Frank Skinner

Stand-up legend Frank Skinner says the Archbishop of Canterbury should take a leaf out of Harry Potter’s book and rediscover the “weirdness” of religion.

The popular comic is due to be interviewed by Dr Rowan Williams as part of a two-day festival at Canterbury Cathedral next month, and he told KoS he expected the pair’s faith in God to play a major role in the discussion.

But Skinner, who shot to fame alongside best friend David Baddiel in the popular 1990s show Fantasy Football League, said he would not allow the event to become too serious.

“I guess we will talk about the fact there’s not enough religious people around any more, and what went wrong,” he said. “I think the PR has been pretty bad and people don’t seem to like religion now, but they like Harry Potter and that’s because Harry Potter has all the magical weird stuff we used to have.

“I think we need to get that back, so perhaps the Archbishop and I should have a game of Quidditch to mark the occasion.

“But I want people to know that it’s OK to be religious and also have a laugh, play football and swear a bit too. You don’t have to walk around with your hands clasped together looking at the clouds.”

Skinner has been a devout Roman Catholic since childhood and relied heavily on his faith in his battle against alcoholism.

The host of the BBC Two comedy talk show Opinionated told KoS he had no problem discussing his faith with non-believers and even joking about it during his stand-up performances.

“I think the temptation for religious people is to keep their mouths shut because they’re worried people will think their weird,” he said. “But everywhere I’ve been, whether it’s in school, at the factory or down the pub, I’ve felt like a bit of a weirdo anyway.

“I think you should embrace the weirdness, and I’m very happy to be a strange outsider. Occasionally I bring religion up in my shows because even people who are not very keen on it find it quite interesting, much in the same way as I would be interested in hearing about it if you told me you liked visiting fetish pubs in Maidstone.

“I’m not afraid to admit it’s quite strange having to kneel down in a wooden box and tell a man wearing a robe about everything I’ve done wrong over the past six months.”

Skinner’s appearance at Canterbury Cathedral on Friday, September 16, follows a similar sell-out event in 2009 involving Dr Williams and the editor of Private Eye magazine, Ian Hislop.

And despite recognising the Pope rather than the Archbishop as the spiritual leader of Christianity, the comic said the opportunity to sit down with the head of the Anglican church was too good to pass up.

“He just seems like a very bright, interesting bloke,” he said. “I live quite near Lambeth Palace too, so he’s practically my neighbour. I’ve been interviewed by the likes of Michael Parkinson and Graham Norton in the past, but the Archbishop is definitely up there with the best of them.

“There’s no turning down an invitation to take part in something like this at Canterbury Cathedral, and I’m sure it will be something I’ll be talking about in 20 years’ time if I’m still alive. However, I am thinking about reclaiming it for the Roman church.”

The ‘In Conversation’ event forms part of a two-day festival organised by the Diocese of Canterbury called ‘The Gathering’.

Tickets for the discussion cost £15 (£10 concessions) and can be purchased online at www.canterburydiocese.org/thegathering.

Frank Skinner’s new book – Dispatches from the Sofa – is released on Thursday, September 15.