Joe Lycett: ‘I don’t think Labour politicians would like being made fun of... the Tories didn’t care’

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Get our The Life Cinematic email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. They didn’t care if I made fun of them, because who gives a s***.” He’s a friend of Birmingham Yardley MP Jess Phillips, and Lycett has met other Labour ministers and MPs over the years – although, he says, “I don’t think they’d like being made fun of, in a way that the Tories didn’t care.” In theory, Labour should be “more malleable”, he notes, before adding: “But I think once you’re in power, power is just a corrupting thing.” For such a well-known jokester, Lycett doesn’t feel entirely comfortable in the rebel role. “But I’m glad it is, because otherwise everyone would be doing it.” I first saw Lycett gig in 2018, and he was integrating large-scale stunts stretched over long periods of time into his work even then, two years before he legally – albeit temporarily – changed his name to Hugo Boss for a segment on Got Your Back, and the world really started paying attention. Professionally, Lycett says, the Beckham stunt “sort of f***ed” him, because it wasn’t the first time he’d said he was doing one thing, then revealed it to actually be something else. “I’m still a bit bruised from it, really.” When it came to Beckham, Lycett has always said he never expected a response from the former England player.