Live95 Limerick Today Podcasts

Legendary broadcaster Graham Norton chat to Joe

Legendary broadcaster Graham Norton joins Joe to discuss his newest book Frankie.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Duration:: 12m
Broadcast on:: 06 Sep 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

your views your news your limerick today with Joe net online ninety five joining us now is the multi talented Graham Norton broadcaster comedian and celebrated author and he's going to talk to us about his latest novel Frankie good morning to Graham hi Joe how are you doing I'm good so you say yourself this is probably your most ambitious book to date it is and I mean it is mad it's my fifth novel but and hopefully I you know you get better as you go along so I think I wouldn't have tried to write this book five books ago but this time I did it's a story of woman's life and it kind of goes back to 1940s Ireland and then and you go to swing in 60s in the London then you go to New York and 70s and 80s and it's kind of how her life you know she hasn't had a kind of celebrated life but it's the way that her life has touched other people and and kind of you know and friendships that last that long and love affairs and all the rest of the messy nonsense that makes up a life like it's an immigrant story a bit like your own I mean there's listen you'll notice Frankie doesn't go anywhere I haven't been she she goes to London in New York and I think there is some of that you know in that when she arrives in London when she arrives in New York you know that was my experience of you know coming from Ireland and kind of being astonished by these places and I've been kind of overwhelmed by them and and also that you know that idea of going back to Ireland and what Ireland's like yeah and obviously you have seen massive change here in the time that you've been back and forth since you made the move oh god yeah and I was stupid really because I was I when I left I left in AC 83 I think and I was out of here like I had no interest coming back nothing so I didn't really come back very much and then it was only really at the the turn of the century as we say when my father was very ill that's when I started coming back and and that was kind of when I started falling in love with the place again and saw how different the place was and I'm not like naive I'd change too you know what I mean I was no longer a man in my 20s I was you know in middle age and I had some money in my pocket and that's going to change how you experience place as well but for whatever reason I love it here now and I spend as much time as I can yeah I remember you're talking at one stage about the the Irish funeral and being reminded of the way that's done here compared to elsewhere like we do do it well we really really do and I know it's a weird thing to excel at like once people are dead you're great but but like I know when friends have died in London you said you're kind of like all at sea but they don't have the they don't have the traditions they don't have the the way of dealing with it and I and it's a like I say it's a real comfort I learned and when I was a kid I would see that happening and I would think oh why are you bothering those people look someone's died in their house why are you calling around why are you bringing a cake why are you doing all that and of course when it happens to you it's fantastic that's exactly what you want you want people to come around and tell stories about your dad and tell stories about the person you've lost yeah I mean we were mentioning at the start of the show that Helen Wogan has passed away Terry Wogan's oh I didn't know that yeah yeah she did indeed she died in the last 24 hours did you come across the wogan's oh I did of course yeah it was very fond of Helen and but especially Terry I mean Terry was so kind to me he couldn't have been nicer and especially when we you know when he decided to stop doing your vision and I was lucky enough to get the gig over in the UK and you know he there was no need for him to reach out to me but he did before I headed off to Moscow for my first one he rang me and wish me luck and gave me a few words of advice about not starting drinking before song nine and useful practical tips like that yeah um when did you get the rising bug Graham and look I suppose when I was a college at UCC and I was studying English I would write like little things as I put it you know when I was at age I wasn't going to sit in a room and write a novel you know I was out I was out getting drunk or making the money to buy the next drink so I wasn't going to write a book I'm sort of in all of young people who have that discipline that self-discipline so it wasn't really till my 50s when I suddenly I thought well okay I if I want to do this now's the time and also now's the time when I'm quite happy to sit in the room by myself and and lose myself in these worlds so but you know you anyone could start a novel I had no idea if I could finish one so when I finished that first one you know that kind of gives you a boost you kind of think okay I can't do this so whether it's good or bad I don't know but I can begin and finish a novel so here we are at Frankie book five yeah and you know when we talk to writers on the show and and we mentioned the critics to them for example I'm often amazed by how seriously some of them take that and and because of your profile did you wonder when you were writing books are people going to be nice to me or the opposite well I always assume they're going to be the opposite because you know I think anyone who has an extra right anyone hates my show or whatever but they don't get a chance to write about this they can review my book and then and then tell everyone exactly how much they hate me in my show so so that's what I was prepared for and there's been a bit of that and and you've got a you know you got a roll with the punches that's that show business and I suppose when I when I broke that first one I you know you imagine the worst case scenario the worst case scenario is everyone goes this is the worst book ever written what was he thinking what a moron and that would have happened my friends would have loved it and I'd have allowed them to enjoy it but even now five books in when I go out in front of that TV audience you know because that is my that's my proper job that's my day job and that TV audience I'd say 75% of them don't know I've ever written a book so reputationally I'd have taken a bit of a you know a bit of a bruising but I wouldn't have lost my job or anything you know I'd have been fine I'd have been fine yeah and now I know you we're working up to recently and at a very happy time at our sister station in London Virgin and and do you do you miss that passion do what I miss what I miss Jo and you'll know this is just the the being in your pulpit able to kind of wang on for three hours I've got an opinion about that song I've got an opinion about that telly show I watched last night I miss that but what I love is having my weekends back so my love of having weekends back exceeds my love of wanging on for three hours so yeah I did it you know I did it for 13 years I'd worked weekends for a long long time and I just thought it'd be nice to have them back basically the contract came to an end and I was at pains at the time to say and I'll say it now to you I was so happy at Virgin I had a lovely time nothing went wrong at a great time it was just when the contract came up I thought do I want to sign on for another three years or will I get out of here you know I'm in my 60s now so you know I think I've earned a lie in on the Saturday and have you been providing any advice to Tobs since he's moved to London I saw he doesn't need any vice sure he's doing really well I took him out for lunch and we did a nice catch up because I don't need to oversee him when I did the late late that's all I knew of Ryan so but I think he is a loving London it's it's a I can you can see him kind of blossoming in in in in London because you know what he had to go through you know the rights and wrongs I know nothing about any of that but just to be at the eye of that big controversy for so long I've never I've never experienced something like that so that must be hell and as we might say in Limerick it's all cork with you when you're home I presume it is like and I really I don't go anywhere like I sit there and what I say is if it's a nice day why would I go anywhere and if it's not a nice day why would I go somewhere because it's not a nice day so I end up just sat in the garden or sat inside on a rainy day and that's it for months but I do love it down there it's it's just great so this is kind of my last hurrah now I'm going around the country a vlog on my book and I'll finish up in cork this afternoon right fantastic and then your tv show is that coming back soon it is that's the end of the month end of the month uh back so basically tonight I go back to the UK and I start a book tour and I do the book tour for the rest of the month and then at the end of the month I'm in the studio and chat to people so it's a bit it's a busy month normally you know people think I work really hard I really don't but this week I am this week this month I am because you seem to have done a really good job of kind of restructuring your own life over the last few years yeah well look I'm in a very fortunate position I mean no uh you know with no illusions onto that so like I I've had a much bigger bite of the cherry that most people have you know I started hosting a chat show back in I think 1998 so you know most people don't last that long you don't end you don't get to do the thing you like for that long on tele but I have and uh but I thought when I turned 60 I just thought I need to you know sort this out a bit so I've knocked some weeks off the chat show so now it's on for half a year off the half a year I've dropped the radio so that's my weekends back and but I still got the books and I've still got my wine and you know whatever else comes along right and favorite guest ever on the TV show and people ask me this I don't really know what I the one that's most kind of fresh in my mind is Julia Roberts because we haven't we never had her before till the last series um and you know she'd never done a UK talk show before and you think is there a reason for that so you're a bit a bit trepidacious but no I was a moron I shouldn't have worried she was amazing just charisma to burn and just lovely with the audience and I mean the the Matt Damon appearance um that was oh yes that is yeah I have to I still laugh every time I think of that oh yeah do you think a drink do you think a drink and be taken you know what I do not if I were being for me to mention that Graham um but last last thing to you I mean do you have a sense of the appreciation and pride in your success that there is an island far having done as well as you've done over the years in London and so look all I know is when I come back and I'm walking around Bantry or wherever I am like people are nice they don't you know they don't spit my face they say nice things this mile in their way so uh I you know like I'm aware that people uh in enjoy the show you know I get a lot of feedback from from Irish viewers and things so I know I know that it's on here and that you know that's it's kind of lovely that you get uh that is the beauty of television you know you get to be everywhere I don't know people uh watch the show and uh do you go I know I I know they buy the booze I was in Molongari yesterday doing a book signing and everyone's coming at the book and then somebody came up with shopping bags clanking and I was I was signing I was I think bottles of wine but there there are signs but I should say by the way to the good people of Limerick if they fancy a signed copy they might find some in Omanis uh in the city center you never know fantastic right limited supply but they might be in there brilliant all right the latest novel is Frankie from Graham Norton and uh continued success to your Graham Grant to chat to you Adam to you Joe take care of yourself now here's the Scram Norton