Ben thinks Huge

Ben Miller is well-qualified to make his feature film directorial debut with Huge, the story of a comedy double act. For the actor and comic himself is wellknown as half of TV comic duo Armstrong (as in Alexander Armstrong) and Miller. The pair even won a Bafta for the BBC’s Armstrong And Miller Show.

Now Miller helms Huge, a film about aspiring comedians Warren and Clark, who meet by chance and, discovering they can make people laugh together, set out to become a famous double act. It’s based on a play he co-wrote with Jez Butterworth and Simon Godley.

He’s been able to inject his own experiences as a stand-up into this buddy comedy starring Adulthood’s Noel Clarke and London To Brighton’s Johnny Harris.

Miller decided Harris and Clarke were the perfect casting choice for Warren and Clark because they are both known for ‘‘hard men parts’’ and he wanted to keep the audience guessing as to whether they would ever achieve their dream of hitting the big time.

‘‘These are two people that you don’t perhaps think of as being comedy actors. But I knew they were both funny,’’ he says. ‘‘I was stuck in a lift with Noel once and he was with some friends and was really making them laugh. I thought ‘perfect’.’’ Warren and Clark discover their on-stage chemistry by chance, when they both attend the same open mic night, and afterwards, like a prince seeking his princess with a ‘bromance’ twist, Warren tracks Clark down to persuade him they should team up.

Miller admits there are parallels with his own relationship with Armstrong, whom he met at Cambridge University, although he confesses his pursuit of Armstrong was slightly awkward.

‘‘This is a terrible thing to admit, but I went to see him in a double act he was already in and I thought he was the funniest person I’d ever seen in my life.

‘‘I was trying to encourage him to have an affair, I suppose. Meeting in bars and showing him a sketch and him saying ‘I can’t look at it, I’m in a double act already’.

We did start having a comedy affair and at one point we decided we should make a go of it, but he still hadn’t told his double act partner.

‘‘We were walking down the street with comedy props we’d bought for our show and bumped into his partner on the street. It was like being caught in bed with somebody, by their husband.

Sometimes the mistress doesn’t get to stay with the unfaithful partner, but in this case it worked out.’’ He says the secret to being a good double act is, like in any relationship, compromise. "Xander and I have had a fair few arguments,"

he admits. ‘‘It’s impossible to be in a double act without being in some enormous barnies, though. There’s been a lot of storming out, especially when we were younger, but you get used to compromising.’’ As Warren and Clark attempt to rise to the top of the comedy circuit, they encounter some top comics who cameo in the film.

Miller says persuading celebrities like Jo Brand, Eddie Izzard, Harry Hill, Kevin Bishop, Ronni Ancona, David Baddiel and Frank Skinner to appear was literally a case of pulling teeth.

‘‘Simon Godley, who co-wrote the film with me and was in the original play, is a dentist,’’ Miller confides.

‘‘He’s the dentist of every famous comedian in Britain and whenever they would come in for a filling or a check-up, he’d tell them about the film and, when they were emotionally vulnerable, persuade them to be in it.

‘‘So we ended up with the most incredible cast of famous comedians playing themselves.’’ The film shows both the highs and lows of the job. ‘‘I’m really proud that the film does put you in the shoes, or the skin, of a standup comedian,’’ says Miller. ‘‘People laughing at your joke is one of the most powerful drugs you could ever experience, it’s just an amazing feeling.

‘‘And people not laughing is awful. You lose a bit of your soul.

I can remember every split second of every moment I’ve died on stage.’’ Miller admits he loves the power trip of calling the shots as a director.

‘‘It’s a very stressful job but it’s really enjoyable and I’d absolutely love to do it again. ‘‘It’s the most amazing feeling to be the helmsman of this Viking longboat of incredible technical power and you think, ’I could do anything’.

‘‘It’s an ego trip but also the most humbling experience, because you don’t really do anything as a director apart from let everybody else do their job.’’ Although both he and Armstrong work separately, they still love being part of a duo. ‘‘Doubleacts work because you both bring different things,” he says.

‘‘Xander is quite posh, and I’m not posh. He’s a brilliant singer, and a trained musician – he can do all the things that I can’t. That’s why I love working with him. And I think we absolutely identically share a sense of humour.’’ But after almost 20 years together, Miller reveals it’s their friendship that’s really kept Armstrong and Miller going. ‘‘The story of the film is that the friendship has to come first. That’s definitely true with our double act. I think one of the reasons we’ve stayed together so long is that we really, really get on.’’ • Huge (15) is released in cinemas tomorrow.