Hot on the heels of last weeks ‘Renaissances’ column, comes the second instalment in the series: ‘Returns.’ Those podcasters and podcasts which have made a triumphant return since the start of the year, following all kinds of hiatus. This weeks entries are actually all British, so it’s something of a UK special, unlike last time, so I hope you’re excited about that too!
The Rolling Storm: Richard Herring!
One of the people to have really invested themselves in the podcast medium, hitting a real peak of this in late 2010 thru 2011), a veritable doyenne of the format, Richard Herring is something of a podcast behemoth. Graduating from the Collings and Herrin, AIOTM, Me1 vs Me2 Snooker and the Edinburgh Fringe (RuhHEFPuh) and Leicester Square (RuhHuhLSPuh) podcasts, he’s something of an ingénue in the form. Cementing his comeback this year though, was his Leicester Square podcast, in which he interviewed various British comedy gurus and people of revere, including Armando Ianucci, David Baddiel and Tim Minchin. Essentially a follow on from the previous years Edinburgh Fringe podcast, Herring has a very specific blend of toilet humour and lucidity that is intrinsically charming and lovable, but there is much more to him than this. There is a real search for depth in Herring’s work, spending his time on stand-up shows hunting out reasons behind Christ, discussing the male condition (and member) or considering the actuality and reality of love, and it is this depth that really lends the man his grounding. Often expressing his feelings in ludicrous over statement and a lot of very silly jokes about his penis, his childish exterior masks a much deeper comedian, with realisations that, while often expected, are expressed in such a keenly human manner that they strike a great chord with his pretty loyal audience. Such a loyal audience in fact that 6,000 of them still listen to him play snooker against himself, in what is one of the most unexplored but incredible realisations of genre-bending, post-modern and thoroughly new-wave podcasts you will find. This guy is a proper force, and with the new Edinburgh Fringe series already in full sway, now is a perfect time to get involved.
The Bubbling Conical: The Infinite Monkey Cage, with Robin Ince and Professor Brian Cox!
The fusing of professors and comedians is often a tricky proposition, too often the stiff aloofness of many scientists struggles to cross into the fluid aloofness of smart comedy, but this podcast is something of a blessed relief, in that Professor Brian Cox and Robin Ince largely stick to what they’re paid for, and Brian Cox isn’t actually that unfunny. With this combination at his head, IMC takes a laudable approach to science, that, rather than using the storytelling approach (as favoured by American public radio) instead discusses and debates theory, idea and reality, combining this with a light but distinctly bookish sense of humour.
Beardy Alan Moore, Robin Ince and Brian Cox discuss.
Brian Cox is a consummate modern scientist, as much a communicator as an intellect, using his knowledge, good looks and calming northern tones to express his love of stars, space, general physics type stuff, or his disdain for biology. Alongside him is the more ‘hosty’ host, veritable comedian Robin Ince, one of the tangible old-guard of intellectual angry comics, combining a love of ‘highbrow’ pursuits with a controlled fury and a multiplicity of scientist based impressions. These two will be joined by another one or two scientists and/or comedy guest join them, with whom they debate a point of interest, ranging from ‘Oceans’ to ‘Balance,’ or ‘Christmas.’ Through a mixture of scientific theorem, facetious questions and a basic joy in communication, they do an amazing job of explaining ideas that could otherwise be easily forgone. IMC plays a great hand in making science more than just theory, instead making something altogether more human. There won’t actually be another new series until November, but until then you can catch up on the series just finished and all the previous episodes with moments to spare.
The Ever-willing Fools: Pappy’s Flatshare Slamdown, with Pappy’s!
Hosting with a delirious and indelible silliness, a flair for the ludicrous and a dazzling combination of charm, smarm and hilarity, Pappy’s remain one of the most inspired and irreverent current comedy groupings. Returning for a typically brief series (and due to return during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival that is ongoing) Pappy’s have continued the great run of form that has seen their Bangers and Mash podcast cultivate a decent following, whilst also acting as showcasw for their incredibly co-operative and creative comedy.
Crosby rides Clark riding Parry.
FlatSlam sees Matthew Crosby remain the host desperate for sanity from two roommates, Tom Parry and Ben Clark, who are entirely reticent to such suggestions. This panel show returned as giddy as ever, coated with utter daftness and a gleefully scaling ridiculousness, filling the room with laughter and your ears with joy across six fantastically crazed episodes. Retaining its commitment to ebullience, they build on this energy with an intriguing guest list and tasks more foolish than ever, variously involving the mass consumption of crème eggs, utterly woeful accents and some disgustingly glorious pun work. The trio have a wonderful aptitude for silliness that is happily bought into by both their guests and audience, allowing for the show to become, at times, utterly beyond sense, and needless to say, fathomlessly hilarious.
An honorable mention has to go to the greatest of all occasional podcasts, ‘You Look Nice Today,’ whose return to a schedule resulted in the return of a genre-defining podcast; and one that was only reviewed a couple of weeks back.
You can find all the above podcasts on iTunes or their respective websites, or you can twitter at the relative creators and hosts @Herring1967, @ProfBrianCox, @robinince and @pappystweet.