LUke Littler is sitting alone backstage on The Jonathan Ross Show. At this point, we've already heard: Liam Gallagher talking about his own dog. After Ray won his sixth Brit Award, he told how he went to McDonald's at 6am. 'Stranger Things' star Millie Bobby Brown talks about her future wedding. Comedian Rob Beckett's new quiz show. Gallagher and John Squire performed their new single. Chat is flowing. Celebrity laughs out loud, sophisticated and performative.
With about 10 minutes left, Littler is finally called to the famous brown couch. He's doing as well as you'd expect from a 17-year-old with virtually zero experience in a celebrity environment. All here is confidence and a shrug of the shoulders, short words uttered in an even, if brief, tone, not so much non-resistance as basic teenage rejection. He doesn't hate your questions. He doesn't like your questions. He has no idea about your question at all. He's learned now that it just hangs there and if he says a few words the question goes away and the car comes and takes him home and then he ends up playing on the Xbox. .
Ross is good at interviewing young stars, reassuring and reassuring in all the right places, and engaging with enthusiasm. There's no way he's 63 years old. Not many questions were asked. How did he start throwing darts? How often do you practice? At one point, a photo of the palm tree trophy he won in Bahrain is shown, and Beckett blurts out, “He bought it at H&M Home.” In another scene, Ross asked Littler, “How do you check 81?” Littler answered, “57, 24,” and everyone applauded him.
The purpose of inviting this unique sporting genius onto a general entertainment show was not to interview him or gain some privileged insight into his darts genius, but essentially to be an eye-opener. I understand this. His presence is all that is needed here. He is a canvas, a vehicle for other celebrities to perform. You could even invite Picasso and ask him what you get when you mix blue and yellow.
At exactly the same time on Saturday evening, Littler is playing real darts in Belgium, using the magic of television. If it seems like the aromatic world of prime-time television is somehow desensitizing and dulling him, give him three darts and a crowd and you'll have exactly the opposite effect.
It's not just incredible scoring ability, nerve and courage. Even for those who have followed the sport for years, everything seems brighter and more intense in Littler's presence. There is energy and electricity there. The crowd pays a little more attention. Littler's opponent, in this case the stony-faced Polish Krzysztof Ratajski, seems a little more nervous.
As for Littler, this is his brown couch and autocue. Here in Wiese's Octoberhallen, he is Gallagher, Ray, Beckett and Ross all rolled into one. Here, he walks with purpose, excites the crowd, dances in his stride, and throws whatever he wants. It took him about three months after he first stood on the world championship stage to make it his own. Things come to a head the next night in the semi-final against Germany's Ricardo Pietrezko.
Littler has a score of 90 and two darts left. Most players in this situation would either leave the top and go for the bull, leave double 18 and go for treble 18, or leave double 15 and go for treble 20. Littler does none of these things. He throws a double 20 at the top, hoping to get away from the bull. It's a wild shot, an exhibition shot, a spectacular act of showboating in the middle of a ranking semifinal. And I miss him. Meanwhile, Pietrezko is upset enough to listen to Littler after his inevitable defeat.
Afterwards, he plans to post that he hopes Littler's “arrogance will come back to punish him.” it's not. Littler hit a nine-darter down the stretch and won the title against Rob Cross.
The kid on Jonathan Ross's couch. A kid who blitzed through another world-class field and took home the trophy on stage. Presumably, it feels like these are exactly the same phenomenon, but in reality they are opposing forces, pulling him in different directions. Littler has already appeared in cereal ads. His Instagram grid is discreetly sprinkled with paid promotions. He is 17 years old. Please remember. He is not making these decisions alone.
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Just as the reckless photo shoot during the World Championships in which a copy of The Sun and a kebab were shoved into his hands was clearly not of his own volition. Or putting him on the media circuit the morning after the World Championship final. He slept for two hours. He sounded completely devastated. He kept talking about wanting to go on vacation somewhere where no one would find him. And everyone just smiled and then kept asking him questions.
It's clear that Littler is talented enough to get this job done, and if he wants to capitalize on his budding fame while those around him are doing well, then so be it. The point here is that this sport has a once-in-a-generation genius, someone who paints the world with a whole new color and makes everything around him feel fresh and alive. I think trying to turn him into something else, like a brand, a billboard, a celebrity, a content machine, etc., is the least interesting thing you can do to him at this point.
At the end of the show, a dartboard is brought to the set. Beckett, Ray, and Brown all challenge him with three darts. Littler steps up and wins with a total score of 83. He is wearing a tight-fitting jacket. The board is about 2 feet too high. He has never practiced darts. But at that moment, a calm feeling filled with an immeasurable sense of freedom seems to wash over him. All he needed was a crowd and three darts in his hand. He hits 140.
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