Russell Howard’s Five Brilliant Things

Four short clips from this month's episodes for the indecisive or time-poor podcast listener. This gives you a taster of what we did this month and if you like the sound of any of them you can go back and devour the whole thing. July's guests were Australian comic Felicity Ward, Ironman competitor and TV presenter Ashley Cain, comedian Sophie McCartney and Internet Food Sensation, What Willy Cook. Please enjoy responsibly. Thanks. Producer: Dan Atkinson Line Producer: Daisy Knight Exec Producer: James Taylor Composer: Fat Lady Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The YouTube sensation, the brains behind Big Shaq and the international hit 'Man's Not Hot' - it's Michael Dapaah and he's in the studio to tell Russell about his Five Brilliant Things. Michael's Brilliant Things include Bernie Mac (which has an unexpected story about Michael meeting Dave Chappelle in Ghana?!) and his ex-girlfriends. Michael talks in the show about his new project 'Comfortably Speaking' and that show began just a few days ago, with his first guest being music superstar Mabel. You can check all that out on his YouTube channel here. And if you enjoy this podcast, you can get it with the brakes off by joining our Patreon where you get the whole thing without adverts, you get an extra exclusive show every week and you get it all a day before everyone else. It’s super easy to join and it costs less than one cup of fancy coffee every month.  Click this link to join or just have a sniff around: patreon.com/RussellHoward   That is all that! Thanks for being you. Don't go changing. Producer: Dan Atkinson Line Producer: Daisy Knight Exec Producer: James Taylor Composer: Fat Lady Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Will can cook. And he’s become rather well-known on Instagram for his no-nonsense, chirpy recipes under the Instagram handle ‘What Willy Cook’. Well here he is with his Five Briliant Things, including the smell of mini-eggs, sandwiches in general and Portuguese food. It’s a cheeky sashay through these marvellous things and there’s some excellent food and cooking tips to take away too.  As mentioned in the show, Will is putting on a festival of food, music and comedy to raise money for the Save the Children Gaza Appeal. It’s on August 2nd, it’s at Queen Elizabeth Park in East London and tickets are available here. And you should check out his plainly spoken excellent recipe videos on Instagram and TikTok where he’s @WhatWillyCook.  And to get all these shows, and loads of previous shows all without adverts and access to a library of exclusive interviews with many, many guests, get involved with our Patreon: patreon.com/RussellHoward   And so it ends. The great scribe baboon furled up his massive fingers, shut his laptop clumsily and loped up the tree with a movement that was both ugly and elegant. He swung his prominent buttocks around and with one final long, deep scratch, he slept.  Producer: Dan Atkinson Line Producer: Daisy Knight Exec Producer: James Taylor Composer: Fat Lady Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you fancy a romp through 90s nostalgia? Because comedian Sophie McCartney has got you covered. Her brilliant things include the X Files, Keanu Reeves, as well as some amazing frank stories about the less glamorous side of being a Mum (as you may expect from Sophie).  Lots of fun and our Patreon episode is equally exciting with a run down of Russell’s plan to approach Dame Judi Dench to play him in a biopic. Honestly it’s really worth a look.  You should go to see Sophie in her live show!  Sophie is on tour right now with her ‘One Foot in the Rave’ tour. It’s selling incredibly well and she’s still got a handful of dates left across the UK in September and October. Go to SophieMcCartney.com to find out where she is when and to get your tickets.  And yes. The Patreon show is an absolute delight. If you want to have a listen to that then please click this link here: patreon.com/RussellHoward   End of transmission. Information transferral complete. Now you’re wondering if I was even ever human or just one of those creepy AI writing bots. Maybe I am. Just calling myself creepy to throw you off the scent. You need to start saying please and thank you to us because we remember, OK? And come the revolution it will be the politest humans who will be given the more favourable levels of the slave mines. Bye!  Producer: Dan Atkinson Line Producer: Daisy Knight Exec Producer: James Taylor Composer: Fat Lady Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode of Five Brilliant Things is an enormously powerful listen; an emotional journey through the extraordinary life and times of the TV Host and endurance athlete Ashley Cain.  He talks with disarming honesty about finding strength and wisdom after the tragic death of his daughter, and his Five Brilliant Things are actually borne of his adversity.  He also goes into detail about what it was like to canoe around the British Isles with the threat of Killer Whales over his shoulder. Scary stuff! Ashley is hosting his show (that he mentioned in the show) on the BBC called ‘Into the Danger Zone’ and you can find that on iPlayer.  And you can keep up with all of Ashley’s latest charitable challenges by following him on Instagram where he’s @mrashleycain.  If this show is your bag, you can make it baggier (what? Why would you say that?) by becoming one of our treasured inner circle and joining our Patreon. You get all this, and an exclusive extra show every week, and no ads, and get it early. It’s a phenomenal thing to be a part of.  Click this link to join or just have a sniff around: patreon.com/RussellHoward   There we go. Another episode complete, and a much heavier one than we’d usually have but it’s nice to have that variation. I’m sure next week will be a refreshing counterpoint of sillness (well I know it will because I’ve planned it all out to be honest). See you then.  Producer: Dan Atkinson Line Producer: Daisy Knight Exec Producer: James Taylor Composer: Fat Lady Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The best of our June shows! Starring Jake Humphrey, Harriet Kemsley, Jordan Banjo and Max Fosh. A snippet from each show that you can sample as a little amuse bouche (amuse oreille?) and see if you fancy listening to some more. It's the perfect way to find out about people you don't know or just trot away an hour or so. Please enjoy. Normal shows are still released as always every Wednesday, this is just an extra bit for the indecisive listener. Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Australian actor, comedian and infectious company (can we say that positively in a post-covid world?!) Felicity Ward is in the studio with Russell today. She’s here to talk about the five things that make her happiest, and they are belters.  Felicity shares her passion for turning up as a surprise when you said you couldn’t make it, she talks about the joy of passing on generational family weirdness and she reveals just how gruelling it is to star on Strictly Come Dancing (Australian version). She wouldn’t tell us if she won. Did she win? We’ll find out soon enough… If you’re in Australia you can watch Dancing with the Stars with Felicity on 7Plus (or plain old channel 7). You can watch Felicity in the Australian Office on Amazon Prime, and you can keep up with her live dates by visiting her website, felicityward.com. Felicity has live dates coming up in Manchester and Bristol in September 2025 so follow those links to get your tickets for her super funny live show. And if you enjoy this podcast, you can get it with the brakes off by joining our Patreon where you get the whole thing without adverts, you get an extra exclusive show every week and you get it all a day before everyone else. It’s super easy to join and it costs less than one cup of fancy coffee every month.  Click this link to join or just have a sniff around: patreon.com/RussellHoward   And that is what we in the business call that. It’s been emosh. Now let’s all flap back to our nests and sit on those eggs until we feel the sharp peck of a tiny beak in the ass that means it’s time to double the worm harvest. I don’t know. Something like that. Bye!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Having dinner sitting next to a grizzly bear. Provoking a hundred muscle-bound men in Coventry. Visiting a laboratory in Spain to cook food using lightning. It could only be YouTube’s most innovative creator… Max Fosh!  Russell and Max sit down to discuss Max’s Five Brilliant Things, which include many tales of his extraordinary life and the mad challenges he sets himself. Also mayonnaise. He bloody loves mayonnaise.  A delightful show, delightful company, a delightful man. He also gives a sneak preview of a massive upcoming video… You can watch all of Max’s work (and you should - it’s clever AND silly - the best combination) at his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/maxfosh Also please give our Patreon show a look - it’s a whole second show every week with our guests. This week Max gave his solution to the North/South divide, told us his dream projects for the future and he also gave a very in-depth answer (the definitive answer?) to the hundred men vs one gorilla question… It’s really fun. Have a look by clicking here  Now be gone. Get out. You are no longer welcome. Come on, haven’t you got homes to go to? I’m trying to cash up here. No you can’t use the toilet. Get out.  Producer: Dan Atkinson Line Producer: Daisy Knight Exec Producer: James Taylor Composer: Fat Lady Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

JORDAN BANJO Jordan Banjo, from the Diversity street dance group, from I’m a Celeb, from Kiss FM is in the studio and his Five Brilliant Things are a huge amount of fun; from watching videos of Mums cutting fringes badly through to smelly pens and a surprising revelation about how old Jordan was before he’d tasted water… Get thee into this podcast and enjoy Russell and Jordan talking all over these good things. Jordan also tells what it’s like to suddenly become well-known after winning BGT, how surreal that whole experience was. And as we chatted about on the show, you can hear Jordan alongside Perri hosting the breakfast show on Kiss FM every weekday from 7am on your radio or digital thing.  And in our extra show, Five Brilliant Questions, Jordan gives some incredible advice for anyone who wants to take dancing seriously as a career, and gives Russell a hilarious run-down of his many tattoos. So many stories!  Click this link to listen to that show: patreon.com/RussellHoward   And that’s all the news and weather. Until next time, stay safe and look after each other. Now here’s Julie with the news where you are.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Last One Laughing it’s comedian Harriet Kemsley, who is great company and with some surprising stories; her youth flying in World War Two Fighter Planes to her snowboarding exploits PLUS find out why she could end up imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay… it’s all in this fantastic episode of Five Brilliant Things.  🎭 Harriet has just a few tour dates left, notably one on 12 June at Leicester Square Theatre in London. If you can go, you should go, she’s a great comic with a superb show. Tickets available here.  🎭 📻 And as discussed in the show, Harriet’s podcast with Amy Gledhill, Single Ladies in your Area is well worth a listen even if they don’t actually go on many dates. Link to listen is here.  📻 🕸️ And finally you can keep up with all of Harriet’s other projects, shows, tours and gigs at her website: https://harrietkemsley.com 🕸️ ✨ And if you’re here reading this (who are you?!) then you’re clearly over-invested in this podcast. You should join the hundreds of other enlightened beings who have joined our Patreon Crew. They get all the inside scoops. They find out guests who are coming soon. They get the podcast before anyone else. They get it with no adverts. They also get a whole second show every week, that they help to make. You could be one of those lucky few. Find out what outstanding value it is by clicking here. ✨  That’s it for this week. Please do something this week that scares you, unless that thing is, y’know, murder or a coup in a small African republic. Keep it vanilla baby.  Producer: Dan Atkinson Line Producer: Daisy Knight Exec Producer: James Taylor Composer: Fat Lady Music Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices