In the final edition of this Wrap Party series for now, I’m returning to England, to two podcasts that shared a format, a friendship and relatively extensive lifespans. They also of course, have now wrapped up, one more mysteriously than the other.
Finishing their run seemingly at random and shrouded in mild mystery is our first show, Precious Little, heralded by Michael Legge and James Hingley. An often manic affair, with Legge’s fuming effervescence and joyous fury playing off of Hingley’s mild-mannered niceness to gorgeous effect, it was what would be termed ‘classic podcasting.’ That is to say: two white gentlemen from the world of comedy with at least one foot firmly planted in nerdiness, aiming to further their friendship over an hour of conversation recorded into USB microphones. But more than being simply traditional, it was also brilliant. Legge’s emphatically brutal appraisal of the negligences of pop culture, his lack of patience with things he didn’t love, to his exclusively excessive and love laden aggression towards the shows fans made for a whole world of ecstatic and hilarious emotional ravaging.
Michael and James record!
Paired with the more quiet and calm Hingley, a man whose knowledge exceeded his willingness to exude a screed actually making his occasional outbursts all the more enjoyable, they dovetailed in an abrasive and ridiculous manner. But this couldn’t save Precious Little, which is now on the ever-inspecific ‘indefinite hiatus.’ To make it worse, since the old episodes were also removed from the official feed, one would suggest a regeneration of the show is not forthcoming. Maybe the removal of the show was a symbolic gesture highlighting the ephemeral nature of both comedy and podcasting, or perhaps it was in regret over some of their forthrightness and an attempt to edit history, which seems unlikely, but not impossible. Then again, maybe they just plan to release them as a purchasable set one day. You can still hear Michael being hilariously aggressive on the Do The Right Thing podcast (which I reviewed at: tinyurl.com/PPDTRT), but the pod that formed a much more structured and specific mouthpiece is very much distinctly extinct. And to me, this seems a shame for everyone involved.
One of the seminal podcasts of the UK scene, Colllings and Herrin was the strange podcast baby of Richard Herring and Andrew Collins. Early adoptedrs of the podcast medium, they prepared a mixture of debate, discussion and hilarity most often based off the headlines, in a remarkably unprepared and unwritten way. Because of their approach to issues being almost entirely dissimilar, despite usually sharing the same viewpoint, they were able to highlight and question issues in strange, unexpected ways, providing results that were not only comedic, but were also illuminatory. Herring would often advocate for the devil, driving towards a counter-intuitive logic (usually based in a twist of nonsense) to torture the sometimes odd thought processes of Collins. Badgering him near constantly, with an aim of trying to either get to the most fundamental part or furthest extreme of Collins’ initial sentiments, their verbal play was the cornerstone of the show.
Richard and Andrew in a kerfuffle!
Collins would play his own part with an equally elegantly, ably rebutting Herring or announcing such odd pronouncements that rarely failed to bring out Herring’s funniest angles. Their fabulous and well-hewn chemistry eventually spawned a series on radio, of entirely new content, indicatory of their majesty in the format. Whilst Herring has gone onto multiple other podcast projects since, rising success and fame following him wherever he roams, Collins has departed the medium, instead focusing on solo radio and writing endeavours. The show was ended with minimal fanfare in late-2011, as Collins’ cited the above interests, but while it lasted, it was (and remains) a definitive podcast. Featuring a distinctly crackling partnership of naughty and nice in a constantly engaging and giggle-worthy manner. And with the episodes still awaiting listeners in the iTunes store, there’s no excuse to ignore them, even if there won’t be any more episodes in the future.
You can find Precious Little with intrepid enough Google-ing, whilst C+H are still in iTunes. You can find various members on twitter @Herring1967, @michaellegge and @AndrewCollins. Drink up and enjoy!