Interview with Tom Allen on his new Dave show The Island

What is The Island?

We're on a fabulous cruise ship, but it's run aground and the captain and most of the crew have fled. In the distance we spotted four uninhabited islands we're going to populate and, as I've decided I'm now the captain, I’ve found four comedians on board to each run one of the four islands.

Over the course of the series, Ahir Shah, Sara Pascoe, Ninia Benjamin, and Johnny Vegas devise their plans for how they're going to run their society through a series of questions and challenges. The passengers, otherwise known as the audience, decide whose island they'd most like to live on, and that's how we decide our winner.

Where did the idea come from?

James Acaster, Ed Gamble, Lloyd Langford and John Robins were all stuck in New York City because of a snowstorm and they tried to entertain themselves in a tiki bar while they were waiting to find a plane home.

So they started asking themselves questions about what they would do if they ran their own island, questions like: 'What would you have as your mode of transport?', 'Who would you have as your head of state?', and 'What would be your favourite toast? It’s a very playable game

 Is it just you aboard this stricken vessel or are there any crew left to help?

There are two co-hosts on the show; Jason Forbes and Kemah Bob, who are brilliant and two of my favourite comedians working today. They play the remaining crew members left to run the ship, and they announce the challenges and each challenge’s winner.

They're so sharp and surreal, and we have a lot of fun playing around with them. There are lots of ridiculous sketches and silliness, which adds to the charm and creates a sort of magical world.  Every time they appear, you ask yourself, 'What are they going to do now?'

Kemah and Jason have such razor sharp senses of humour. They're not afraid to talk about anything, or to go anywhere, or to be quite shocking in an intelligent way. I loved working with them and found it inspiring, because I really like working with other comedians.

I've always felt very lucky to work in comedy, because you have the opportunity to work with these lovely people who make you laugh and I like the way different people manage to do it in different ways.

What  appealed about becoming the captain on The Island?

Apart from the outfits, I do quite like bossing people around and I like the camp Carry On Cruising energy we all have.

Making a new show appealed too, because it’s a totally new concept. It's an original and accessible piece of telly and a really fun game.

Tell us about the contestants, Sara Pascoe, Ahir Shah, Ninia Benjamin, and Johnny Vegas?

 What I loved was the contrast between all our players. Johnny Vegas is always going to have a certain kind of answer, Ahir Shah often has intellectual and very funny choices, Ninia Benjamin is wonderful and random, and Sara brings an intellectual but playful and silly approach.

The beauty of the game is that it engages people’s improv style, their imagination, and their intellect...  it did feel raucous and anarchic. Sometimes shows can feel quite safe, while ours felt anarchic and a littlebit off the wall, which is one of its charming qualities.

We have a laugh sitting around the table, but there are also lots of physical games. For example, they have to craft a bust of themselves to be placed in their town hall, and they have to showcase their athletic capability so their island is chosen to host the Olympics. Those competitions add to the anarchy of the whole experience.

Were any of the comedians promising demagogues?

All of them! As comedians, we like controlling a roomful of people and getting them to laugh, so that's only a small example of how we like to control people.

They were all persuasive in their own way. Sara, for example, was very thoughtful in all of her choices to make her island as safe and as happy for everyone as possible. At the same time, Johnny would say the most ridiculous things but, because at one point he led everyone in a singalong, audience members were convinced they’d enjoy life on Johnny's Island. To see people choose the person who’s encouraging them to sing as their leader was a very interesting insight into human nature.

What one word would you use to describe each of the four comedians?

Sara, thoughtful; Ninia, eccentric; Ahir, intellectual; Johnny… fucking ridiculous.

Do you have any nautical credibility to back up your role as captain?

About 10 years ago, I was booked to do some gigs on a gay cruise around the Mediterranean and I didn't know what to expect. It was so fun and I absolutely loved it. There is something quite thrilling about being stuck in a little bubble of a world when you're on a cruise ship. I do know a bit about how these things work.

Finally, would you survive on a remote island?

No, I’d be terrible. I was in the cubs but I only had the badges for things like cookery, first aid, and washing up. I never went to camp; if anything, camp came to me.

I have my bossy captain way in the show, but I have no right to be bossy. I'd have no idea what I was doing, as ever with any leader. They wouldn’t be able to do it themselves.

 • The Island starts on Dave at 10pm on March 23.

Published: 13 Mar 2022