“I was sitting in my dressing room on the chat show I used to host,” recalls Edinburgh-born actor Jack, who hosted The Jack Docherty Show from 1997-1999. (The Courier)
“I opened the door and David Bowie was just standing there. So I went: ‘Oh hi David, I’m Jack. I’m going to be interviewing you tonight.’
“And he went: ‘I know who you are Jack, I’m a big fan!’ Obviously he was lying, but it was so nice of him to put me at ease.”
A Bowie fan since he was 13 years old, Jack vividly remembers trying (and failing) to “be cool” while the rock icon performed Scary Monsters and Super Creeps live on the show.
“This is something I realised when I was a chat show host,” he muses.
“I’ve met some really, really famous people, huge stars. And you’ll be like: ‘Oh, that’s George Clooney, that’s kind of interesting.’
“But to meet people you’re a fan of when you were 13, like The Beatles, or Bowie, or the Monty Python guys, there’s a 13-year-old inside me going: ‘It’s f****** them!’ And you never lose that 13-year-old inside.”
Now, that inner teenager is coming out to play once again as Jack brings his new live show, David Bowie and Me: Parallel Lives, to St Andrews this spring, where he’s looking forward to playing golf and “being a bit touristy”.
A mix of stand-up and stories covering “family, first love, jealousy and more”, the show uses Jack’s love of Bowie as a jumping off point to discuss the different phases of his life.
“Bowie changed so much – there was his androgynous phase, his bisexual phase, his austere Berlin phase, his mainstream phase. In the show, I keep referring to my phases throughout my life – my bisexual phase and all that!”