ONE of Patrick Marber's last radio performances was on BBC, when he played a lord being interviewed by Alan Partridge. During the course of the interview he "died" and Partridge made a great play of covering up the body with his V-neck sweater and continued with the programme. The BBC switchboard was jammed with apoplectic listeners who didn't know that the interview was a fake one and the two actors a well-practised comedy duo.
The pair went on to write a series of hugely popular and award-winning TV shows, including Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge and Three Fights, Two Weddings and a Funeral. Then Marber turned his hand to the theatre and wrote Dealer's Choice. The play was inspired by Marber's experience of playing poker in London's casino and was an instant success. It was performed at the National in London, transferred to the West End and won a clutch of awards.
In Dublin this week to promote the National Theatre's production of the play, which he also directed, and which opens on Tuesday at the Gaiety Theatre as part of the Theatre Festival, Marber denied that it was a precocious theatrical debut. "I was 29 when I wrote it," he mumbled somewhat miserably, "which really isn't that young these days."