Frank Skinner: ‘I could never be a poet’

There’s a little fact about Frank Skinner that you might have heard before. That before his big television break, the future comic and Three Lions scribe had a rather different vocation: as an English teacher in an FE college.

Throughout his time in the spotlight, it’s been one of those things that gets brought up every now and then as trivia. An interesting titbit on an otherwise familiar CV. Then, at the beginning of last year, Skinner decided to go back to his educational roots: and launch a poetry podcast.

Okay, it isn’t quite a full return to the classroom. But it isn’t far off either – at least not in the way Skinner does it. Who else, other than English teachers, spends their time gently working through poetry, patiently explaining the concepts and imagery? Even, at times, pointing out the ‘homework lines’ (those lines that merit extra thought after hours).

All very worthy, you might think.