BIG INTERVIEW: Simon Brodkin is the living embodiment of a Prankster

This would be a person fond of playing pranks.

The name Simon Brodkin might leave some of you think who? Some might know the practical joker to whom I allude but if I add the caveat he is the comedian who created Lee Nelson then we are on the same page.

The comedian became famous for his fast talking character Lee Nelson as well as Jason Bent, who in 2013, ran onto the pitch at Goodison Park and attempted to warm up with the Manchester City team before their Premier League match with Everton.

His two recent stunts one played on Prime Minister Theresa May whom he handed a P45 claiming it came from Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson and in July 2015 he threw $600 of ‘real’ money at the then FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

These two practical jokes make headline news around the world and catapulted Simon to a new level of notoriety. So the first question I had to ask Simon was ‘What amuses you most about your comedy?’.

There was a laugh at the other end of the line and he said: “Ha, ha, ha what amuses me the most it depends on the character. If it is Lee Nelson then he is a lazy ball of silliness energy-left right and centre.

“He is a great ball of lovely confusion.”

Lee Nelson was one character created by Simon when he was starting out as a stand up comic and a comedian. He took his show Simon Brodkin: Everyone But Himself to The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2006. By 2009 he was commissioned by BBC 3 to produce Lee Nelson’s Well Good Show.

Talking about the pranks, he said: “Handing Theresa May her a P45 it has to be someone deserving.

"At the time she was the most powerful woman in Britain but I think these days Meghan Markle would have an argument with her about that fact.

“You need to pick someone who chimes with public opinion and at the time Theresa May was telling everyone she was strong and stable but there was all this infighting in the Tory party of her job.

“With someone like Sepp Blatter, you have to do the right stunt. At the time he was embroiled in the FIFA controversy about bribes and the whole of FIFA were in dispute.

"He subsequently lost his job. When I threw the money half of them must have thought oh cash in hand while the others would have laughed.”

As a foot note Simon did throw $600 of real American money at Sepp and every penny was returned to him by the Swiss Police.

There is a quote from the classic American comedy Seinfeld in which George Costanza played by Jason Alexander says to Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld): “It is not a lie if you believe it.”

I asked Simon if this statement was true in pranking, the more you believed what you were saying the more truthful it would seem to others and you would succeed.

He said: “I do not have the right to criticise a character from Seinfeld.

"If you believe it is true in what you say and you are absolutely convinced then yes I think you can pull it off.

“There can be outside influences which means you can come a cropper but if you truly believe then there is a very high chance you could succeed.

"When I was released with out being charged by the police after the Theresa May incident then I think it is a good result.”

He would not be drawn on who would be his next ‘prank victim’ but thought it could be Kim Jong-un, North Korean politician serving as Supreme Leader of North Korea since 2011 .

Giving his thoughts on what comedy means to him, Simon said: “In a single answer to make as many people as possible to laugh.

"Some people can be offended at jokes. If there is a joke someone has to be at the centre of the joke.

“There is nothing better than being on stage with hundreds of people, you holding a microphone and them laughing.

"I like it when there is credibility and people believe Lee is me. We all inhabit a character and we it needs to be as real as possible.”

Lee Nelson: Tour extended to cover legal fees for Theresa May stunt is sold out at the Brewhouse on June 7.