Bob Mortimer admits as you get older you have to fight negative thoughts about life and death and cling onto nice memories.
The comedian, 67, is known for his hilarious gags on BBC shows like Would I Lie To You? As well as being the joked on Gone Fishing alongside pal Paul Whitehouse.
But away from the cameras he admits he sometimes finds things a bit tougher. He said: “You know, I’m older than you, you’re in this battle as you get older against, you kind of, there’s a little drive within you that wants to say the world is awful and I’ll be glad when I’m gone, just to ease that journey and it’s a real battle against that.
“So, you do start finding joy just in old memories, not so much happening in your life, but you know, old memories just to keep a bit of joy in your brain to stop you just saying, ‘oh, I hate this place, everything’s gone to s**t, I wish I was dead’. But there’s a lot of it, you are fighting against it. A lot of the time.”
View 2 ImagesBob with Paul Whitehouse on Gone Fishing(Image: SCU/AFU)
Bob was speaking on the new podcast Outsiding alongside hosts Caitlin Moran and Adam Frost, which will celebrate the simple joys of nature, wildlife, and gardening.
Bob reflected on why he thought gardening was so popular amongst older people and explained: “You know, as you get older, the garden can be a very good friend. You know, you can nurture it, watch its progress, see its failures, you know, attend to them. You know, it is a very good friend, your garden. And they don’t talk back do they?”
He added: “I think because, you know, your life does shrink. It just does.
“You try your best, but life just shrinks. You don’t go see so many people, but you’ve got that lovely escape just the other side of the window and it’s something to do. It’s a very practical way of filling a day, you know.
“And it is an unfolding story and when you’ve retired or you’re getting older, there’s not much of a story left to involve yourself in really. You know, your ambitions have gone and so on, so there’s a nice little story just be on the back door to start off.
“And it is amazing. I’ve just had, just as I was arriving here, got a photograph from the wife showing me our first tomato. And yeah, it’s a big day.”
* Outsiding is available on all podcast providers and YouTube.
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