'I just thought, oh, f***king hell, he's going to batter me': comedian Matt Forde on political impressions

The political comedian and impressionist Matt Forde is addressing whether he ever gets feedback from those he impersonates. Do politicians take offence, or are they flattered?

"I think all of them feel like it doesn't really sound like them,” he says. “I think some of them are slightly freaked out, almost like you've hit upon something, that you've noticed something about them that they didn't realise they did; that you've picked up on a mannerism and somehow you've gazed into their soul, do you know what I mean? I think there's something quite creepy about it for them."

Lee Anderson, the outspoken Reform MP for Ashfield, messaged him recently after learning he was the target of a routine.

"He said, 'I heard you've been impersonating me’. I just thought, 'Oh, f**king hell, he's going to batter me if he gets his hands on me,’” Forde jokes. "I think in a way they're slightly flattered. I think they'd rather be impersonated than not, until they see the impersonation."

The 42-year-old, who regularly appears on TV and radio and has provided voices for the rebooted Spitting Image, will return to the Fringe this year with a new stand-up show, Defying Calamity, as well as four live performances of his Political Party podcast.

The latter will feature interviews with Scottish Secretary Ian Murray, former SNP MP Joanna Cherry KC, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and broadcaster Kirsty Wark. His stand-up, meanwhile, promises "a take on where we are at the moment, filled with impressions”. Donald Trump, Nigel Farage and Keir Starmer will all feature, as will First Minister John Swinney.

"I start with the body language and then try and find hooks within the voice,” Forde explains. “Obviously, with Swinney, he's got a very pleasant voice, very softly-spoken, nice voice to listen to, compared to Trump who is far more explosive and will range from a real rasp and yell to that very softly spoken whisper. There's more texture there.

“But you have to try and chuck as many of these people in, because you want to play all the instruments. You want that whole range of characters."

The show will also touch on more personal matters. Forde was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer in August 2023, the day after the end of his Fringe run, and later underwent a 13-hour operation in which the base of his spine was removed.

It sounds traumatic, but he is astonishingly upbeat about it. "For comedy purposes, it's left my body with a number of issues, a lot of them sort of below the beltline, which make for just different types of dick jokes, I guess,” he says.

“Having erectile dysfunction and being incontinent and whatnot - they're good areas for comedy, I think, and they're areas that as far as I'm aware no other comedians are talking about, so it gives me free rein.”

The experience changed his perspective on life. "It is quite handy a thing to have, when you're going to anything that you're stressed about, to think, ‘This isn't as bad as when I'd just had the base of my spine removed in hospital and was in crippling pain for 10 weeks'."

He adds: "It just puts any sort of crisis into perspective, makes me really value life, and I just feel so lucky."

When it comes to impressions, Forde says Trump is “just so much fun to do, because he's so big and silly”. But his favourite British politician to impersonate is Anderson, Reform’s chief whip.

"His sense of humour is very dry, and he's from the same part of the world as me, Nottinghamshire,” he says.

"I think a lot of people don't realise when he's joking. I do, because I grew up going to pubs with people like Lee. I go to football matches where people like Lee are there, and he's got a very dry, Nottinghamshire sense of humour, that I think isn't always cottoned on to.

"I enjoy doing him, because his accent is so specific that I think a lot of people can't quite place it. In a way, maybe there's an element of just local pride, that someone from Nottingham is operating at a national level."

Forde, who previously worked for Labour, says he understands the disillusionment voters feel with the mainstream parties. People are skint and "p***ed off", he says.

"Politics is about life and about people's lives, and it's been rubbish. You look around at the country, there's potholes everywhere, the rivers are full of s***, public services are nowhere near where they should be.

"We could all be better off, better educated, having better lives, and because of political choices, we're not. And that drives people mad."

He adds: "I totally understand why people are angry. I'm actually amazed people aren't more livid at the state of things."

However, Forde rejects the idea that there are less “characters” in public life nowadays, with proper life experience.

"The idea that Angela Rayner is an automaton - she is a colourful character with incredible life experience,” he says. "Keir Starmer is a different character, but he's led a fascinating life, so has Bridget Phillipson and Peter Kyle and Pat McFadden and Wes Streeting. There is a really diverse range of talent."

He adds: "We periodically go through these phases where people say, ‘Oh, there's no characters around’. Well, look at parliament now. You've got Farage, Anderson, Rayner. You've got different types of characters in there, no question. You've got Lindsay Hoyle as Speaker of the House of Commons.

“There are big characters in there, it's just there's a whole load of other new characters that we just haven't become familiar with yet."

Matt Forde returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with new stand-up show Defying Gravity at the Pleasance Beyond from 30th July - 24th August at 8pm, alongside four Edinburgh Fringe Political Party Specials at the Gilded Balloon on 7th (Ian Murray), 13th (Joanna Cherry) and 21st August (Kirsty Wark) at 2.45pm, and McEwan Hall on 15th August (Sadiq Khan) at 5.30pm. Tickets at mattforde.com