Frank Skinner: ‘I could never be a poet’

There's a little fact about Frank Skinner that you might have heard before. That before his big television break, the future comic and Three Lions scribe had a rather different vocation: as an English teacher in an FE college.

Throughout his time in the spotlight, it's been one of those things that gets brought up every now and then as trivia. An interesting titbit on an otherwise familiar CV. Then, at the beginning of last year, Skinner decided to go back to his educational roots: and launch a poetry podcast.

Okay, it isn’t quite a full return to the classroom. But it isn’t far off either - at least not in the way Skinner does it. Who else, other than English teachers, spends their time gently working through poetry, patiently explaining the concepts and imagery? Even, at times, pointing out the ‘homework lines’ (those lines that merit extra thought after hours).

All very worthy, you might think. But then worthiness wouldn't explain the podcast's success. At one point during the first lockdown - just when the government scrapped the restrictions on exercise - Frank Skinner's Poetry Podcast was the second most played in Britain. Which makes for a rather nice image: a nation of leisurely ramblers all enjoying the work of Philip Larkin.

'I honestly thought it would be more under the radar,' he says, when we speak on the telephone in a break from recording his third series. After all, how many people read poetry - particularly modern stuff? He quotes the Nobel laureate Wisława Szymborska who put the number at around one in 500. ‘And that could well be an overestimate,’ he laughs.

Was that his goal then: to get those numbers up? Not quite. ‘I don't expect people to listen to the podcasts and suddenly get into poetry,’ he says. ‘But if I can get them to like the poems that I like, that would be great.’

So what poems does he like? Judging by his output so far, he's not hugely picky on eras or types. In seventeen episodes, he's featured everyone from Romantics to Beatniks, as well as a Jesuit Priest and a 21st century Polish essayist. His current fixation is the debut collection from Ella Frears: a 30-year-old newcomer who just bagged the TS Eliot Prize with her acidic take on modern relationships.

A good poem, he says, is one that 'interrupts the modern world to add something that's missing'. It's an analogy, he explains, borrowed from the essayist and poet Peter Riley (another of his podcast subjects) who once 'interrupted' a Beach Boys song about ageing with his own, more downbeat lyrics.

As an example, he points to a poem from a recent episode: The Mutes by the American writer Denise Leverton. On page, it tells the story of a woman - seemingly polished and articulate - unable to shake-off a leering catcall. As a 64-year-old bloke, Skinner knows he's not the natural candidate for this kind of harassment. But he still feels intense kinship with the poem’s description of how humiliation gets into your bones.

Has he ever met any poets? ‘Only ones you wouldn't have heard of,’ he says - a comment not on my ignorance (I hope) but on his status as a regular punter at small poetry readings. He did spot Simon Armitage at an event once but ‘didn't have the balls to go up to him’.

An odd confession, you might think, from a man who spent much of the early 2000s interviewing A-listers on television - and who once sang a duet with Britney Spears. What could possibly be so intimidating about Armitage: a softly-spoken scribbler whose Polytechnic background is almost identical to Skinner's?

The answer, he explains, is in his reverence for poetry itself .'Poetry has always been this completely alien art to me,' he says. 'I am the sort of bloke who, when he gets into things, generally tries to have a go at doing them. But I've never thought I could write poetry. Not even as a teenager when everyone gives it a go.'

His humility towards poetry is refreshing. But does it also betray a slight insecurity? He admits, for example, that one of the upsides of hearing from poets featured on the podcast is knowing that his interpretations aren't completely off the mark. Last year, meanwhile, he decided to decline an invitation to judge the prestigious Forward Prize - though he insists it was just for time reasons.

What’s next for Skinner? A return to stand-up is planned for this summer, with a new UK-wide tour. He still hosts his breakfast show on Absolute Radio. And as for the podcast, you suspect he’s got more than enough well-thumbed collections at home to keep it going for a few seasons yet.

So has his venture into the written word made him reflect on his time in education - or even curious for more? He'd make an excellent guest lecturer, you suspect. 'You know, I occasionally fantasise about going into academia,' he says. 'But as a student rather than a teacher. I really like the idea of just learning stuff,' he says.

Judging by those podcast numbers, he’s not the only one.

Frank Skinner’s Poetry Podcast is available now. Tickets to his nationwide stand up show ‘Showbiz’ are on sale now.