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We love riding the mean streets of London, twisting and turning past the iconic skylines (and traffic!) and what better way to do it than with Doc Brown aka Ben Bailey Smith. Today the multi-talented actor, comedian, rapper and writer is taking us on a journey around his favourite Soho venues with the fitting company of the All Black Mutt Akita.  

So, when you read the name Doc Brown, what are your first thoughts? For us, it’s Back To The Future and Equality Street with Ricky Gervais. So, as we park up in Soho Square we tackle these two trains of thought with the man himself. 

“So yeah Doc Brown came about at some stage in school because I was a nerd, a bit of a know-it-all. I’m a big Back to the Future fan but I can’t remember exactly how it started, but when I started rapping it just seemed natural to use Doc because that was the nickname”

As we then take a stroll towards the Union Club we ask Ben about his now-infamous sketch for Comic Relief. 

“Equality Street is one of those moments where everything just went as like synergy, it was just so perfect, I knew exactly what I was doing, and I knew exactly how funny it was because, you know, I remember writing that verse and showing it to Ricky (Gervais) and he was just in tears, so you know, it was just perfect. I knew Richard Curtis paid for that video right, because he’s like one of the main guys behind Comic Relief, that’s what we did it for originally, and Richard Curtis said, This is hilarious. I don’t know if you ever watch Comic Relief, it’s a bit of a slog. They often have comedians doing sketches, and they’re never that funny, because no one’s getting paid I guess. But me and Ricky were like no, it’s going to be fucking funny. For once Comic Relief is going to have a genuinely funny sketch.  And we went for it, and I would say unashamedly it’s a career highlight because Ricky plucked me from nowhere, I was killing it on the circuit definitely, I was posting stuff up on YouTube and he’d seen me, and then got my number from a promoter and he phoned me.”

Imagine getting that call?! But now that we’ve got those two biggies out the way, let’s get back to the tour of Soho and prepare to get those Jazz hands at the ready…

“Ronnie Scott’s is really special, it’s a bit like getting in a time machine, it feels like old London, in the best possible way, you know? And live jazz there’s nothing quite like it. Jazz and rap are distant cousins, they’re related, and you can trace the links between them. So there are a few jazz bands that I know, that I’ve worked with before, made records with, so every now and again I get invited to come and perform here”. 

On the topic of Rap, it feels like the opportune time to bring up THAT Just Eat advert featuring Snoop Dogg, and for those who don’t know, Ben wrote that bad boy! But how did it come about?

“I heard about it as I know people in advertising and people who write funny scripts for adverts. I also know quite a few musicians who get their music synced into adverts. So with Just Eat as soon as I heard they had Snoop I was like, I don’t give a fuck who else is pitching, I’m getting this. You’ve got to understand Snoop Dogg came out in 1993 when I was a kid, right, just getting into rap, and he was like, I don’t know what the equivalent is now, like Drake, like he was that big, he was massive! So I feel like I’ve grown up with him, from hearing him the first time at like 13, to now. I know exactly how Snoop raps! Yeah, so the thing I wrote, I recorded it like I was doing an impression of him, and they loved it, and he loved it, and it was just as simple as that!”

The tour continued and with us rocking up to The Coach & Horses, The Union, Comedy Store and the 100 club all of which are integral to Ben’s love for Soho, and places YOU should visit when you’re next in the big smoke (as well as our store in Bethnal Green, of course). 

As we prepare to say our goodbyes we are keen to know more about Ben’s passion for two wheels.  

“What I love about motorbikes is that feeling of freedom, that feeling of moving at your own pace, you know, motorcyclists tend to be people who are quite open-minded and like progressive in their thinking, and they can be individualists.”

This is heavy! But Ben’s nailed it. And if you don’t agree - we guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it.