This evening I was interviewed by Superman.

This exciting event took place at The Showroom Gallery in North West London as part of a series of talks by artists called the The Happy Hypocrite.

My costume-clad interviewer was in fact artist Nathaniel Pitt. He’d been invited to speak on the subject of ‘Interview’ at this evening’s event. When he was thinking about how to approach the subject he heard my interview on Radio 4 and that led him to get in touch to ask if I’d like to collaborate with. Intrigued, I agreed. I was keen to discuss the important role questions and answers have in my life.

For me, interviews aren’t occasional or unusual, they’re something I do everyday. Being asked questions about Tourettes and answering them openly is very important to me. Explaining my tics and helping people understand them is key to reducing the social impact they have on my life. Taking part in interviews is not so much a choice as a necessity.

I’ve been interviewed in a variety of places including on buses, in shops and on TV – by children, elderly women and celebrities. But tonight was the first time I’ve been interviewed by a fellow superhero in an art gallery.

Spontaneous interviews are part of my life in another way too – my tics often start asking the questions, and the questions they ask are as much a surprise to me as they are to any unsuspecting interviewee. In fact, ticced questions are such a common occurrence they have their own category on my tics page. Experience has shown me that no subjects are off limits:

“Do you want to talk about cantilever bridges or Armageddon?”
“Would you give Don King your last Rolo?”
“Would you go to the ball with a futon?”

Asking people to make instant choices is another favourite theme of my tics. It was these choosing tics that meant tonight’s talk ended with me interviewing superman:

“Feather boas or farting? Choose.”
“Bins or the Basque Separatist Movement? Choose.”
“Wide boys or choirboys? Choose.”