Mirror Man

The second episode of Would I Lie to You? I was in the audience for, with guests Henning Wehn, Michelle Visage, Simon Gregson and Chizzy Akudolu, was recorded over a year ago, and I've been patiently waiting not only for the episode itself to air, but also for the outtakes show to go out, so I can go into more detail about anything I can remember without spoiling anything that might make the edit. (There's a second outtakes show next Friday, but the description indicates there's nothing from this episode there so I should be on safe ground publishing this now.) And here we are.

As opposed to last time round, there were quite a few stories that didn't make the cut, so here they are in the original running order...

HOME TRUTHS

Henning: "I once had a curry so hot, I had to take off my shirt and have a lie down."

The CliffsNotes version of this one was that it took place in a curry house Henning went to just before a stand-up gig, and the curry was the restaurant's specialty and had some special name. I can't remember what that was, but I do remember that Michelle suggested it sounded like "offal".

Henning said that the manager of the restaurant had to help him out of his shirt and let him lie down on a sofa in his office, and Lee's team pointed out the plot hole that the manager was worried about Henning's health enough to do that, but then left Henning alone in the office before he'd recovered. I don't recall what Henning's answer to this was, but it was enough for Lee's team to ultimately vote it true, and it turned out to be a lie.

I cannot for the life of me remember how this came about, but Henning also recounted how, the previous time he was on the show, he was standing around with Rob outside the studio before the recording and Rob suggested that Henning's choice of shirt and sweater made it look like he was having a breakdown whilst he himself was dressed for a job interview. (He also thought Henning's attire this time round was a big improvement.)

Chizzy: "After seeing a regression therapist, I genuinely believe that in a past life, I used to be a medieval Frenchman."

The thing I predominantly remember about this one was that it went on for quite a while, mostly because David and Henning were quite insistent about getting every detail of the dream clear, and people weren't exactly getting bored but they were definitely starting to make jokes about how long they'd been going on for. Perhaps because of this, it was the story where Rob seemed to rush the reveal and David worried he hadn't actually given his official decision; watched with this in mind, David saying "I think it's true" does look like it's been spliced in from elsewhere.

Michelle: "I once chased after a bag snatcher on my roller skates and caught him with my hula-hoop."

The one thing I want to make clear here is that what made the edit does not at all do justice to what an excellent storyteller Michelle was -- this was an amazingly well-told and detailed story, Lee's team voted true, and there was an I think small but genuine ripple of surprise through the studio when it turned out to be a lie.

Simon: "I once opened my curtains in what I thought was Manchester, only to see Denmark outside."

Rob's line about David not having the strength of character to overrule his team is the one remnant of a running joke from across the evening that came up whenever it was David's turn to make a decision. I also recall some debate about whether or not the airline would have let Simon get on the plane.

THIS IS MY...

Michelle: "This is Ben, and when I judged a dogs in drag competition, Ben's doggy took first prize."

The one thing I remember about this was that when Michelle said it happened on the set of the UK version of Drag Race Chizzy was (to some slight mockery from Lee) immediately able to reel off the recording dates for the last few series. I felt quite seen.

Henning: "This is Ben, and he regularly sends me photos to remind me of the day I went to a railway station and fell down the gap."

As you may be able to tell from the broadcast edit, this one went on for quite a bit longer, with several additional minutes of Henning insisting there was no announcement to mind the gap, and then several more minutes of Lee attempting to pin down Ben's involvement in the story whilst apparently labouring under the misapprehension that Ben was the one who took the photos of Henning after he fell down the gap, by the end of which, with tempers fraying a bit, he was shouting at Ben that he was going to be responsible for the show getting cancelled. Nobody made the exact comparison, but it was hard not to feel he finally had an idea of how David feels every time he comes up against Bob Mortimer.

David: "This is Ben, and he accused me of fly-tipping when I was actually tidying up someone else's fly-tipping."

This was I think the least edited-down story from either recording I've been to, because after David had gone through the story once Lee pointed out it wasn't exactly a scintillating tale (basically, that Ben pulled over and accused David of fly-tipping and David explained he wasn't) and it sort of petered out. The only thing I remember is that they had to explain to Michelle what fly-tipping was.

Cute moment during the recording break between this and the last round: Mark Olver found someone in the audience who was currently studying German for their A-Levels and got them to have a conversation in German with Henning. Henning seemed quite impressed!

QUICKFIRE LIES

Lee: "When I was trying to sell my house, I once put on a disguise and viewed it undercover, so I could see if the estate agent was any good."

I think the Michael Caine impression went on for quite a bit longer live, because as I mentioned in the previous post at one point the producers asked Rob through his earpiece "if Lee was okay".

Chizzy: "I once drove all the way back to my home in London from Cornwall because I thought I'd left the oven on."

This was a well-told enough lie -- Chizzy came up with some story about her family giving her a surprise holiday and she had to drive back from the holiday home that was quite a good bit of ad-libbing -- but without wishing to be rude (honest) I think there was maybe a slight feeling at the time that it wasn't as strong as her first story and was less likely to make the edit? (It turned out she had left the oven on. Except she hadn't. You see what I mean.)

Michelle: ...OK, I can't remember how this one was worded, but the gist of it was it was a story about her working in a department store in New York during the 1980s under a boss who stuck the shop girl who was slowest at helping customers with a pin. This was the source of the line Rob had to tell the audience to enjoy because it definitely wasn't going to make the edit: Chizzy asked something along the lines of "wasn't HIV a concern then?"

Lee's team ended up voting this one a lie, and I remember thinking it unlikely that they'd give Michelle the maximum possible number of stories only for them to all be lies in the few moments between that and it turning out to be true, but I suppose that wouldn't be a hugely entertaining way of playing the game. Perhaps they were lured in by the level of detail and similar setting to her earlier hula-hoop story.

Going into the next and last story:

Rob: "Next!"

[The selector light flashes around, and stops on...]

Rob: "Henning!"

[Extremely loud groan from a large section of the audience, who are clearly remembering the This Is My... round]

Lee [laughing]: "Strap in!"

Henning: "Because I already know perfectly well what I look like, thank you very much, I do not have a single mirror in my house."

I am absolutely certain that is how Henning's statement was originally phrased, and they didn't do a retake, so they must have cut it down to "Because I already know what I look like..." in the edit.

During the description of Henning's morning routine someone asked if he had a partner, and he replied he did but didn't elaborate, which I found intriguing since I've never heard any discussion of his personal life before. Chizzy also asked him in a very deadpan way "Are you a vampire?"

My rough remembering of the kerfuffle after this turned out to be true: Lee's team attempt to ask follow-up questions, Rob gets things to quieten down, but then David loudly says "That is really unusual!" at a moment that slightly overlaps with the buzzer going, that causes the consternation to flare back up and it's still going when Rob tries to end the show again so they have to go for a third take. (I'm very sure they use one of the retakes of David declaring it "really unusual" in the finished version, for what it's worth; I seem to recall the original being in a tone more of genuine surprise.)

In the live version, David's team won by 8 points to 1. During the retakes at the end, Rob recorded a couple of lines referring to David's team being in the lead, and Lee objected to him not doing the same thing for his team, until he remembered that no matter what happened in the edit it was impossible for them to ever be in the lead. Oh, and as we were leaving at the end, we got to see one thing we'd missed out on the first time round: the slightly eerie sight of the set once all the power was turned off.