Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

This week on the show the legendary Liza Minnelli; British actor, turned Hollywood star, James McAvoy; and funny man, Jack Dee join Graham for a chat.

Talking about her recent surgery Liza says: "I've had everything replaced, but the knee was tough. It was harder than the hip – the hip was a snap compared to that. I like to say, 'from the waist up I am Dorothy's daughter and from the waist down I am the tin man's kid.'"

And on recording her new album, whilst having knee surgery, she says: "I had to stay in bed so I recorded it there. I was going nuts staying off my feet so I thought, 'what can I do for six weeks?' Every other album I have recorded was on stage so I made an intimate album – the bedroom album."

Discussing her upcoming tour Liza says: "I've done it my whole life and I love it. I am a modern vaudevillian and have friends all over the world so I get excited about it."

Asked by Graham if the tour is exhausting, she says: "You have to go on one day at a time – sometimes 13 seconds at a time – and then start the day over."

Liza and James' chemistry, with gentle joshing and flirting, is apparent during the show and when Liza reveals: "I love to entertain at home, I have friends come over and we usually end up around the piano." James asks: "Can all your friends sing? Because if you invited me over and asked me to sing, I would be hugely intimidated by you." Liza jokingly responds: "I wouldn't invite you."

Asked about a surreal encounter with Elvis, Liza says: "I met him in LA; he watched the show and he invited us back to his suite. A group of us, including Alice Cooper, Chubby Checker and Linda Lovelace were there and Elvis disappeared. Then suddenly the door flies open and he's there in full (karate) dress shouting 'Hi-Ya' and kicking (Liza demonstrates). And then his teacher comes flying over – it was like a Peter Sellers' movie."

When Graham asks Liza if she is currently dating, she coyly says: "Yes, but I'm not telling you," before adding, "When you've been through as many marriages as I have, what I've figured out is that you need to know a really wealthy older man who's terribly charming, takes you to wonderful places and pays for everything. Then you need a vital 40 or 50 year old who is crazy about what he does, and then someone whose name you don't know and you see twice a week."

James talks about life before acting, explaining: "I worked in a bakery making fairy cakes. It was dull and I worked on my own so I used to write all the names of all the girls I wanted to sleep with in the cakes in jam. That got me through the night."

On his acting skill of crying on cue, he says: "Generally I can do it when I need to it but every now and then I've had to get the tweezers out and do the 'Joey Tribbiani' trick." Explaining the technique to a mystified Liza, he says: "You put your hands in your pockets and using tweezers pull out your pubic hairs."

Jack, talking about Lead Balloon says: "It is the last series because it really is time consuming. I loved doing it but there are other things I want to do."

Admitting he has a passion for watching home shopping channels, he says: "I am addicted. I can't stop watching. I spent an hour recently watching a man wax a car."

Liza performs I Must Have That Man from her new album, live in the studio.

And finally, and to the obvious shock of Liza, Graham pulls the lever on foolhardy members of the audience brave enough to sit in the red chair. As Graham ejects the first storyteller, Liza observes: "That was like my first audition."

The Graham Norton Show, Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ One, Friday 3 June at 10.35pm

Notes to Editors

These quotes are taken verbatim from a studio recording and may not necessarily reflect the content of the final transmitted version of the programme.

Next week (10 June) Graham is joined by Tom Hanks, Simon Pegg and Nicole Scherzinger.

MC3