Rowan Atkinson - Interview with Elton John

good evening and welcome to the national theater for this the third in our series of informal conversations with major performers it has been a very exciting season so far which has encompassed such performing Giants as Ian McKellen Dame Judi Dench and of course Christopher Biggins but tonight we had to welcome a man who although no giant has nevertheless made a huge impression in his chosen field ladies and gentlemen mr. Elton John me Alton do you mind if I call you Alton no that's good well Elton I'm sure the first question that everybody would like to ask you is this funny name Elton how did you come by it well I used to be in a band and I wanted to become a singer in my own right and I wanted to choose a name and a saxophone player and the band was called Elton so I chose that name well did you ever consider John Elton no you you didn't okay right well let's start with those early albums then one of which I believe was called simply Elton John yes that's correct when you didn't feel awkward with the name it no you didn't feel that people might say wait a minute they mean John Elton they've cocked up the record sleeve and printed the bloody name the wrong way around I thought it sounded great and you know I thought people would be more interested in the music rather than the name now to the songs themselves many of the lyrics were of course written by Bernie Taupin yes that's right what I'd like to talk about Bernie for a while since obviously he's been an enormous influence on your career yes yes tell me did you ever discuss changing his name because presumably talkin Bernie would have been more consistent with your Elton John look do you want to talk about the old songs or not alright alright the songs the old songs your song is a classic isn't it yes quite popular yes well there is a verse in that song in which talking about the eyes of the person that the song is about you sing excuse me for asking these things I do you see I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue yeah what I'd like to know is this is it this sort of chronic forgetfulness that led you to forget that Elton is not in fact a Christian name at all it is a surname and not a very attractive one at that let's talk about something else sorry forget the name alright mr. John let's talk about being a stage performer should we tell me do you ever watch other performers and get jealous I'm not sure I follow you there I mean jealous of what well for instance Ben Elton I don't have to do this you know I just alright alright look I'm sorry look I'm sorry go alright fair enough moving on then many consider your masterpiece of course to be the album goodbye yellow brick road and there is one song that people are particularly moved by called called candle in the wind yes a lot of people seem to like that song now this song is in fact dedicated to Norma Jean Baker who of course changed her name to Monroe Marilyn Marilyn Monroe my point exactly Marilyn is a Christian name so it comes first can't you see that you were blind or something any minutes I've had another this alright no no wait please I'm sorry see please I'm sorry it was my mistake I'm sorry there's only one more question to go it won't take long really it won't take a moment sorry there's only I am please sit down one final question you've obviously achieved enormous success over the years but in fact you didn't have a solo British number one until this year with a song called sacrifice now my big question is this surely you wouldn't have had to wait so long for a number one it's can with your stupid pointless bloody name what a head dick

Channel: SlugBalancer

Views: 18,348,770

Rating: 4.9190884 out of 5

Keywords: Rowan, Atkinson, Elton, John, Hysteria

Id: Nl0HqlbX7dc

Length: 5min 46sec (346 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 23 2009

Reddit Comments

[u/BatXDude]

OP, you made it into the huffington post

[u/DoKtor__K]

Atkinson Rowan is the comedian greatest.

[u/knubby]

"Silence. I must deliver the punchline"

[u/Stingerfreak]

I've always felt like Between Two Ferns was a blatant ripoff of the wonderfully absurd Jiminy Glick shows. Insulting the subject, unfamiliarity with the subject matter, mispronouncing names, etc. Here's my favorite clip.

[u/BushiestBeaver]

TIL North Korean dictators loved Elton Johns look.

[u/I_LIKE_SEALS]

oh god the end

[u/Quizzelbuck]

Op isn't wrong.

[u/Schr0dingerr]

The bit where he plays the devil greeting everyone in hell always cracks me up.

[u/PedroDelCaso]

Fuck that was fantastic!