Ever based an important life decision on your favourite movie? That’s what Andy Roberts did. His new show Now Listen To Me Very Carefully details the impact Terminator 2 has had on his life so far. To find out more, we spoke to Andy about other life lessons he stole from 80s classics…
The Karate Kid
“I took away that it’s not always scary to befriend older Chinese men. No – Me and my brother would practice the crane kick, so we took away this determination from The Karate Kid to do it, even though Danny LaRusso gets it wrong in the film. We took away this sense of play and how you can go from knowing nothing, to learning something. From not knowing how to do a crane kick, to learning how to do a crane kick. We were determined.”
Dirty Dancing
“I didn’t see Dirty Dancing until quite late on but my Mum would always watch it with a glass of wine and that was my Mum’s time with the TV, so I always considered Dirty Dancing as an adult thing. She would watch it as a comfort film so whenever I see Dirty Dancing now it’s as a comfort film, a special place for not just women, in which people can have a glass of wine and relax,”
Ghostbusters
“What I liked about Ghostbusters was that aspect of having a gang who were doing good things. You didn’t have to be really goody-goody as a gang – a lot of them were anti-heroes in a sense; they didn’t really interact with society in the correct way. Obviously I wasn’t thinking about it in that way at the time but I liked the idea that they weren’t heroes but they were doing heroic things. That was really cool,”
The Goonies
“The thing you take away from The Goonies is this urge to go on an adventure. What I like about that film is that blind, youthful optimism. Only kids could find that treasure because only kids have that optimism to seek it out and have an adventure. I think that relates back to my show, that when you’re playing around you have to set your mind back to forget about adult things and just go in this freedom of play and I think that’s what The Goonies is great at.”
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
“That’s tricky because he’s nasty to his mate, he’s rude to everyone, he’s cocky and arrogant, I hated Ferris Bueller with every fibre of my being because I couldn’t understand why people liked this imbecile of a character. He was clearly just a nasty piece of work. So I watch that film and I go ‘No, that’s how not to be as a human being’. Don’t treat your best friend like crap, don’t treat women like crap, don’t think you can just do what you want when you want the whole time.”
Back to the Future
“That’s family for me. It’s almost the perfect film as well, isn’t it? Marty is another John Connor in my head; he’s this cool guy who really does mean well and is doing everything he can to try and change things even though he might not really be at an age to fully comprehend what’s happening around him. It’s magical and has the perfect elements of romance, sci-fi, thriller – I took away a real sense of love. Also, like The Karate Kid, don’t be afraid to befriend strange old men.”
Die Hard
“With Die Hard, you walk away wanting to be John McClane. He’s an antihero – he’s a good guy deep down but on the surface he’s rough and abrasive. It’s just his fearlessness in the face of adversity. After watching Die Hard I tried wearing sleeveless tops and realised that I was far too skinny to pull it off. Plus it’s got great one liners. ‘Welcome to the party pal!’ is my go-to when anyone arrives late. Also what I take away from Die Hard is that age old question of whether or not it’s a Christmas film.”
Now Listen To Me Very Carefully runs from Thu 7 – Sat 9 July. To find out more and book tickets, head here.
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