-Thank you. -Welcome to the show.
-Very nice to meet you, young Trevor. -So-so exciting
to meet you. Oh, I like how you say it like there was
an old Trevor. Because it's like--
it's like you came back in time. "Young Trevor,
-good to meet you." It's so good-- -He's got a lot
-of energy. Isn't he marvelous? -So great--
-(laughs) -Look at him! Oh!
-(cheering and applause) -It's...
it's honestly so great for me to meet you,
because, uh, your show was really popular
-in South Africa. I always saw you-- -Really? Which one?
-Yeah, I always saw you performing characters. -Yeah.
-It was Tracey Ullman something. It's always-- -Yeah, yeah.
-it's always your name. -I always put my name in the title.
-Yes. I like that. No mistaking it. -Always, Trevor.
And I always loved how you could perform all
of these different characters. You're back with a new season
-of your show on HBO. And what I found-- -Yeah.
-Still doin' it! I'm still doin' it! -Yeah.
-Ain't I? -(cheering and applause)
When you look at what politics is now,
do you find it harder to go above and beyond
-what's happening in reality? -It's really tricky.
I never used to do this sort of political stuff.
I mean, do-- And you don't remember, in the '80s,
there was, like, programs like Spitting Image in England,
-with puppets, that had puppets of Reagan -Right.
and-and Mag-Maggie Thatcher.
And they tried that show in America,
and they couldn't take it, 'cause you were making fun
of the president.
They used to have Ronald Reagan walking along.
They're like, "The president's brain is missing."
And a little brain would bounce.
And he'd go, "Well. Well."
But they-- you couldn't do that then.
They tried it in America, and it was like,
"Oh, no, you can't make fun of the president."
Now you're making fun of everybody all the time!
You used to be so sweet when I first came to this country!
But you're loving it though.
Yeah. I love being Theresa May.
(cheering and applause)
Yeah, but...
I've got some birds to impersonate now.
-I've got Angela Merkel. -Right.
And Theresa May, who you saw there,
-and Brigitte Macron and Nicola Sturgeon. -Angela--
And, you know, there's lots for me to do.
-And I do the men as well. -Angela Merkel, Angela Merkel
is the one that gets me. 'Cause, I mean, like, I get--
you know, when I see Theresa May, I go, like,
"Okay, I can see someone doing an impression of that."
But, like, what does Angela Merkel even sound like?
No, she doesn't-- Like, when I see her, there's not, like,
-a tic or anything. How is she-- -(German accent): "Well,
"I don't know. It's like some--
"I noticed that she just moved her arms
from here, just..."
(cheering and applause)
And do you remember years ago,
I think it was George W. came up behind her
and gave her a big hug, and she went, "Uh!"
(laughter)
And I thought, you know, can you imagine being the only woman
-in the room with Berlusconi, Bush, and...? -Right.
Oh, what a nightmare, you know.
Cameron. And so...
(with German accent): I imagine that I don't know
what she's really like, but I think
that she thinks she's very sexy.
(laughter)
And she's sex bomb, sex bomb, giving off the musk.
(laughter)
And, uh, so... Berlusconi...
When Berlusconi sees me,
his hair dye is running, running down his face, so...
(in her voice): I imag... I imagine them off duty,
but, uh, I never...
You know, I don't impersonate politicians
'cause I'm incredibly political
and I'm this sort of like infuriated liberal, and...
-Right, right, right. -...I hate Trump the most and the best.
(laughter)
I don't. You know, I think...
I empathize... I mean, I see...
I like the poignancy and sadness in people.
What a horrible time to be prime minister for Theresa May.
-Yes, it is. Like a... -It's bad.
-It's like the worst time. -It's like...
Like, you've got the Brexit, you've got... you've got...
-Yeah. -...Trump on the opposite side.
You're trying to deal with him, you're trying to deal
-with what's happening in Europe. -Oh, it's a nightmare.
-Yeah. -The public school boys,
like Boris Johnson and David Cameron--
(in upper class British accent): they've got to mess it all up.
And now they've gone to their chateaus in Normandy
and left Theresa to clear up this horrid mess.
(laughter)
Imagine her going like, "Bloody boys!"
Let me ask you this. How happy are you when, like...
So, like you are saying, you know, America was in this place
where you couldn't really make fun of these people.
-And then you got... you... -Then I became an American.
You had characters... Right, in 2006, I think it was,
-when you got your citizenship, so you have... -Yeah.
-Are you American yet? -No, no, no. No.
Be careful.
(laughter, applause)
Come and get him, kids. Yeah.
He's being really horrible.
-So... -I became an American
'cause I thought Dick Cheney might send me home.
-So you became an American to... -I didn't want to go home.
I just wanted to feel more secure in being able
to... be a part of the system and make political jokes.
-Right. -And I wanted to vote, too. Yeah.
And-and now when you look at the characters that pop up,
are you...? Like-like, for instance,
like you were saying, you have all of these woman,
who you now get to impersonate in politics, in...
like, who are really famous worldwide.
Like, Melania Trump must have been a gift from God.
(laughter)
Yeah.
That's like a pure gift from God.
(applause and cheering)
But I don't play her.
I got a beautiful model to play her.
See, I know my limitations, kids, you know.
(laughter)
I'm so sick of being a sex symbol. I thought...
You get tired of it.
I thought, I'll let someone else do that.
-And I played the Russian... -Right.
(with Russian accent): ...who is behind her,
because I think that the Melania is a...
a Russian thing put in years ago.
She's like Westworld robot, and...
But now, she's like Mir Space Station, and she's old.
(laughter, groaning)
And she needs to be dropped into the sea.
(in her voice): So what I've done in my show--
she's this bot that we keep having to come
into the White House and reprogram her,
because she's-she's running out of steam,
and she's going wrong.
So that's my take on it, because, you know.
-Even Trevor's confused. -I'm...
My show used to be a lot simpler when you were that little lad
-in South Africa, didn't it? -I'm... No. I'm-I'm loving...
I'm loving, like, all of the takes
that you have on these people,
because for you to impersonate them,
what I really enjoy is, you create a different world
that they exist in. You create a character.
Like, even in that clip that we saw there.
It's a Theresa May who's grappling
with standing up to Trump whilst at the same time
being afraid of standing up to him,
-Yeah. -trying to be perceived as a strong leader.
So essentially, when you're doing these characters,
are you trying to find the human in all of them?
Yeah, yeah. I mean, Theresa May, it's not my politics,
not my thing, but she's a vicar's daughter, you know?
And she, and, like, she just breaks my heart.
She looks like a cross between Oscar Wilde and Nosferatu.
-(laughter) -And did you see her dancing in Africa last week?
I mean, ah, bless her heart. Did you see it? Did you see it?
-I mean... -Ah, bless her heart.
But then... somebody told her it looked terrible,
-so she did it again. -(laughter)
Is this what they told me to do?
Ah, bless her heart.
I'm excited for this new season, specifically because I heard
that you have decided to make the show more topical.
So you started making the show, and then Trump happened,
and then you went, "No, we've got to, like,
"we've got to make everything now,
"we've got to add more Brexit, we've got to add more Trump,
we've got to add..." So are you gonna add things weekly,
are you gonna change things up? Like, what is gonna be topical
that you're really enjoying about this?
Well, we started shooting the show,
so we banked some material, and then we would shoot extra bits,
like, two days before it went out.
Because of what had happened in the news, 'cause it changes.
The news cycle's, like, 36 minutes now. It's crazy.
So, um, and that was exciting for me-- that's like doing
my own little mini sort of Saturday Night Live thing.
-Jolly exciting in England, you know. -(laughter)
Jolly exciting for us. Do you like England?
-You come to England a lot. You were so funny
-about the royal wedding. -(laughter)
I like how you went from "Do you come to England,
"I think you like... Wait a minute,
-I saw you in England! I saw you in England!" -Listen!
I've had a cappuccino. I'm speeding.
He's adorable. Um, you are very funny.
Well, thank you very much. I appreciate that.
I loved what you said that day. That wedding was ridiculous.
It was a fun wedding, wasn't it?
-It was... -Do you do any of the royal family?
-I do Camilla Parker Bowles. -What, like, what's her vibe?
-(jeering) -Wow, you guys are boo...
(thick accent): She's, like, "Today's sort of
the most wonderful," you know, you shouldn't be able
-to move her mouth, actually. -(laughter)
It's awfully like this. I think she's a wonderful,
wonderful grandmother, and she takes the...
she takes the grandchildren and lets them do things like,
you know, drown kittens in barrels and shoot guns.
(laughter)
Do you know what I mean? I think she's a lot of fun.
-I think she's... -I could literally do this all day.
I could just, like, shout people at you
and then just watch you enjoy it.
-Aw. -Before I let you go, I have to know,
like, what is your most favorite...
There's got to be, like, the one character
that you have always loved doing,
the one person you've loved impersonating,
the one voice that's, like, you just go to
whenever you're feeling sad.
(slurring): I used to be a woman called Ruby Romaine
who was an old alcoholic bigot who lived in Hollywood.
-(laughter) -And I used to say I was drunk
and say anything I wanted about anybody,
and people like that.
She was... I was so relaxed being, you know, this woman,
and I had breasts down to here.
-(laughter) -Nipples on the hips.
And it was so relaxing, and I could say anything.
I like that.
Um, she's so American to me.
See, you're... you've come to America to do a show like I did.
-I was from outside. -Right, right, right.
And I notice, I can see, I love what you've done.
I love your book. I think you are a force
-to be reckoned with. -Thank you very much.
-Thank you. -(cheering) -I think you're amazing.
-Thank you very much. -I love your energy and your spirit.
You've had a... you've had a tough time.
I had a tough time. I'm a working-class girl from England.
It's not easy. Look where we've come.
-Look how far we've come. -Look where we are.
-Look at how far we've come. -Oh. Unbelievable.
-Look at how far we've come. -(cheering, applause)
So excited. Thank you so much for being on the show.
Season three of Tracy Ullman's Show
will premiere on HBO September 28.
Tracy Ullman, everybody!