David Baddiel on God, gags and being trolled - `It hurts and then I think: material!`
(The Guardian Culture News)

The comedian has written his first play - on whether science can prove that the Almighty exists. But first, there are some hecklers to deal with ... Schrödinger´s cat can be both alive and dead - so surely David Baddiel can be both a comedian and a playwright? When, in 2014, he launched his first solo comedy venture in 15 years, Fame: Not the Musical, he reports: `I had a constant struggle. People were saying `I´m coming to your play´, `I´ve heard great things about your play.´` Maybe it was because he´d chosen a theatre venue (the Menier Chocolate Factory in London) to premiere the show, but ` I would constantly have to say, `It´s not a play - it´s a one-man show.´` Baddiel is a comedian, to his fingertips. `I found it threatening to my identity,` he says now. He pauses, draws breath, and then: `But now I have written a play.` That´s why we´re back at the Menier, where God´s Dice is being prepped for its stage debut. The show is the 55-year-old´s first proper play: it´s not a one-man show, and he´s not performing in it. The droll fiftysomething role has been offered to fellow standup Alan Davies, of Jonathan Creek fame - now cast as a physics lecturer who co-authors a book with his Christian student, proving the Bible´s miracles to be scientifically possible. For a religious readership, it´s manna from heaven. Henry is hailed as the new messiah - to the chagrin of his Dawkins-alike celebrity atheist wife. Continue reading...