It's back.
I had a fun but exhausting evening recording two podcasts - the first with Twitter sensation and unusually lovely man for a comedian, Rob Delaney (which is already up on
The British Comedy Guide and
iTunes and then another with the equally unusually lovely Peter Serafinowicz (which will be released in a fortnight on a week that we don't have a show).
I had not met Rob before but he'd very kindly agreed to do the show within a couple of hours of landing in the country, even though he had his own proper show to do later on. Luckily we seemed to click straightaway and I was very impressed with how together he was. I think I felt more jet-lagged than him. He had lots of sensible stuff to say both on and off stage (as always the stuff we all talked about in the dressing room would make a much better podcast than what goes on on stage) and seemed so balanced that it's hard to believe he once drove a car into a building or has struggled with depression. But with all the news of cuddly or iconic celebrities supposedly turning out to be serial killing, baby-eaters, I wouldn't be surprised if Delaney's charm was all a facade and that underneath he is literally a skeletor. Not the Skeletor obviously. That would be impossible. Just a skeletor. Obviously we've all got a skellington, but not an evil one.
You see if I am wrong. A man can't be this reasonable, funny and kind. Something terrible lurks beneath the surface and one day, long after he is dead, I am going to make sure the world hears about it.
But for now it was fun shooting shit with him and asking him my new and stupid emergency questions. I was unusually prepared for both these chats, having done something unfamiliar to most RHLSTP fans = "research". The favourite thing I had found about Delaney was a comment on the recent interview he did with the Guardian. Someone had written (presumably in earnest), "Jokes about diapers, vaginas and farts are funny? Someone shoot me through the head, right here, right now. I don't want to live in a world like this."
I almost didn't know where to start in deconstructing this. Does this person really think that diapers, vaginas and farts are not at all funny? Are they subjects only to be treated with deadly seriousness? Was it a surprise to them that anyone might find anything funny in these areas? I mean certainly not every joke about these subjects are funny, but loads of them are. But the realisation that someone might find this to be the case so depresses this correspondent that they want to be murdered to escape this cold world that dares to occasionally laugh at some shit in a nappy. There are many depressing things in the world: genocide, torture, slavery, war, people who are too uptight to laugh at farts - and yet it's jokes about vaginas that's making this person want to leave the planet. And it was only this article about Rob Delaney that had made them realise this kind of thing was going on. Imagine laughing at a fart - it's the most solemn thing that can happen in this earthly realm.
If that had been written about me that would be on next year's poster.
Rob dashed off into the night to entertain people with his supposed jokes about diapers (he makes me sick, the skin clad skeletor) and then I chatted to Peter. As always the personality of the guest (and my level of tiredness) creates a different atmosphere and this one was more laid back and thoughtful and Peter was very honest and illuminating about his feelings when he fulfilled a childhood dream and got to be in Star Wars. I don't know if he's spoken at length about this anywhere else, but any Star Wars fan (or indeed anyone who is not a fan of the more recent episodes in this franchise) will be fascinated. Sorry that I have to make you wait. But it'll be worth it.
I enjoyed being back at the Leicester Square Theatre. It's almost three years since we first performed AIOTM (aiotm) there (and approaching five years since I took my first step into the world of podcasts with Andrew). I have fired a whole lot of guff out into the ether in that time, but I am glad I discovered this outlet.
The next two shows are certainly heading for sell-outs so if you want to see Shearsmith and Pemberton next week or David Mitchell two weeks after that
then book now.
