Seann Walsh: Comedy doesn’t tend to age well

My favourite filmGhostbusters. It’s nostalgic — I feel like I’ve spent my whole life with it.
The film I walked out ofAngels & Demons, the sequel to The Da Vinci Code. It had Ewan McGregor jumping out of a helicopter, dressed as a priest. That was the point when I’d had enough.
The last movie that made me cryThe Holdovers got me. It made me cry with laughter and sadness. Past Lives also really moved me. It was the first film in a long time that I had to rewatch immediately afterwards.
My favourite playThe Comedy About a Bank Robbery by Mischief Theatre, the team behind The Play That Goes Wrong. They have that rare ability to create pure joy every single time. Comedy isn’t something that tends to age well, but their work seems timeless.
The show I’m looking forward toFawlty Towers: The Play.
The box set that I’m hooked onI’m watching The Boys alone because my partner can’t handle gore. Together, though, we are enjoying House of the Dragon because we’re both Game of Thrones fans.
My favourite TV seriesIn no particular order: Fawlty Towers, The Office and The Thick of It. They can’t be beaten.
I wasted an evening watchingI really struggled to get into The Acolyte on Disney+. I’m a huge Star Wars fan but I just thought: what the f*** is this? There’s so much Star Wars stuff, I no longer know where I am. People need to stop telling stories backwards with endless prequels — go forwards instead, please. Just keep telling the story.
Underrated actorJohn Candy had an Oscar in him and I always find it devastating that we will never get to see that winning moment. I also think John Cleese’s film Fierce Creatures is underrated. It’s hysterical and features Kevin Kline in one of my favourite comic performances.
My favourite piece of musicI’ve got a very uncool taste in music. Anything by my favourite band Blink-182. When I tell people that I’m sure it makes them want to throw up. I’m such a fan that I flew to Washington to see them perform when they reunited. I even have Blink-182 tattoos.
The lyric I wish I’d writtenI Am the Walrus.
The song that saved meAnthem Part Three by Blink-182. It is the song I go to when I need some belief from something outside of myself. Also, the band’s track Adam’s Song really helped me through a tough time. I have a lyric from it — “tomorrow holds such better days” — engraved on the inside of my glasses.
The instrument I playI’m musically impaired. But I do own a guitar.
The instrument I wish I’d learntPiano. People who just sit down with a guitar and start playing are extremely irritating and often dislikeable, but people who can sit at the piano are considered mystical and magical.
The music that cheers me upAnything from the soundtrack of the rom-com The Wedding Singer starring Adam Sandler. It has Culture Club, Billy Idol and the Thompson Twins.
My favourite author I was quite late to reading. I never really got on well with education and sat in the bottom set at school. But Charles Bukowski is the author I have read the most. His book Post Office is terrific.
The book I’m readingI hadn’t read any Charles Dickens before so I went to Waterstones and chose one of his novels, possibly Great Expectations, and it was ginormous. So I settled for Oliver Twist instead. It’s still taking me for ever. I love it but it’s difficult when battling with my iPhone. All I knew about the book before I read it was that he asked for more.
The book I’m ashamed I haven’t read I was ashamed I hadn’t dabbled in Dickens before, but I’m more ashamed that I’m not well read. Talking about books is harder for me than talking about films — and that’s shameful.
If I could own one painting it would beA painting of Vigo the Carpathian from Ghostbusters 2. My office is a Ghostbusters shrine and this would be a nice addition.
The place I feel happiestQueens Park Rangers’ football stadium, Loftus Road … when we win.
My guiltiest cultural pleasureWrestling is my pub quiz topic. As a teenager I was obsessed with it and still am. I make sure I watch WrestleMania every year. I love the theatre and scale of it, because I’m a fan of big f***-off shows.
I’m having a fantasy dinner party, I’ll invite these artists and authorsCharlie Chaplin, Richard Pryor and Jerry Seinfeld.
And I’ll put on this musicI’m afraid they’re going to have to listen to Blink-182.
Seann Walsh stars alongside Chris Harper and Aden Gillett in Yasmina Reza’s play Art at Lighthouse Poole from Aug 29-31 and then on tour to Oct 26; artthecomedy.co.uk