- Thu Jan 22, 2026 10:45 am
#104326
At times like this I'm reminded of 2 men - who bear something of a resemblance. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Richard Curtis.
HFW once said that when he was out of work, rather than mope about, he wrote some articles and fired them off to the Waitrose magazine and next thing you know he's got a regular gig.
Curtis, I remember, said that after graduating, he wanted to write comedy for a living. So he rented an office in London and got to work.
With HFW, he knew the editor. He knew how to approach them, what sort of thing they wanted, how to format it, and so on. Likewise Curtis - he had the contacts, he was already inside.
Both of their tales of struggling before the shot at the big time presented itself got the same reaction from me, best summed up in a widely shared Brian Cox/Succession meme.
As the actress said to the bishop, rabbi, imam and priest
"My eyes have seen the glory, I'm a born again Atheist!"