Stephen Fry

In 2003 Stephen Fry was awarded Pipe Smoker of the Year by the The Pipesmokers' Council. Previous winners included Sir Harold Wilson, Peter Cushing, Sir Patrick Moore and Anthony Wedgewood-Benn. As it turned out, Mr Fry was the last person to receive the award, since in anticipation of projected anti-smoking laws, the rather pusillanimous Council decided to abolish the annual award entirely. At the Savoy Hotel in London, Gustav Temple put some questions to Mr. Fry on the position, both moral and political, of the pipe smoker in modern society.

What signals would you say are given out by smoking a pipe as opposed to smoking a cigarette?

A pipe gives a man an air of authority and purpose. Unlike, say, the French, we British are ashamed to show any signs of individuality. Smoking a pipe marks one down as a dangerous eccentric, an image which most British people are not comfortable with. The French are unafraid of being perceived as bourgeois, so they will adopt external symbols of it such as pipes and hats quite readily.

Can smoking a pipe be used as a seduction tool?

Indeed. Many ladies are drawn to the image of a pipe smoker as a trustworthy, dependable individual. The patron saint of pipe smokers, Sherlock Holmes, has created an association between smoking a pipe and possessing mental acuity. Not only that, but the pipe also has pacific connotations, which the ladies find reassuring. There is nothing aggressive about a pipe.

Is the use of a pipe clenched between one's teeth, as featured in many 1950s DIY manuals, conducive to manual labour?

The pipe clenched between the teeth of the DIY enthusiast signals that he has put his boy racer days behind him and is ready to settle down. I personally would be inspired with far more confidence in a builder if he smoked a pipe. Then perhaps one wouldn't find so many roll-up butts scattered all over the floor when he has finished.

Would you ever consider laying floorboards while smoking a pipe?

I would rather smoke a pipe while watching someone else lay them.

Would it make any sense to allow pipe smoking in zones where cigarettes are banned?

There are certainly many restaurants which do not allow the smoking of a pipe, whereas they quite happily permit their customers to smoke cigarettes. Interestingly, it is more the idea of the pipe that such establishments fear. Once presented with the beautiful aroma of some choice tobacco, such restaurateurs soon lower their objections.

What single situation in your life would have been far more pleasant if you had been in possession of your favourite pipe?

Recently I have been directing a film, a very stressful process in itself, especially in pre-production. Everyone seems to be firing all manner of questions at me the whole time, expecting immediate answers: what colour tie, where should this go, and so forth. As was Harold Wilson's habit, I find the deployment of the pipe very useful as a way of gaining a few extra moments to consider my answer. If I begin the process of filling the bowl and lighting the pipe, I am not perceived as evading the question, and I am then able to give a satisfactory answer.