I love | Bill Dunn Creative

Jonathan Meades – Get High

Jonathan Meades mixes journalism and entertainment (and humour and intelligence) better than almost anyone else. Here he attempts to conquer his acrophopbia (note, not vertigo, that's different) by going up some very high places. When he's on that viaduct he is absolutely shitting himself, yet still a great communicator.

Hunter S Thompson – Burgess Blast

I've printed this letter and stuck it above my desk in every place I've ever worked. In 1973, Hunter S Thompson was national affairs editor of Rolling Stone. He sent this to Anthony Burgess regarding some late copy. Burgess was, at the time, was one of the UK's most respected novelists. Not only is it deliciously irreverent, it also crystallises the relationship between work and creativity. Sometimes, instead of mooning around waiting for inspiration to strike us, we should all get our asses out of the piazza and back to the typewriter (or MacBook Pro, or whatever). And, for such a savage diatribe, it's beautifully typed and punctuated.

OK I'll trot out my HST story for you. He gave me a writing lesson at Woody Creek in Colorado. We spent the whole night reading aloud and "getting the rhythm". So there you go – I've been taught writing by HST and you haven't.

Stewart Lee – Identity

The art of a great standup (and let's face it, artist) is being able to take risks while also taking your audience with you. Lee's Braveheart routine in front of a Glasgow audience tiptoes that line successfully – apart from the big man in the front row who looks to be seconds away from punching him.

I once interviewed Stewart Lee in a boat on The Thames. We spoke mainly about The Fall and had to do the interview again another day.

McSweeney's Internet Tendency

Jonathan Meades

I have a lot of time for Dave Eggers. 826 Valencia… You Shall Know Our Velocity… and of course McSweeney's Internet Tendency. The lists are particularly nice. And this one especially.

Paddy Power – Fan Denial

When Fan Denial came out and we all looked at each other and said we might as well give up now.

This is branded content genius – simple, original and totally in tune with both the brand and the audience.

Isaac Lock – Black

The client/account director/creative relationship... sometimes a beautiful partnership built on hope and trust. Sometimes a doomed threesome of lies and ulterior motives. This is the latter. So spot-on. Lock plays the creative with ideas totally at odds with the brief, a role he later reprises in Unravelled (a more ambitious film).

American Express Unstaged

No trying to shoehorn in some sly product placement for the Amex card. No client meddling (even though the opening scene depicts an act of extreme violence). Just two talented people having a laugh. Brilliantly cast and brilliantly executed. Thanks, American Express. I might think about getting one now,even though a lot of places don't take you.

Jim Archer 'Brian and Charles'

I've had a soft spot for crap robots ever since I created the "Being Human" idents for BBC Earth with Sophia. Charles takes crap robots to a whole new level. He is immensely crap. And for some reason is able to masticate and digest cabbage. A funny and poignant retelling of the Frankenstein story that even my children now quote back to me. "Where is my little chair?" is one of their favourites.

Mike Skinner – Dublin DJ Set

You can't always be the happy-go-lucky geezer on the beach in Ibiza. Sometimes you've got to drink a lot of Jameson's Gold Reserve Blend, go on stage in a small club in Dublin, taunt your audience about their national drink and play savage, slowed-down jungle that makes your "up for a good time" crowd cry. And remember, you can always go slower.

Vic and Bob – 'Masterchef'

Loyd Grossman looming towards you, levitating to the sound of church bells. A woman cuts off her own ears to tell the story of baby Jesus. Matt Lucas as The Penguin. And it all went out on the BBC. This sketch was worth the licence fee alone.

Maxim Zhestkov

This scares the beejezus out of me. But sometimes it's good to be scared, isn't it?

Le Tigre – Deceptacon

The most fun political band of all time. Le Tigre were like a feminist Banana Splits. If you played this at Brett Kavanaugh, he would actually dissolve.

Vice – Dos and Don'ts

Remember how good Vice used to be?

Modern Toss – Space Dinner

The first time I saw this I laughed so hard I was sick.

Iris Murdoch 'The Sea, The Sea'

The Sea, The Sea starts off fairly normally – smug anti-hero Charles Arrowby, retired actor and director, buys a place by the sea in an undisclosed location (I like to think it's Devon, but that's never made clear). He tries to isolate himself from his London past to settle down to write his memoirs, interspersed by descriptions of the very odd meals he cooks himself, thinking himself to be a fine chef. Then, very quickly, it all goes mental. He's plagued by glimpses of a sea monster, a ghost in the house, semi-hostile locals, friends and ex-lovers from London who "drop in". Then he attempts to kidnap his first love, the long-suffering Hartley. It's unclassifiable – a funny, horrifying, ludicrous page turner even when nothing's happening.

Slaves/Ben & Ross 'Cheer Up London'

Everything about this makes me want to kick a bin over.

Euan Uglow – Georgia

I was interviewing Paul Smith and David Bowie when the subject of Euan Uglow came up. I said I hadn't heard of him and they both looked surprised and but were too gentlemanly to actually say anything. Bowie gave me a list of pictures I should see. This was one of them.

The Fall 'Bury! Pts 2+4'

"And you will suffer all the seasons
On the sides of municipal buildings
And used to stop drafts
In glass-fronted Barratt homes."

The Pin - Overheard

Does the world really need another pair of white, Cambridge-educated, middle-class men writing comedy sketches? When it's as good as this then obviously, yes it does.

Adam Buxton x The Brothers McLeod

The story behind Bowie's Low, as retold by Adam Buxton. The details in this are fantastic – the slightly chippy Tony Visconti, the "bit of reverb" and the shopping list gag.

Casey Neistat – Massive Drone

Casey Neistat hanging off a massive drone. A Christmas treat from 2016.