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Matt Forde provides the voice of Boris Johnson for Spitting Image. 5<\/p>\n Matt brings his new stand-up show Defying Gravity to the Fringe. 5<\/p>\n Matt in full stand-up mode. 5<\/p>\n Matt doing his hosting duties.<\/p>\n And Matt – who does pitch perfect impressions of both Noel and Liam Gallagher – blasted back at \u201csnobby\u201d officials for their attacks on Oasis<\/a> fans like himself.<\/p>\n He says: \u201cI just think a lot of people don\u2019t get Oasis. They basically think it\u2019s just a load of yobs.<\/p>\n \u201cBut do you know what? They wouldn\u2019t say that about any other group of people. They would only say that about white working class people. The snobbery of it is unreal.<\/p>\n \u201cI went to the first Oasis gig in Cardiff<\/a> the other week and it was joyous. It was phenomenal. And yes people were drinking but it was all happy stuff.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was no aggro, no edge, it was just a really good celebration.\u201d<\/p>\n He adds: \u201cSo it\u2019s heartbreaking to think that all these excited people are going to come to Edinburgh<\/a>, after spending a fortune on their Airbnbs, only for the authorities to basically say, \u2018you\u2019re a load of losers\u2019 and \u2018brace yourself for these Neanderthals marauding through the city.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cIs that really how you talk about tourists coming to your place?\u201d<\/p>\n Matt will return to the Edinburgh Festival next month with his new show Defying Gravity.<\/p>\n It comes after he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer<\/a> called chordoma at the end of his 2023 Fringe run which led to him having the bottom of his spine removed before learning to walk again.<\/p>\n He has since had to have a stoma bag fitted for his bowel movements and has to \u201cself-catheterise\u201d several times a day just to wee.<\/p>\n Oasis kick off first Manchester homecoming gig after 16 years away<\/p>\n But in the last year Norwich-born Matt has seen his party sweep to power with Sir Keir Starmer entering Downing Street while Scots Labour leader Anas Sarwar<\/a> was heading for Bute House, until a run of disastrous policies, including axing the winter fuel allowance, saw their poll ratings tumble.<\/p>\n Matt, 42, says: \u201cThe show title is a pun on defying calamity which I guess in my own way I did by catching my cancer early. But as a result my body has changed, although I\u2019m still mining that for material.<\/p>\n \u201cBut also politically, we are living in really perilous times where you\u2019ve got a Labour government that is trying to sort things out but with Nigel Farage<\/a> breathing down their necks with the reality of a Reform government.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are some people out there that believe that the Reform bubble will just sort of magically burst. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s how it works.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there are certain things about Reform that may well prevent them becoming a government, but if all other options are exhausted – with\u00a0 the Tories basically dead at the moment along with Labour\u2019s self-inflicted calamities – you are sort of pushing the public towards an option that they may be uncomfortable with.\u201d<\/p>\n And Matt doesn\u2019t buy into the narrative churned out by SNP and Labour chiefs that the Reform party is full of right wing bigots.<\/p>\n He maintains: \u201cEvery party contains racists. I mean, the Labour Party<\/a> went through a period where it was getting investigated by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. Luckily those days are over.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the idea that one party has a monopoly on bigotry, is nonsense. I don\u2019t believe that most Reform voters are far right. A lot of them are ex-Labour and ex-SNP voters.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really makes me laugh when you get like the SNP saying, \u2018We\u2019ll have no nationalism in Scotland\u2019. You\u2019re like, \u2018Have you read your own f***ing leaflets?\u2019 They have a cheek to attack Reform.\u201d<\/p>\n He adds: \u201cSo I don\u2019t think all of a sudden Britain is full of fascists.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a whole load of things that have led to their rise including, since the financial crash, life has been rubbish and people are skint and livid and they have every right to be.\u201d<\/p>\n During this year\u2019s run, Matt will also have a succession of big political hitters as special guests including former SNP MP Joanna Cherry<\/a> – who claims she was sidelined by her party for her gender critical views – Scottish Secretary Ian Murray and controversial London mayor iSadiq Khan.<\/p>\n He says: \u201cJoanna is still such a big deal in nationalist politics, and with everything that\u2019s happened with the Supreme Court ruling (that the word \u2018woman\u2019 means biological woman), she was just an irresistible figure to approach.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere the SNP went wrong was they tried to put things like self-ID through the constitutional debate, by saying \u2018if you are pro-independence then you must believe in self-ID at the age of 16.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cBut people were like, \u2018Hang on. That\u2019s mad – these are two completely different issues.\u201d<\/p>\n He adds: \u201cAnd I\u2019ve known Ian Murray for years from\u00a0 when he used to be the lone Labour MP in Scotland, which shows you how quickly things can change in politics.\u201d<\/p>\n With that in mind, by the time Matt returns for next year\u2019s run, the Scottish elections will have been held next May. So does this political thinker believe we\u2019ll have a new First Minister in place of John Swinney<\/a>?<\/p>\n He says: \u201cI believe Anas Sarwar will be First Minister with a narrow Labour victory. He is a really charismatic individual.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou can never write the SNP off as they are a formidable election winning machine in Scotland and given how the first year of Labour has been in Westminster, that obviously has helped the SNP to some extent.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I do think that having a Labour government still helps Scottish Labour because you can actually do stuff. And if Labour has a good year, I think Scottish Labour will win.\u201d<\/p>\n And Matt, who lives with his Glasgow-born wife Laura, will also be bringing with him some of his favourite impressions to Edinburgh including Boris Johnson<\/a>, who he voices for TV\u2019s Spitting Image.<\/p>\n But he also plans to have \u2018Noel and Liam\u2019 make a surprise appearance too.<\/p>\n He says: \u201cI impersonated them for years but it started to feel slightly crowbarred in. But now they\u2019re back and everyone\u2019s talking about Oasis again, it means I can dust off the old stuff.<\/p>\n Read more on the Scottish Sun<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately it means hundreds of thousands of fans have been forced to choose between seeing Oasis at Murrayfield or coming to see me do them at the Edinburgh Festival.\u201d<\/p>\n *Matt Forde new stand-up show Defying Gravity is on at the Pleasance Beyond from July 30 – August 24. While his four Edinburgh Fringe Political Party Specials take place at the Gilded Balloon. For more info visit: mattforde.com<\/a><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/MixCollage-17-Jul-2025-04-28-PM-3600.jpg\")
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