‘I’d want a parade of micro pigs to run up the aisle of the church, midway through the service – just to make everyone laugh!’ This idea wasn’t about a wedding, or a christening, or a Sunday church service. It was part of a wider conversation about funerals – and I was getting increasingly worked up as I listened. I was at work in 2018 when the conversation turned to funerals – which is not quite as dark a twist as it sounds.
At the time, I was a copywriter, and I was taking part in a meeting trying to develop ideas for a Funeral care company. The plan was to sit around an unnecessarily large table and discuss the kind of funeral we would each plan for ourselves. I’d never really thought about my own funeral , in the same way that I wouldn’t plan a party I wasn’t going to attend.
I’m not particularly bothered about what happens – I won’t be there. Sort it out amongst the guests. But as it transpired, that put me in the minority.
Every other person in that meeting room had big plans. We’re talking marching bands, pyrotechnics, all day raves. Black was generally forbidden, as, bizarrely, was sadness – it was fancy dress and good vibes only, thanks very much! And then, of course, there were the micro pigs .
I wanted to stop the meeting and ask these people if any of them had ever planned, or even been to, a funeral. Because, as a comedian, I’ve spent a fair amount of time working out what makes people laugh, and I don’t think ‘micro pigs at a .