Annoying I was a bit tired and unfocused for tonight's double-header Leicester Square Theatre Podcast, but my guests were on better form. I was chatting with Jonathan Ross and Francesca Martinez and as I am still playing around with the format a bit, we decided to do this as two separate shows.
I don't know Jonathan very well, though I am a fan of his work and he is indirectly partly responsible for me doing these live podcast shows. I was so frustrated by the censorship and fear at the BBC in the wake of Sachsgate that I decided it'd be easier to make my own shows where that was no longer an issue. Talking to him before the show I sensed that he'd be pretty much game for any rubbish I threw at him but I was perhaps a bit reticent to be as rude or confrontational as I would be with one of my friends. But I built up to the necessary level of disrespect by the end. I actually had too many things to talk about, but had jumbled them all up on two pages of my notebook and kept losing my train of thought. None of this really matters and the conversation went into some interesting areas, but I was slightly annoyed with myself for not doing better. You can judge for yourself - the first podcast will be up on Tuesday afternoon.
I know it must be annoying for Jonathan that everyone wants to talk to him about his brother Paul, but I had to find out if he was aware of
the Amazon page which offers a framed photo of Paul Ross. There are some funny comments about this, but I actually preferred to look through the items viewed by people who had viewed this work of art. There's a lot of tin foil and Nazi memorabilia and a blow up doll fancy dress costume. Check it out for yourself. It's like a museum of some of the weirder things that Amazon has on offer in its massive cyber shop.
Unbelievably I forgot to ask Jonathan if he'd ever sucked his own cock, which I had intended to make the running question of this series (though it at least meant I could ask Francesca if she thought Jonathan had ever done it, as it was going to be a difficult query to put to her personally). Luckily he kindly answered the query by Twitter later on saying, "No. I suspect I could once have reached but never been that hungry."
Although we covered some slightly racy topics I don't think Jonathan said anything that will land him in hot water, which is a shame as I was hoping that the resulting publicity from that would mean I got sacked from podcasts, have to go to Hollywood and get blown by Katy Perry. He was very friendly and down-to-earth and the same on and off stage which is an admirable thing. I don't think he'll have been too worried about me challenging him for any of his jobs.
Francesca was as witty as ever and as usual effortlessly outsmarted me and made me look stupid. It was a bit easier today as I was punch drunk with tiredness. But it meant we got on to some more serious and thoughtful topics too. I am enjoying the variety of tone that this podcast seems to be throwing up. My guest next week is Charlie Higson from off of the Fast Show. I might add another name to the bill too as I think the double header thing could work. Stop making up rude jokes.
The wonderful idiots at Go Faster Stripe have paid to have 3000 copies of my 2003 book "Talking Cock" printed up. It's another bold and expensive move from the Welsh misfits, so it would be lovely if you bought a copy. You can get it exclusively from
go faster stripe though I will also be selling it at Talking Cock gigs over the next few months.
