RHLSTP with Richard Herring

#506 Review Rainbow - Richard has some dispiriting revelations about what people google when they are looking for him, but is quickly revived by the ready wit of Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer 2023, Urooj Ashfak. They chat about the difficulties (or not) of taking comedy across international boundaries, the burgeoning Indian stand up scene, being a question on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, meeting fleabag, turning teenage diaries into comedy and the only stand up award that Richard has ever won (thanks Daily Telegraph). Plus lots of ghosts, what happens to us when we die and how you can’t repeat the same joke in different performances in comedy (hold my coat).Follow Urooj on Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/uroojashfaq/?hl=enSee Rich's stand-up tour Can I Have My Ball Back - https://richardherring.com/ballback/SUPPORT THE SHOW!Watch our TWITCH CHANNELSee extra content at our WEBSITE Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/rhlstp. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

RETRO RHLSTP #86 - Creative Differences - Richard has some news of an amazing time travelling finger and is clearly super excited to be meeting one of his all-time comedy heroes, Harry Shearer from off of This is Spinal Tap and The Simpsons. Rich was too scared to talk to him when he saw him improbably travelling on London's tube, but hopefully he won't just sit quietly, staring at him and saying nothing this time. The pair discuss Harry's career which seems to break the space-time continuum as he's worked with such legends as Abbott and Costello, Jack Benny and Mel Blanc. Why does Derek Smalls wrap his courgette in tin foil and what's his affiliation with Shrewsbury Town? How much creative control do the actors on the Simpsons have over the characters they have helped create? Is stubbornness a pro or a con when trying to make it in show business? What is the Jerry Lewis film, "The Day The Clown Cried" really like? Will we hear from Simpson's character Hugh Jass? It's an amazing interview with a driven and hilarious genius man. And Harry Shearer is in it too.Come and see the new show on tour - https://richardherring.com/ballback/tourSUPPORT THE SHOW!Check out our website http://rhlstp.co.ukSee details of the RHLSTP tour dates http://richardherring.com/gigsBuy DVDs and Books at http://gofasterstripe.com Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/rhlstp. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Book Club #99 - Heresy - Richard talks to journalist and author and daughter of a nun and a monk, Catherine Nixey about her witty and informative book about the early days of Christianity, Heresy. They chat about what the word Heresy really means, the extraordinary gospels that didn’t make it into the New Testament which show Jesus’ murderous side and the magical powers of the Virgin Mary’s anatomy, the varying beliefs of early Christian sects, including one that said he hated kids and their parents, the many magical holy men who performed very similar miracles to Jesus and even provided dressing when they magicked up food, the Romans who couldn’t understand how you’d choose between them and how in spite of this the religion was adopted by the empire. Did Jesus have a twin? Did he persuade someone else to get on the cross for him and how close did Life of Brian get to the truth?Buy the book here - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/heretic-the-many-lives-of-jesus-christ-and-the-other-saviours-of-the-ancient-world-catherine-nixey/6452719?ean=9781529040357And the audiobook here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heretic-Lives-Christ-Saviours-Ancient/dp/B09LJXMH46See Rich's stand-up tour Can I Have My Ball Back - https://richardherring.com/ballback/ Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/rhlstp. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#505 Cheeky Underground Presence - Richard is back to work after the Christmas break (we’re coming to you from the past) and is worried about the door of depravity that he has opened up, but there is no need to fear because his guest is processed meat advocate, Bob Mortimer. It’s a free-wheeling chat as you might be prepared for that takes in farmers, meeting Paul McCartney, whether double acts are still talking to each other or not, a cursed earring, favourite openings and oh, just listen to it. It’s ace. And of course there’s some more jokes from Bob’s little black book.See Rich's stand-up tour Can I Have My Ball Back - https://richardherring.com/ballback/SUPPORT THE SHOW!Watch our TWITCH CHANNELSee extra content at our WEBSITE Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/rhlstp. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

RETRO RHLSTP #85 - The Shreks of Westminster Bridge - Slightly worse for wear after having lunch with Alice Cooper at the Q awards, Richard is delighted to welcome a man he thinks might be him from another time stream, David 'Mitch' Mitchell. He's certainly met his match in pedantry and both men accidentally reveal some shocking details about their respective psyches. Never have two men discussed at such length the vagaries of choosing between a ham hand and a sun lotion arm pit. And that is GUARANTEED. The Peep Show stationery cupboard, romantic subterfuge and the Daily Mail readers' internet comments are all up for discussion and we'll find out how an early discussion about Eric Morecambe almost brought the pair to blows. Did Rich really meet some Shreks and a Justin Lee Collins in the street? And what was Tim from The Office like before he became Tim from The Office? Is Richard as bitter and mean as he seems and will he ever get a Googlewhack audience? What's it like to play Aerosmith at table tennis? Will Rich ever forgive his mum for her Brideshead Revisited Alfresco trump? Why don't the audience understand any of Richard's obscure 1980s references? What would you do if God granted you the power of having exactly the same hands as Hermione from Harry Potter? And just how many David Mitchells are there anyway? It's a marathon of a podcast, but there's no cheating and we both stay in it for the whole thing. It'd be nice if there was a happy ending. But there's a slightly unhappy ending. See if you can make it to the ending.Come and see the new show on tour - https://richardherring.com/ballback/tourSUPPORT THE SHOW!Check out our website http://rhlstp.co.ukSee details of the RHLSTP tour dates http://richardherring.com/gigsBuy DVDs and Books at http://gofasterstripe.com Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/rhlstp. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Book Club #98 - 42 The Wildly Improbably Ideas of Douglas Adams - Richard talks to Kevin Jon Davies, the editor of this fascinating collection of items from the archives of Douglas Adams. They chat about the insight the notes, letters, scripts and thoughts give to the mind of this extraordinary thinker, the notebooks that started with optimism, moved into self-hatred and then largely remained blank (that most writers will be familiar with), the alternate reality where Adams gave up writing, what Arthur Dent was almost called, how unusually for a writer Adams became a celebrity himself and the unusual focus of the paparazzi at the film premiere. A terrific insight into the man and his work from someone who worked alongside him.Buy the book here - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/42-the-wildly-improbable-ideas-of-douglas-adams-douglas-adams/7442032?ean=9781800182684See Rich's stand-up tour Can I Have My Ball Back - https://richardherring.com/ballback/ Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/rhlstp. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#504 Respect Hook - Richard is back at the Lowry Theatre Salford and is annoyed about an Amazon review for his book. His guest is comedian, actor and former Edinburgh flatmate, Justin Moorhouse. They discuss doing a corporate for an arms manufacturer, improvising with Eric Cantona, how everyone in the Manchester area has to appear on Coronation Street (as up to three characters), being a cheeky f***er to Danny Boyle, why Justin doesn’t go everywhere with his face painted, why it’s a bad idea for comedians to go on politics TV shows, podcasting with his daughter, how Justin pretended to be a ghost and how Fred Elliot overcame his reluctance to do his catchphrase. It’s a real cracker of a show. Don’t miss it.See Rich's stand-up tour Can I Have My Ball Back - https://richardherring.com/ballback/SUPPORT THE SHOW!Watch our TWITCH CHANNELSee extra content at our WEBSITE Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/rhlstp. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

RETRO RHLSTP #84 - Gulping Robot Toilets - Richard is hoping he will find his way into the Guinness Book of Records, but Norris Macwhirter is not answering his calls. His guest is making a return visit to RHLSTP after 7 and a half years (but will his hair reveal his success?) - it’s the amazing Charlie Brooker. The conversation is predictably dark and disgusting incorporating Charlie’s fury at a seven year old who makes an amazing living opening boxes, trying to introduce his kids to the Young Ones, what the best pinball machine is, whether having sex with your best friend via computer game is cheating, the complexity of writing a choose your own adventure TV show, being born with an umbilical cord around your neck and how you can kill sperm with urine. Plus the inevitability of nuclear war and whether all people over 45 need to die to save the world. It’s good.Come and see the new show on tour - https://richardherring.com/ballback/tourSUPPORT THE SHOW!Check out our website http://rhlstp.co.ukSee details of the RHLSTP tour dates http://richardherring.com/gigsBuy DVDs and Books at http://gofasterstripe.com Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/rhlstp. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Book Club #97 - How To Win An Information War - Richard talks to academic and journalist Peter Pomerantsev about his book about World War II propaganda (but also about propaganda today) How To Win An Information War. They chat about the remarkable life of the beautifully names Sefton Delmer and his part in creating a radio station that would counterbalance and undermine the propaganda of Goebbels and the German war effort, how hard core pornography played a part, the weird and wonderful ways that German soldiers were advised to fake illness, the amorality and immorality required to wage an information war, what all this has to teach us about today and how the world is being slow to catch up with the realities of the internet age and dark times that are yet to come. Is it possible to get out the cluster fuck of internet conspiracy theories and what can we learn from Delmer’s work? Plus what it’s like to marry a statue (sort of).Buy the book here - https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/how-to-win-an-information-war-the-propagandist-who-outwitted-hitler-peter-pomerantsev/7608309?ean=9780571366347Or the audiobook here - https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Win-Information-War-Propagandist/dp/B0CK2FDVG4See Rich's stand-up tour Can I Have My Ball Back - https://richardherring.com/ballback/ Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/rhlstp. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

#503 Heckling Ken Dodd - Richard returns to the Lowry Theatre in Salford for the first time in four years. Last time he was here he talked to Jimmy Cricket and this time he is talking to Jimmy’s daughter, the comedian, actor and playwright Katie Mulgrew. They talk about the horrors of birth and whether an Oscar winning actor could do it, being mistaken for the captain of Star Trek Voyager by a German, partying with Little and Large and the Roly-Polys, being followed around by everyone you’ve ever kissed, the mystery of adenoids, the arrogance of the playwright, whether Philippa McMoss might ever return to Corrie and what it’s like when your brother marries youSee Rich's stand-up tour Can I Have My Ball Back - https://richardherring.com/ballback/SUPPORT THE SHOW!Watch our TWITCH CHANNELSee extra content at our WEBSITE Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/rhlstp. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.