Mark Watson, who presents our Snooker Club podcast alongside Stephen Hendry, has loved snooker since his childhood in Bristol. We asked him all about his passion for the sport…
Mark, how much was snooker a part of your childhood?
I’m slightly too young to have clear memories of Taylor-Davis in 85, but I do remember my dad telling me next day that Taylor won – “the one with the funny glasses.” I had this idea that sport was a late-night thing, even on a school night, it was a massive loophole. In my teenage years, I had a basement bedroom with a tiny telly, which I plugged my Commodore Amiga into. Snooker’s not many people’s idea of subversive activity, but for a lot of us it was our first way of staying up till midnight.
Did you play snooker growing up?
I was not really good at any sports at school, but I was enthusiastic. So I got by. Just. But my brother and I got a tiny table in the living room, where my parents kept the blue glass and various other ornaments. I remember Mum having panic attacks as we tried to angle our cues, nearly taking out pots and plates and all sorts of things. The table was not big enough for us to ever really get that good. And it’s fair to say the tactical side of the game wasn’t what we concentrated on in those days. Having to get back into baulk or get behind the yellow didn’t play a major part. We used to really pride ourselves on marking the scores on a little wooden second-hand scoreboard.
What do you like most about the sport?
I’ve always enjoyed really scrappy frames and torturous safety battles. There are not many sports where you don’t know how long it’s going to go on. The build-up of tension over a long frame is something that not many sports can offer. Also, the personalities that have come and gone over the years. People vying against each other mentally and physically. Obviously snooker isn’t physically demanding, but the combination of thought and action is engrossing.
What is your most satisfying snooker memory?
One of them, in recent times, was during the pandemic when WST got the World Championship on with no crowds and the canned applause. It must have been no fun for the players, but at the time, there’d been almost no sport of any kind. I found it really comforting. Premier League games in empty stadiums and the various ways other sports worked, didn’t ever feel right. But with snooker it was almost identical to what it would usually be like. So that really was a lift to me psychologically. And people underestimate that with sport, it is a fantastic distraction from whatever else is going on in life. It was a relief to see those figures again and remember that not everything disappeared.
How did you feel when you were asked to do the podcast with Stephen Hendry?
I was so excited. And until the first time we had a Zoom call, I wasn’t completely convinced it was real and not just some sort of elaborate prank. My friends found it very funny, they were fascinated by that matchup. The image of Stephen and I, the logo for the podcast, I shared quite widely among my circles. I try not to impose it, but I also don’t shut up about it.
What is it like working with Stephen?
Let’s be clear, he struggles with the technical side of Zoom and you don’t always back him to plug-in his mic in successfully. But aside from that he’s been an absolute pleasure. He thinks nothing of chatting about these players, he’s been in the game too long to mince words or care about hurting feelings. We’ve only just started so we’re at the tip of the iceberg. He’s got quite a bit more to say. But we’re NOT normally drunk doing it, so I’ve got to find other ways to get it out of him. We want it to be something snooker fans enjoy, basically a lot of fun, for as many people as possible.
Was Stephen an idol of yours?
He was a pantomime villain for my brother and I, not because of anything he did wrong, but he was just so dominant. Along with Pete Sampras and Manchester United in the 90s. I remember when Ken Doherty beat him in the 1997 final, we were delighted. But again, there was no personal beef, he was just always the number one. You want to see those people unsettled. So it’s odd now being on this friendly footing with him, a guy I’d never thought I’d meet. And it’s definitely weird he now makes jokes about his career being over and not qualifying for tournaments. It’s a very surprising reversal. If my brother was on the podcast too, in a way, that would be the perfect sort of endgame (I haven’t said this to him, obviously). But what’s lovely is how self-effacing and funny Stephen is about it. He seems very content. And I suppose when you’re working hard to be at the top all the time, it must be exhausting. Now he’s constantly complaining about his actual snooker, but he’s very at peace with himself as a person.
How is your new tour, Search, going so far?
I’ve got about 100 dates in total, 70 in 2024, and I’m not even a quarter of the way through. And the show is always slightly fluid, so I keep playing with it right the way through to the end. One of the things I pride myself on is making each show different depending on the town, or what individuals just throw at me. I’m very appreciative of the fact we can do it again after the pandemic, it’s really special.
Are there any similarities between being a comedian and a snooker player?
Only certain people understand the feeling of constantly being on the move for a living, not always knowing what’s there when you get there. The difference is I will almost certainly do the job I’m paid for. It should be relatively successful, the crowd will appreciate me. I can’t imagine going somewhere like Belfast and not knowing if I’m there for a week or I’m coming home the next day, and whether I’ll make loads of money or virtually nothing. That makes snooker touring even tougher. You’re also very vulnerable as the only person on stage. And again, even more so in snooker. If you’re getting beaten, everyone’s aware in the room it’s going badly.
Download Snooker Club on Apple, Spotify, Google or wherever you get your podcasts. It will be released fortnightly throughout the 2023/24 season. In the weeks between, we’ll continue to keep you across the tour with a shorter episode called The 147, summing up the latest news in 147 seconds.
The post Mark Watson Q&A appeared first on World Snooker.
