24you need to
24:25disable the
24:26editor for
24:27long enough to
24:28get the
24:28thoughts on
24:28the page
24:29and then
24:30you can
24:31make decisions
24:32about how
24:33much and
24:33how honest
24:34you want
24:34to be.
24:35But get
24:35it down
24:36first.
24:39Andy's new
24:40partnership
24:40with illustrator
24:41Bill Hope
24:41marks his
24:42next chapter
24:43in encouraging
24:44another generation
24:45of readers.
24:47I love the
24:48one where he's
24:48sitting on his
24:49throne there.
24:50Can you go
24:50back to that
24:51one?
24:52This one?
24:54Yeah,
24:54show me the
24:55middle one.
24:56That's
24:57beautiful.
24:59You've created
25:00a new
25:00partnership
25:01with Andy
25:02now after
25:02so many
25:03years of
25:03him working
25:04with Terry
25:04Denton.
25:05Is it
25:05hard to
25:06create that
25:06new rapport?
25:07It was
25:08surprising I
25:09think to
25:09everybody
25:10involved
25:11including
25:11me how
25:12well Andy
25:13and I
25:13got on.
25:14I mean
25:14there's a
25:1430 year
25:15age difference
25:16between us
25:17but at the
25:17same time
25:18we have a
25:19lot of the
25:19same kind
25:20of cultural
25:20references
25:21and a
25:21very similar
25:22kind of
25:23slightly
25:24chaotic
25:24silly
25:25sense of
25:26humour.
25:27So are
25:28you young
25:28enough to
25:28have actually
25:29grown up
25:29with Andy's
25:30books?
25:30Yes,
25:31yeah,
25:31I remember
25:32being in
25:32year 6
25:33class and
25:34getting a
25:34copy of
25:36Just Kidding
25:37or Just
25:37Joking,
25:38I can't
25:38remember which
25:39one it
25:39was and
25:40I remember
25:40there was a
25:40drawing of
25:41a half
25:42decomposing
25:43fish on
25:44the front
25:44that had
25:44a finger
25:45poking out
25:45of it and
25:46it was one
25:47of those
25:47things that
25:47just like
25:48scratched a
25:48little bit
25:48of my
25:49brain that
25:50was like
25:50this is
25:51weird,
25:51this is
25:51edgy
25:52kind of
25:52stuff.
25:52I wonder
25:54why the
25:54squid is
25:55mad with
25:55us.
25:56He could
25:56have some
25:57magical ink,
25:58we could
25:59be trying
25:59to steal
26:00the ink
26:00off the
26:00squid.
26:02Working
26:02with Bill
26:03is just
26:04a joy.
26:05I can
26:06say something
26:07or a
26:07silly idea,
26:08he's already
26:09sketched it
26:10before I've
26:11finished the
26:11sentence and
26:13that then
26:14suggests new
26:15avenues for
26:16me to
26:17expand on
26:18the story.
26:19So things
26:20are developing
26:21very quickly
26:21with Bill.
26:23Or it
26:23can just be
26:24an evil
26:24squid.
26:25Could it
26:26just be an
26:26evil squid?
26:27I'll put some
26:28evil eyebrows
26:29on him so
26:29we know who
26:30we're talking
26:30about.
26:31So it just
26:31allows me to
26:32go to
26:32different places
26:33with Bill
26:34and it's a
26:35very vast
26:36cinematic
26:37universe.
26:40I think
26:40what's most
26:41exciting to me
26:42is that Andy,
26:43when he last
26:44visited me,
26:44I saw this
26:45spark.
26:46I saw that
26:46he wanted to
26:47keep going
26:48and he had
26:48a new idea
26:49and he was
26:50really excited
26:51about it.
26:51Andy's mind
26:52is so pliable
26:53that I don't
26:54think he'll
26:55ever stop
26:55writing and
26:56I think
26:56that's a good
26:57thing for
26:58readers all
26:58over the
26:59world.
26:59Have bad
27:00books and
27:01naughty books
27:01and anarchic
27:02books had
27:02their day
27:03for kids?
27:04No, they
27:05will be with
27:05us till
27:06the end
27:07of time
27:09or to
27:09whenever people
27:10finally stop
27:11reading books.
27:12An anarchic,
27:13joyful,
27:14clowning
27:15kind of
27:16spirit
27:17is something
27:18that's innate
27:19to human
27:19existence.
27:21We need
27:21that comic
27:22perspective.
27:23Well, when
27:24I see kids
27:25literally screaming
27:26at the sight
27:27of you
27:27and the sight
27:28of your
27:28books,
27:28they're clearly
27:29not done
27:29with you.
27:31No,
27:31unfortunately.
27:33You've got to
27:34keep working.
27:35I've got to
27:35keep going.
27:36What colour
27:37is the stick?
27:38Brown.
27:39Brown.
27:40Brown.
27:41No.
27:41Correct.
27:42What shape?
27:42It's just
27:43like such
27:43a fun game
27:44to play
27:45with kids.
27:46Shaped
27:46like a stick.
27:47Shaped
27:48like a stick.
27:49Let's pretend
27:50what I'm
27:50about to
27:50say is
27:51perfectly
27:52reasonable
27:52when it's
27:53anything but.
27:55So it's
27:55just one
27:56long game
27:56of let's
27:57pretend
27:57with an
27:57enormous
27:58audience
27:58of readers.
27:59Absolutely,
28:00yes.
28:01So thank
28:01you very
28:02much for
28:03coming along
28:03today.
28:05Andy Griffiths
28:06everyone.
28:07Big round
28:07of applause.
28:13And the monkey.
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